Vancouver, Washington
Encyclopedia
Vancouver is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River
in the U.S. state of Washington. Incorporated in 1857, it is the fourth largest city in the state with a 2010 census population of 161,791 as of April 1, 2010. Vancouver is the county seat
of Clark County
and forms part of the Portland-Vancouver metropolitan area
, the 23rd-largest metropolitan area in the United States.
Vancouver shares its name with the larger city of Vancouver
located 305 miles (490.8 km) north in the Canadian province
of British Columbia
. Both cities were named in honor of sea captain George Vancouver
, although the Canadian city was incorporated 29 years after the incorporation of Vancouver, Washington, and more than 60 years after the name Vancouver was first used in reference to the historic Fort Vancouver
trading post on the Columbia River. City officials have periodically suggested changing the US city's name to Fort Vancouver, Vancouver USA, or even Old Vancouver to reduce confusion with its northern neighbor. Many Pacific Northwest
residents distinguish between the two cities by referring to the Canadian city as "Vancouver, B.C." and the United States one as "Vancouver, Washington," or "Vancouver USA." Local nicknames include: "Vantucky" and "The 'Couv(e)".
The Vancouver, Washington, area was inhabited by a variety of Native American tribes, most recently the Chinook
and Klickitat
nations, with permanent settlements of timber longhouses. The Chinookan and Klickitat names for the area were reportedly Skit-so-to-ho and Ala-si-kas, respectively, meaning "land of the mud-turtles." First European contact was in 1775, with approximately half of the indigenous population dead from small pox before the Lewis and Clark expedition
camped in the area in 1806. Within another fifty years, other actions and diseases such as measles
, malaria
and influenza
had reduced the Chinookan
population from an estimated 80,000 "to a few dozen refugees, landless, slaveless and swindled out of a treaty."
Meriwether Lewis
wrote that the Vancouver area was "the only desired situation for settlement west of the Rocky Mountains
." The first permanent European settlement did not occur until 1824, when Fort Vancouver was established as a fur trading post of the Hudson's Bay Company
. From that time on, the area was settled by both the US and Britain under a "joint occupation" agreement. Joint occupation led to the Oregon boundary dispute
and ended on June 15, 1846, with the signing of the Oregon Treaty
, which gave the United States full control of the area. Before 1845, American Henry Williamson laid out a large claim west of the Hudson's Bay Company (including part of the present-day Port of Vancouver), called Vancouver City and properly registered his claim at the U.S. courthouse in Oregon City, before leaving for California. The City of Vancouver was incorporated on January 23, 1857.
Based on an act in the 1859–60 legislature, Vancouver was briefly the capital of the Washington Territory
, before being returned to Olympia, Washington
by a 2–1 ruling of the territory's supreme court, in accordance with Isaac Stevens
' preference and concern that proximity to Oregon might give its southern neighbor undue influence.
U.S. Army Captain (and future President) Ulysses S. Grant
was quartermaster at what was then known as Columbia Barracks for 15 months beginning in September 1852. Soon after leaving Vancouver, he resigned from the army and did not serve again until the outbreak of the American Civil War
. Other notable generals to have served in Vancouver include George B. McClellan
, Philip Sheridan
, Oliver O. Howard
and 1953 Nobel Peace Prize recipient George Marshall
.
Army presence in Vancouver was very strong, as the Department of the Columbia built and moved to Vancouver Barracks, the military reservation for which stretched from the river to what is currently Fourth Plain Boulevard and was the largest Army base in the region until surpassed by Fort Lewis
, 120 miles (193.1 km) to the north. Built on the old company gardens and skirmish range, Pearson Army Field (later Pearson Field
) was a key facility, and at one point the US Army Signal Corps
operated the largest spruce cut-up plant in the world to provide much-needed wood for airplanes. Vancouver became the end point for two ultra-long flights from Moscow, USSR over the North Pole. The first of these flights was performed by Valery Chkalov
in 1937 on a Tupolev ANT-25RD
airplane. Chkalov was originally scheduled to land at an airstrip in nearby Portland, Oregon
, but redirected at the last minute to Vancouver's Pearson Airfield. Today there is a street named for him in Vancouver. In 1975 an obelisk was erected at Pearson Field commemorating this event.
Separated from Oregon until 1917, when the Interstate Bridge
began to replace ferries, Vancouver had three shipyards just downstream which produced ships for World War I before World War II brought an enormous economic boom. An Alcoa
aluminum plant opened on September 2, 1940, using inexpensive power from the nearby New Deal
hydropower turbines at Bonneville Dam
. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Henry Kaiser
opened a shipyard
next to the U.S. Army reserve, which by 1944 employed as many as 36,000 people in a twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week production of liberty ships, LST's, and "baby flat tops
." This influx of shipyard workers boosted the population from 18,000 to over 80,000 in just a few months, leading to the creation of the Vancouver Housing Authority and six new residential developments
: Fruit Valley, Fourth Plain Village, Bagley Downs, Ogden Meadows, Burton Homes and McLoughlin Heights. Each of these was later incorporated into the city, and are well-known neighborhoods, while the neighboring "shipyard city" of Vanport, Oregon
, would be destroyed by the Memorial Day
flood of 1948.
