Naselle is a census-designated place

Census-designated place

A census-designated place is a concentration of population identified by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes. CDPs are delineated for each decennial census as the statistical counterparts of incorporated places such as cities, towns and villages...

 (CDP) in Pacific County, Washington, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The population was 419 at the 2010 census. Though very near Columbia River

Columbia River

The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, flows northwest and then south into the U.S. state of Washington, then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state...

's estuary, the valley's Naselle River flows west into nearby Willapa Bay

Willapa Bay

Willapa Bay is a bay located on the southwest Pacific coast of Washington state in the United States. The Long Beach Peninsula separates Willapa Bay from the greater expanse of the Pacific Ocean. With over of water surface Willapa Bay is the second largest estuary on the United States Pacific coast...

 and then into the Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

. Close about the town lie the evergreen-covered Willapa Hills

Willapa Hills

The Willapa Hills is a geologic, physiographic, and geographic region in southwest Washington. When described as a physiographical province, the Willapa Hills are bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west, the Columbia River to the south, the Olympic Mountains to the north, and the Cascade Range to...

. The river's name has been spelled Nasel and Nasal. An early settler along the river called it the Kenebec. The name comes from the Nisal Indians, a Chinookan

Chinookan

Chinook refers to several native amercain groups of in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States, speaking the Chinookan languages. In the early 19th century, the Chinookan-speaking peoples lived along the lower and middle Columbia River in present-day Oregon and Washington...

 tribe formerly residing on the river.

Demographics

As of the census

Census

A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

of 2000, there were 377 people, 160 households, and 110 families residing in the CDP. The population density

Population density

Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 was 164.6 people per square mile (63.6/km²). There were 184 housing units at an average density of 80.3/sq mi (31.0/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 92.57% White, 0.27% African American, 2.12% Native American, 0.53% Asian, and 4.51% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.53% of the population. 33.2% were of Finnish, 10.0% German

Germans

The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....

, 7.9% Irish

Irish people

The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...

 and 7.5% American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 ancestry according to Census 2000.

There were 160 households out of which 31.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.4% were married couples

Marriage

Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 living together, 6.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.3% were non-families. 25.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.85.

In the CDP the population was spread out with 23.3% under the age of 18, 5.0% from 18 to 24, 22.5% from 25 to 44, 26.5% from 45 to 64, and 22.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females there were 95.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.1 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $35,769, and the median income for a family was $40,250. Males had a median income of $36,875 versus $18,125 for females. The per capita income

Per capita income

Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...

 for the CDP was $17,714. About 4.0% of families and 4.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.5% of those under age 18 and 2.1% of those age 65 or over.

History and Culture

The community first flourished as a logging town, and logging remains the dominant private industry. Settled primarily by Finnish

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 and Scandinavia

Scandinavia

Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...

n immigrants, the community has maintained this cultural heritage despite a declining percentage of traditional family names. Since 1982, Naselle has hosted a "Finnish-American Folk Festival" every other year, and in 2006 co-hosted, with the nearby city of Astoria, OR, the national festival FinnFest USA.

Jennifer L. Holm

Jennifer L. Holm

- Biography :Holm was raised in Audubon, Pennsylvania with her four brothers. After graduating from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, she worked in television and later began to write...

's Newbery Honor-winning novel Our Only May Amelia is set in pioneer Naselle, then spelled "Nasel", and is based on Holm family documents of life as a Finnish-American frontier family.

Past and present residents of note include Oscar Wirkkala

Oscar Wirkkala

Oscar Wirkkala was a Finnish-American logger and inventor who spent much of his life in the Pacific Northwest.-Background:Oscar Wirkkala was born in Kaustinen, Finland. His father Abraham and brother Andrew arrived in America first, working at a saw mill in Cosmopolis, Washington, to save money...

, logger and inventor; Wilho Saari

Wilho Saari

Wilho Saari is a fifth-generation Finnish American player of the kantele, the Finnish psaltery. Kreeta Haapasalo, a well-known kantele player in Finland in the 19th century, was his great-great grandmother...

, kantele

Kantele

A kantele or kannel is a traditional plucked string instrument of the zither family native to Finland, Estonia, and Karelia. It is related to the Russian gusli, the Latvian kokle and the Lithuanian kanklės. Together these instruments make up the family known as Baltic psalteries...

 performer and teacher; and Rex Ziak

Rex Ziak

Rex Ziak is a writer, historian, tour guide, and documentarian, who lives in Naselle, Washington, USA. Known for his Lewis and Clark studies, he is the author of In Full View. After careful study of the expedition's journals and of the geography of the Columbia River estuary, Ziak precisely...

, historian.