In 1956, Willie Nelson
moved to Vancouver to begin his musical career, recording "Lumberjack." The single sold fairly well, but it did not establish his career. Nelson continued to work as a radio announcer in Vancouver and sing in clubs. He sold a song called "Family Bible" for $50; the song was a hit for Claude Gray in 1960, has been covered widely and is often considered a gospel music classic.
Vancouver has recently experienced conflicts with other Clark County communities because of rapid growth in the area. The city's first annexation more than doubled its size in 1909, with the largest annexation of 1997 adding 11258 acres (45.6 km²) and 58,171 residents. As a result of urban growth and the 1997 annexation, Vancouver is often thought of as split between two areas, East and West Vancouver, divided by NE Andresen Road. West Vancouver is home to downtown Vancouver and some of the more historical parts of the city, as well as recent high-density mixed-use development.
More than one-third of the Vancouver urban area's population lives in unincorporated urban area north of the city limits, including the communities of Hazel Dell
, Felida
, Orchards
and Salmon Creek
. If county leaders had approved a major annexation plan in 2006, Vancouver would have passed Tacoma and Spokane
to become the state's second-largest city.
structures around Esther Short park
and in the Uptown Village neighborhood. The most lauded outside investment was the construction of a Hilton
hotel directly across from the park. Currently the city is building a new shopping complex, including a recently finished Fred Meyer
, just outside of the downtown core.
The Columbian
newspaper finished building a new seven-story building adjacent to the Hilton in 2008 which due to financial strains in the company remained vacant and unused. Early in 2010, The Columbian filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and the building defaulted to Bank of America
. In statement issued June 3, 2010 by City Manager Pat McDonnell, the City of Vancouver has reached a tentative agreement to purchase the former downtown Columbian office building for a fraction of the construction cost. Under the terms of the pending deal, the city will buy the two-year-old building and 5.14 acres (20,800.9 m²) for $18.5 million for use as a new city hall. Before giving up the building in bankruptcy, the owners of The Columbian office building had been asking $41.5 million. By making the move, the city will save $1 million annually it pays on leases to house about 300 employees in about five buildings around the city, McDonnell said in his announcement.
There are plans in the future for a new development along C Street in downtown that would include a new library, a new Marriott
hotel and roughly 250 new condominiums. Other planned projects include:
, just west of where the Columbia River Gorge
bisects the volcanic Cascade Range
and just east of where the Willamette River
enters the Columbia. The city of Vancouver is in the Western Lowlands region of Washington. When clouds do not blanket the Puget-Willamette trough formed by the Cascade and Coast Range
, Mount Hood
, Mount Saint Helens, and Mount Adams
are all visible from Vancouver.
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the city has a total area of 46.1 mi2, of which 7.14% water.
Vancouver lies just north of Portland, Oregon and shares a similar climate. Both are classified as dry-summer subtropical (Csb) on the Köppen climate classification
, with certain key exceptions. High pressures east of the Cascade Range
create something of a venturi effect
, leading to cold east winds down the Columbia River Gorge. Unsheltered by the Willamette Valley
, Vancouver has historically seen colder temperatures, including "silver thaw" storms where freezing rain cakes limbs and power lines. Such storms can paralyze Vancouver. They frequently froze the river, and in 1916 cut electric power in the city for almost two weeks. Rainfall occurs frequently throughout the fall, winter, and spring, but ceases around the middle of June, with dry and warm weather lasting through September. Average annual precipitation is 42 inches (1,066.8 mm). Heavy snowfalls are infrequent and snow often falls and doesn't stick, with major snowstorms only occurring every 2–4 years. Close proximity to the river was also a concern for flooding, before dams constricted the river, destroying features such as Celilo Falls
. Periodic floods have been a nuisance, with two of the most destructive in June 1894 and May, 1948. The 1948 Memorial Day
flood almost topped the Interstate Bridge's support piers and completely destroyed nearby Vanport, Oregon
. Other unusual storms include the Columbus Day
windstorm of 1962 and an April 5, 1972 tornado
which rated F3 on the Fujita scale
, striking a local school. A F1 tornado struck on January 10, 2008 just after noon causing moderate damage along a 2 miles (3.2 km) path from Vancouver Lake to the unincorporated Hazel Dell area.
Because of its proximity to Portland, many people who live in Vancouver work in Portland. In 2003, 70% of workers in Vancouver worked in Clark County. Those who live in Clark County and work in Oregon have to pay Oregon's relatively high income tax
. (Washington State does not have such a tax.) Additionally, they may choose to shop in Portland to take advantage of a wider variety of shopping choices, and the fact that Oregon
has no sales tax
. However, there is a risk in such avoidance because Washington does have a use tax that is due on all purchases made in Oregon that are then returned to Washington. Vancouver residents "shop at their own risk" when attempting to avoid the sales tax in Washington, although the rule is rarely, if ever, enforced (except for purchases requiring registration, such as motor vehicles).
Because many Vancouver residents work in Portland, there is typically significant rush hour traffic congestion on two bridges that cross the Columbia River — the Interstate Bridge
and the Glenn Jackson Bridge. In 2006 there were 278,043 weekday vehicle crossings on the two bridges.
and 1.1% Vietnamese
as their first language. A large increase in persons with Russian or Ukrainian as their primary language has occurred.
There were 56,628 households out of which 33.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.3% were married couples living together, 12.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.9% were non-families. 27.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 3.06.
In the city the population was spread out, with 26.7% under the age of 18, 9.8% from 18 to 24, 32.1% from 25 to 44, 20.6% from 45 to 64, and 10.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 96.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.8 males.
The median
income for a household in the city was $41,618, and the median income for a family was $47,696. Males had a median income of $37,306 versus $26,940 for females. The per capita income
for the city was $20,192. 9.4% of families and 12.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.1% of those under the age of 18 and 8.2% of those 65 and older.
The economy of Vancouver has paralleled that of the region generally. Moving from a salmon- and trade-based indigenous economy by the Chinook
people, the Hudson's Bay Company
pioneered extractive industries such as the fur trade
and timber. Subsistence agricultural gave way to market and export crops such as apples, strawberries and prunes. Largely bypassed by the railroad in the 1880s, when the Oregon Steam Navigation company would ferry trains across the river downstream from St. Helens, Oregon
to Kalama, Washington
, early downtown development was focused around Washington Street (where ferries arrived), lumber and Vancouver Barracks activities such as a large spruce mill for manufacturing airplanes. A 1908 railroad swing bridge
across the Columbia allowed greater industrial developments such as the Standifer Shipyard during the first world war. With the Interstate Bridge and Bonneville Dam
Vancouver saw an industrial boom in the 1940s, including the Kaiser shipyard
and Alcoa
, as well as a Boise Cascade
paper mill, just west of the Interstate Bridge.
As the old-growth forests were depleted and heavy industry left the United States, Vancouver's economy has largely changed to high tech and service industry jobs, with many residents commuting to Portland. Vancouver contains the corporate headquarters for Nautilus, Inc.
and The Holland (parent company of the Burgerville, USA
restaurant chain).
Downtown is home to a variety of independently owned small businesses, while outer areas are dominated by strip mall
s and franchise stores.
Vancouver is increasingly popular with retirees, partially because of its proximity to Portland and the absence of a state income tax in Washington.
and Evergreen School District.
The Vancouver Public Schools cover most of west Vancouver and has six high schools: Hudson's Bay High School
, Columbia River High School
, Fort Vancouver High School
, Lewis and Clark High School, Skyview High School
, and the Vancouver School of Arts and Academics
(grades 6–12). It also has six middle schools: Alki Middle School
, Discovery Middle School, Gaiser Middle School, Jason Lee Middle School
, Thomas Jefferson Middle School, and McLoughlin Middle School.
Vancouver Public School's elementary schools include Sarah J. Anderson, Chinook, Eisenhower, Felida, Ben Franklin, Fruit Valley Community Learning Center, Harney, Hazel Dell, Hough, Martin Luther King, Lake Shore, Lincoln, Marshall, Minnehaha, Peter S. Ogden, Eleanor Roosevelt, Sacajawea, Salmon Creek, Truman, Walnut Grove, and Washington.
The Evergreen School District covers most of east Vancouver and has six high schools: Evergreen High School
, Mountain View High School
, Heritage High School, Union High School
, Legacy High School, and the Clark County Skills Center.
The district also consists of six middle schools: Covington Middle School, Cascade Middle School, Frontier Middle School, Pacific Middle School, Wy'East Middle School, and Shahala Middle School.
Evergreen School District's elementary schools include Burton, Hearthwood, Ellsworth, Image, Orchards, Sunset, Silver Star, Sifton, Pioneer, Burnt Bridge Creek (BBC), York, Crestline, Riverview, Marrion, Fisher's Landing, Mill Plain, Columbia Valley, Harmony, Illahee, and Endeavour.
Vancouver is also home to the Washington School for the Deaf and Washington State School for the Blind, and Home Choice Academy, a school for home-schoolers.
was one of the first architects in the region, and because of its relatively long history, Vancouver contains a variety of buildings. Homes vary from Victorians
and craftsman bungalows downtown, to small wartime tract housing
and ranch-styles
mid-town, with rural styles and larger homes in the outer ring. In addition to the reconstructed Fort Vancouver
at the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site
, the city was named one of the National Register of Historic Places
' "Dozen Distinctive Destinations" for 2003.
Other notable buildings in Vancouver include:
Many of these buildings have been re-purposed. The 1867 Slocum House, an Italianate villa style residence originally built one block south of its current location in Esther Short Park
. It was moved to its present location at Esther Short Park in 1966 and now houses a community theatre company. The Carnegie Library was expanded in the 1940s, becoming the Clark County Historical Museum after a new library was built in 1963. Other buildings have been torn down for urban renewal or renovated to house professional offices such as lawyers and accountants.
Film and Theatre
The Kiggins Theatre
located within the Downtown Vancouver Art District, was built in 1936 by architect Day Hillborn and still is in use as a classic independent
theatre
, it was named for J.P. Kiggins, an entrepreneur and politician who cut a swath through town in the early 20th century, serving as Vancouver's mayor for 15 non-consecutive years between 1908 and 1935.
display on the grounds of Fort Vancouver National Historic Site
that drew many people to the city. The display routinely ran to 45 minutes, attracted up to 60,000 visitors and was broadcast on area television, one of the largest west of the Mississippi River. Due to the death of key organizer "Mister Fireworks" Jim Larson and a poor economy, the show was not held in 2009. A shorter, redesigned 2010 show charged admission and brought in approximately 35,000 people.
Late August features the Vancouver Wine and Jazz Festival in Esther Short Park, the largest jazz festival in SW Washington.
Each September sees St. Joseph Catholic School host the Vancouver Sausage Fest, drawing attendance upwards of 100,000 over three days.
Vancouver has two interstate freeways, I-5
and I-205
, both of which run north–south, across the Columbia River
into Portland and toward Seattle. It also has two heavily travelled state highway
s within the city limits. SR 14 begins at I-5 in downtown Vancouver and makes its way east. It is a freeway all the way until Camas
. SR 500
begins from I-5 at 39th Street in north Vancouver, travels east connecting with I-205, and continues east into the suburb of Orchards where the freeway terminates at Fourth Plain Boulevard, and meets with the south end of north-south-oriented 117th Ave., SR 503
. A third state highway, SR 501
, starts at I-5 and heads west through downtown and continues along a path that runs between the Columbia River and Vancouver Lake
. Route 501 – SR501 dead ends a few miles north of Vancouver.
The Port of Vancouver USA operates a port on the Columbia River, which separates Oregon
to the south and Washington to the north. It handles over 400 ocean-going vessels annually, as well as a number of barges which ply the river and its tributaries as far as Lewiston, Idaho
.
The area's mass transit system is C-TRAN, the Clark County Public Transportation Benefit Area Authority, which operates 135 buses, vanpools, and paratransit vehicles. There are also a number of express routes into Portland's downtown.
In 1995, Clark County voters defeated a ballot measure that would have funded extension of Portland's MAX Light Rail system north into Vancouver. Opposition to paying for light rail was strong at that time, but slowly declined over the following several years, eventually leading Vancouver officials to begin discussing the idea again. Meanwhile, TriMet
reconstituted its planned MAX line to Vancouver as a shorter line running only within Portland, which potentially could later be extended across the river and into Clark County. This extension of the MAX system opened in 2004 as the Yellow Line
, running as far north as the Portland Expo Center
, approximately 1 miles (2 km) south of downtown Vancouver.
Vancouver has always been well served by rail; current freight railroads operating in Vancouver include the BNSF
, Union Pacific
, and the local shortline Lewis and Clark Railway
. Amtrak
, the national passenger rail system, provides service to Vancouver. Three routes, the Coast Starlight
, the Empire Builder
, and the Amtrak Cascades
serve the city.
Pearson Field
, located near downtown Vancouver, is the main airport serving the city. The airport is intended primarily for general aviation without any commercial air service. The nearest commercial airport is Portland International Airport
(PDX).
In 2008, Vancouver passed a citywide law requiring anyone on a wheeled device such as a bicycle, skateboard, scooter or skates to wear a helmet while on any sidewalk, street, trail or other public property. Many local cyclists opposed the law as a misuse of city funds and police efforts, as well as encroachment on personal freedoms. Despite opposition from the public, the Vancouver City Council passed the measure 5-1 with the mayor saying, "[S]tatistics be damned. I support this."
:
Joyo
, Japan Arequipa
, Peru
Source:
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...
in the U.S. state of Washington. Incorporated in 1857, it is the fourth largest city in the state with a 2010 census population of 161,791 as of April 1, 2010. Vancouver is the county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
of Clark County
Clark County, Washington
Clark County is a county located in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Washington, across the Columbia River from Portland, Oregon.Clark County was the first county of Washington, named after William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition...
and forms part of the Portland-Vancouver metropolitan area
Portland metropolitan area
The Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metropolitan Statistical Area , also known as the Portland metropolitan area or Greater Portland, is an urban area in the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington centered around the city of Portland, Oregon. The U.S...
, the 23rd-largest metropolitan area in the United States.
Vancouver shares its name with the larger city of Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
located 305 miles (490.8 km) north in the Canadian province
Provinces and territories of Canada
The provinces and territories of Canada combine to make up the world's second-largest country by area. There are ten provinces and three territories...
of British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
. Both cities were named in honor of sea captain George Vancouver
George Vancouver
Captain George Vancouver RN was an English officer of the British Royal Navy, best known for his 1791-95 expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern Pacific Coast regions, including the coasts of contemporary Alaska, British Columbia, Washington and Oregon...
, although the Canadian city was incorporated 29 years after the incorporation of Vancouver, Washington, and more than 60 years after the name Vancouver was first used in reference to the historic Fort Vancouver
Fort Vancouver
Fort Vancouver was a 19th century fur trading outpost along the Columbia River that served as the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company in the company's Columbia District...
trading post on the Columbia River. City officials have periodically suggested changing the US city's name to Fort Vancouver, Vancouver USA, or even Old Vancouver to reduce confusion with its northern neighbor. Many Pacific Northwest
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
residents distinguish between the two cities by referring to the Canadian city as "Vancouver, B.C." and the United States one as "Vancouver, Washington," or "Vancouver USA." Local nicknames include: "Vantucky" and "The 'Couv(e)".
History
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...
and Klickitat
Klickitat Tribe
The Klickitat are a Native American tribe of the Pacific Northwest. A Shahaptian tribe, their eastern neighbors were the Yakama, who speak a closely related language. Their western neighbors were various Salishan and Chinookan tribes...
nations, with permanent settlements of timber longhouses. The Chinookan and Klickitat names for the area were reportedly Skit-so-to-ho and Ala-si-kas, respectively, meaning "land of the mud-turtles." First European contact was in 1775, with approximately half of the indigenous population dead from small pox before the Lewis and Clark expedition
Lewis and Clark Expedition
The Lewis and Clark Expedition, or ″Corps of Discovery Expedition" was the first transcontinental expedition to the Pacific Coast by the United States. Commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson and led by two Virginia-born veterans of Indian wars in the Ohio Valley, Meriwether Lewis and William...
camped in the area in 1806. Within another fifty years, other actions and diseases such as measles
Measles
Measles, also known as rubeola or morbilli, is an infection of the respiratory system caused by a virus, specifically a paramyxovirus of the genus Morbillivirus. Morbilliviruses, like other paramyxoviruses, are enveloped, single-stranded, negative-sense RNA viruses...
, malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
and influenza
Influenza
Influenza, commonly referred to as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by RNA viruses of the family Orthomyxoviridae , that affects birds and mammals...
had reduced the 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...
population from an estimated 80,000 "to a few dozen refugees, landless, slaveless and swindled out of a treaty."
Meriwether Lewis
Meriwether Lewis
Meriwether Lewis was an American explorer, soldier, and public administrator, best known for his role as the leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition also known as the Corps of Discovery, with William Clark...
wrote that the Vancouver area was "the only desired situation for settlement west of the Rocky Mountains
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...
." The first permanent European settlement did not occur until 1824, when Fort Vancouver was established as a fur trading post of the Hudson's Bay Company
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
. From that time on, the area was settled by both the US and Britain under a "joint occupation" agreement. Joint occupation led to the Oregon boundary dispute
Oregon boundary dispute
The Oregon boundary dispute, or the Oregon Question, arose as a result of competing British and American claims to the Pacific Northwest of North America in the first half of the 19th century. Both the United Kingdom and the United States had territorial and commercial aspirations in the region...
and ended on June 15, 1846, with the signing of the Oregon Treaty
Oregon Treaty
The Oregon Treaty is a treaty between the United Kingdom and the United States that was signed on June 15, 1846, in Washington, D.C. The treaty brought an end to the Oregon boundary dispute by settling competing American and British claims to the Oregon Country, which had been jointly occupied by...
, which gave the United States full control of the area. Before 1845, American Henry Williamson laid out a large claim west of the Hudson's Bay Company (including part of the present-day Port of Vancouver), called Vancouver City and properly registered his claim at the U.S. courthouse in Oregon City, before leaving for California. The City of Vancouver was incorporated on January 23, 1857.
Based on an act in the 1859–60 legislature, Vancouver was briefly the capital of the Washington Territory
Washington Territory
The Territory of Washington was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 8, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington....
, before being returned to Olympia, Washington
Olympia, Washington
Olympia is the capital city of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat of Thurston County. It was incorporated on January 28, 1859. The population was 46,478 at the 2010 census...
by a 2–1 ruling of the territory's supreme court, in accordance with Isaac Stevens
Isaac Stevens
Isaac Ingalls Stevens was the first governor of Washington Territory, a United States Congressman, and a brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War until his death at the Battle of Chantilly...
' preference and concern that proximity to Oregon might give its southern neighbor undue influence.
U.S. Army Captain (and future President) Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...
was quartermaster at what was then known as Columbia Barracks for 15 months beginning in September 1852. Soon after leaving Vancouver, he resigned from the army and did not serve again until the outbreak of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. Other notable generals to have served in Vancouver include George B. McClellan
George B. McClellan
George Brinton McClellan was a major general during the American Civil War. He organized the famous Army of the Potomac and served briefly as the general-in-chief of the Union Army. Early in the war, McClellan played an important role in raising a well-trained and organized army for the Union...
, Philip Sheridan
Philip Sheridan
Philip Henry Sheridan was a career United States Army officer and a Union general in the American Civil War. His career was noted for his rapid rise to major general and his close association with Lt. Gen. Ulysses S...
, Oliver O. Howard
Oliver O. Howard
Oliver Otis Howard was a career United States Army officer and a Union general in the American Civil War...
and 1953 Nobel Peace Prize recipient George Marshall
George Marshall
George Catlett Marshall was an American military leader, Chief of Staff of the Army, Secretary of State, and the third Secretary of Defense...
.
Fort Lewis
Joint Base Lewis-McChord is a United States military facility located south-southwest of Tacoma, Washington. The facility is under the jurisdiction of the United States Army Joint Base Garrison, Joint Base Lewis-McChord....
, 120 miles (193.1 km) to the north. Built on the old company gardens and skirmish range, Pearson Army Field (later Pearson Field
Pearson Field
Pearson Field , is a city-owned public-use airport located one mile southeast of the central business district of Vancouver, a city in Clark County, Washington, United States....
) was a key facility, and at one point the US Army Signal Corps
United States Army Signal Corps
The United States Army Signal Corps develops, tests, provides, and manages communications and information systems support for the command and control of combined arms forces. It was established in 1860, the brainchild of United States Army Major Albert J. Myer, and has had an important role from...
operated the largest spruce cut-up plant in the world to provide much-needed wood for airplanes. Vancouver became the end point for two ultra-long flights from Moscow, USSR over the North Pole. The first of these flights was performed by Valery Chkalov
Valery Chkalov
Valery Pavlovich Chkalov was a Russian aircraft test pilot and a Hero of the Soviet Union .-Early life:...
in 1937 on a Tupolev ANT-25RD
Tupolev ANT-25
The Tupolev ANT-25 was a Soviet long-range experimental aircraft which was also tried as a bomber. First constructed in 1933, it was used by the Soviet Union for a number of record-breaking flights.-History and records:...
airplane. Chkalov was originally scheduled to land at an airstrip in nearby Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, but redirected at the last minute to Vancouver's Pearson Airfield. Today there is a street named for him in Vancouver. In 1975 an obelisk was erected at Pearson Field commemorating this event.
Separated from Oregon until 1917, when the Interstate Bridge
Interstate Bridge
The Interstate Bridge is a pair of nearly identical steel vertical-lift, through-truss bridges that carry Interstate 5 traffic over the Columbia River between Vancouver, Washington, and Portland, Oregon, in the United States...
began to replace ferries, Vancouver had three shipyards just downstream which produced ships for World War I before World War II brought an enormous economic boom. An Alcoa
Alcoa
Alcoa Inc. is the world's third largest producer of aluminum, behind Rio Tinto Alcan and Rusal. From its operational headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Alcoa conducts operations in 31 countries...
aluminum plant opened on September 2, 1940, using inexpensive power from the nearby New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
hydropower turbines at Bonneville Dam
Bonneville Dam
Bonneville Lock and Dam consists of several run-of-the-river dam structures that together complete a span of the Columbia River between the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington at River Mile 146.1. The dam is located east of Portland, Oregon, in the Columbia River Gorge. The primary functions of...
. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Henry Kaiser
Henry Kaiser
Henry Kaiser may refer to:People*Henry Felix Kaiser , American academic known for the varimax rotation*Henry J. Kaiser , American industrialist and shipbuilder who founded Kaiser Permanente...
opened a shipyard
Kaiser Shipyards
The Kaiser Shipyards were seven major shipbuilding yards located mostly on the U.S. west coast during World War II. They were owned by the Kaiser Shipbuilding Company, a creation of American industrialist Henry J...
next to the U.S. Army reserve, which by 1944 employed as many as 36,000 people in a twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week production of liberty ships, LST's, and "baby flat tops
Casablanca class escort carrier
The Casablanca class escort aircraft carriers were the greatest number of not only escort carriers, but also any size aircraft carrier ever built to a like-design by any nation at any time. Fifty were laid down, launched and commissioned within the space of less than two years - 3 November 1942...
." This influx of shipyard workers boosted the population from 18,000 to over 80,000 in just a few months, leading to the creation of the Vancouver Housing Authority and six new residential developments
Tract housing
Tract housing is a style of housing development in which multiple similar homes are built on a tract of land which is subdivided into individual small lots...
: Fruit Valley, Fourth Plain Village, Bagley Downs, Ogden Meadows, Burton Homes and McLoughlin Heights. Each of these was later incorporated into the city, and are well-known neighborhoods, while the neighboring "shipyard city" of Vanport, Oregon
Vanport, Oregon
Vanport City was a hastily constructed city of public housing located in Multnomah County, Oregon, United States, between the contemporary Portland city boundary and the Columbia River. It is currently the site of Delta Park and the Portland International Raceway.It was constructed in 1943 to house...
, would be destroyed by the Memorial Day
Memorial Day
Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War...
flood of 1948.
In 1956, Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...
moved to Vancouver to begin his musical career, recording "Lumberjack." The single sold fairly well, but it did not establish his career. Nelson continued to work as a radio announcer in Vancouver and sing in clubs. He sold a song called "Family Bible" for $50; the song was a hit for Claude Gray in 1960, has been covered widely and is often considered a gospel music classic.
Vancouver has recently experienced conflicts with other Clark County communities because of rapid growth in the area. The city's first annexation more than doubled its size in 1909, with the largest annexation of 1997 adding 11258 acres (45.6 km²) and 58,171 residents. As a result of urban growth and the 1997 annexation, Vancouver is often thought of as split between two areas, East and West Vancouver, divided by NE Andresen Road. West Vancouver is home to downtown Vancouver and some of the more historical parts of the city, as well as recent high-density mixed-use development.
More than one-third of the Vancouver urban area's population lives in unincorporated urban area north of the city limits, including the communities of Hazel Dell
Hazel Dell, Washington
Hazel Dell is an unincorporated area of Clark County, Washington located north and west of Vancouver, Washington, USA. The area runs parallel to and is bisected by Interstate 5...
, Felida
Felida, Washington
Felida is a census-designated place in Clark County, Washington, United States. The population was 5,683 at the 2000 census.Based on per capita income, one of the more reliable measures of affluence, Felida ranks 51st of 522 areas in the state of Washington to be ranked.-Geography:Felida is...
, Orchards
Orchards, Washington
Orchards is a census-designated place in Clark County, Washington, United States. The population was 17,852 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Orchards is located at ....
and Salmon Creek
Salmon Creek, Washington
Salmon Creek is a census-designated place in Clark County, Washington, United States. The population was 16,767 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Salmon Creek is located at ....
. If county leaders had approved a major annexation plan in 2006, Vancouver would have passed Tacoma and Spokane
Spokane, Washington
Spokane is a city located in the Northwestern United States in the state of Washington. It is the largest city of Spokane County of which it is also the county seat, and the metropolitan center of the Inland Northwest region...
to become the state's second-largest city.
Downtown revitalization
In 1997 the city of Vancouver decided to dedicate the next 15–20 years to redevelop and revitalize a huge portion of the downtown core. The first projects started in the early 2000s with the construction of many tall condominiumCondominium
A condominium, or condo, is the form of housing tenure and other real property where a specified part of a piece of real estate is individually owned while use of and access to common facilities in the piece such as hallways, heating system, elevators, exterior areas is executed under legal rights...
structures around Esther Short park
Esther Short Park
Esther Short Park is a public park and town square located in downtown Vancouver, Washington. Established in 1853, it is the oldest public park in the state of Washington. It has been called the "oldest public park in the West" by some, but was created after Lafayette Park in St. Louis, Missouri. ...
and in the Uptown Village neighborhood. The most lauded outside investment was the construction of a Hilton
Hilton Hotels
Hilton Hotels & Resorts is an international chain of full-service hotels and resorts founded by Conrad Hilton and now owned by Hilton Worldwide. Hilton hotels are either owned by, managed by, or franchised to independent operators by Hilton Worldwide. Hilton Hotels became the first coast-to-coast...
hotel directly across from the park. Currently the city is building a new shopping complex, including a recently finished Fred Meyer
Fred Meyer
Fred Meyer, Inc., is a chain of hypermarkets founded in 1922 in Portland, Oregon, by Fred G. Meyer. The company was one of the pioneers of one-stop shopping, eventually combining a complete grocery supermarket with a drugstore, clothing store, shoe store, fine jewelers, home decor store, home...
, just outside of the downtown core.
The Columbian
The Columbian
The Columbian is a daily newspaper for Vancouver, Washington and Clark County in Washington State in the United States. The paper was published for its first decade as a four page daily that was meant as a counterweight to the local Republican newspaper The Independent. Printer Tom Carolan began...
newspaper finished building a new seven-story building adjacent to the Hilton in 2008 which due to financial strains in the company remained vacant and unused. Early in 2010, The Columbian filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and the building defaulted to Bank of America
Bank of America
Bank of America Corporation, an American multinational banking and financial services corporation, is the second largest bank holding company in the United States by assets, and the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by market capitalization. The bank is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina...
. In statement issued June 3, 2010 by City Manager Pat McDonnell, the City of Vancouver has reached a tentative agreement to purchase the former downtown Columbian office building for a fraction of the construction cost. Under the terms of the pending deal, the city will buy the two-year-old building and 5.14 acres (20,800.9 m²) for $18.5 million for use as a new city hall. Before giving up the building in bankruptcy, the owners of The Columbian office building had been asking $41.5 million. By making the move, the city will save $1 million annually it pays on leases to house about 300 employees in about five buildings around the city, McDonnell said in his announcement.
There are plans in the future for a new development along C Street in downtown that would include a new library, a new Marriott
Marriott International
Marriott International, Inc. is a worldwide operator and franchisor of a broad portfolio of hotels and related lodging facilities. Founded by J. Willard Marriott, the company is now led by son J.W. Marriott, Jr...
hotel and roughly 250 new condominiums. Other planned projects include:
- Library Square – Mixed use project which includes a condominiums building, hotel/condominiums building, offices building, and a new main library.
- The Luxe – 6 story offices and condominiums building.
- Waterfront Redevelopment – Which include 10K Residents Envision, Retails, Offices, Parks, and more.
- Prestige Plaza – 6 story building which includes condominiums and offices.
- Columbia river crossing – project in which a new 10-lane bridge and transit will be built along Interstate 5 from Jantzen Beach area to downtown Vancouver
Geography and climate
Vancouver is located at 45°38′1″ North, 122°36′11″ West (45.633743, −122.603011) just north of the Columbia RiverColumbia 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...
, just west of where the Columbia River Gorge
Columbia River Gorge
The Columbia River Gorge is a canyon of the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Up to deep, the canyon stretches for over as the river winds westward through the Cascade Range forming the boundary between the State of Washington to the north and Oregon to the south...
bisects the volcanic Cascade Range
Cascade Range
The Cascade Range is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, and the notable volcanoes known as the High Cascades...
and just east of where the Willamette River
Willamette River
The Willamette River is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States...
enters the Columbia. The city of Vancouver is in the Western Lowlands region of Washington. When clouds do not blanket the Puget-Willamette trough formed by the Cascade and Coast Range
Oregon Coast Range
The Oregon Coast Range, often called simply the Coast Range and sometimes the Pacific Coast Range, is a mountain range, in the Pacific Coast Ranges physiographic region, in the U.S. state of Oregon along the Pacific Ocean...
, Mount Hood
Mount Hood
Mount Hood, called Wy'east by the Multnomah tribe, is a stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc of northern Oregon. It was formed by a subduction zone and rests in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States...
, Mount Saint Helens, and Mount Adams
Mount Adams (Washington)
Mount Adams is a potentially activestratovolcano in the Cascade Range and the second-highest mountain in the U.S. state of Washington.Adams is a member of the Cascade Volcanic Arc, and is one of the arc's largest volcanoes,...
are all visible from Vancouver.
According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the city has a total area of 46.1 mi2, of which 7.14% water.
Vancouver lies just north of Portland, Oregon and shares a similar climate. Both are classified as dry-summer subtropical (Csb) on the Köppen climate classification
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by Crimea German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen himself, notably in 1918 and 1936...
, with certain key exceptions. High pressures east of the Cascade Range
Cascade Range
The Cascade Range is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, and the notable volcanoes known as the High Cascades...
create something of a venturi effect
Venturi effect
The Venturi effect is the reduction in fluid pressure that results when a fluid flows through a constricted section of pipe. The Venturi effect is named after Giovanni Battista Venturi , an Italian physicist.-Background:...
, leading to cold east winds down the Columbia River Gorge. Unsheltered by the Willamette Valley
Willamette Valley
The Willamette Valley is the most populated region in the state of Oregon of the United States. Located in the state's northwest, the region is surrounded by tall mountain ranges to the east, west and south and the valley's floor is broad, flat and fertile because of Ice Age conditions...
, Vancouver has historically seen colder temperatures, including "silver thaw" storms where freezing rain cakes limbs and power lines. Such storms can paralyze Vancouver. They frequently froze the river, and in 1916 cut electric power in the city for almost two weeks. Rainfall occurs frequently throughout the fall, winter, and spring, but ceases around the middle of June, with dry and warm weather lasting through September. Average annual precipitation is 42 inches (1,066.8 mm). Heavy snowfalls are infrequent and snow often falls and doesn't stick, with major snowstorms only occurring every 2–4 years. Close proximity to the river was also a concern for flooding, before dams constricted the river, destroying features such as Celilo Falls
Celilo Falls
Celilo Falls was a tribal fishing area on the Columbia River, just east of the Cascade Mountains, on what is today the border between the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington...
. Periodic floods have been a nuisance, with two of the most destructive in June 1894 and May, 1948. The 1948 Memorial Day
Memorial Day
Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War...
flood almost topped the Interstate Bridge's support piers and completely destroyed nearby Vanport, Oregon
Vanport, Oregon
Vanport City was a hastily constructed city of public housing located in Multnomah County, Oregon, United States, between the contemporary Portland city boundary and the Columbia River. It is currently the site of Delta Park and the Portland International Raceway.It was constructed in 1943 to house...
. Other unusual storms include the Columbus Day
Columbus Day
Many countries in the New World and elsewhere celebrate the anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas, which occurred on October 12, 1492, as an official holiday...
windstorm of 1962 and an April 5, 1972 tornado
1972 Portland-Vancouver Tornado
The 1972 Portland–Vancouver Tornado was a destructive tornado that struck on April 5, 1972. The tornado carved a nine mile path of destruction across Oregon and Washington. The tornado left 6 people dead, 301 injured and $3–5 million dollars in damage...
which rated F3 on the Fujita scale
Fujita scale
The Fujita scale , or Fujita-Pearson scale, is a scale for rating tornado intensity, based primarily on the damage tornadoes inflict on human-built structures and vegetation...
, striking a local school. A F1 tornado struck on January 10, 2008 just after noon causing moderate damage along a 2 miles (3.2 km) path from Vancouver Lake to the unincorporated Hazel Dell area.
Because of its proximity to Portland, many people who live in Vancouver work in Portland. In 2003, 70% of workers in Vancouver worked in Clark County. Those who live in Clark County and work in Oregon have to pay Oregon's relatively high income tax
Income tax
An income tax is a tax levied on the income of individuals or businesses . Various income tax systems exist, with varying degrees of tax incidence. Income taxation can be progressive, proportional, or regressive. When the tax is levied on the income of companies, it is often called a corporate...
. (Washington State does not have such a tax.) Additionally, they may choose to shop in Portland to take advantage of a wider variety of shopping choices, and the fact that Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
has no sales tax
Sales tax
A sales tax is a tax, usually paid by the consumer at the point of purchase, itemized separately from the base price, for certain goods and services. The tax amount is usually calculated by applying a percentage rate to the taxable price of a sale....
. However, there is a risk in such avoidance because Washington does have a use tax that is due on all purchases made in Oregon that are then returned to Washington. Vancouver residents "shop at their own risk" when attempting to avoid the sales tax in Washington, although the rule is rarely, if ever, enforced (except for purchases requiring registration, such as motor vehicles).
Because many Vancouver residents work in Portland, there is typically significant rush hour traffic congestion on two bridges that cross the Columbia River — the Interstate Bridge
Interstate Bridge
The Interstate Bridge is a pair of nearly identical steel vertical-lift, through-truss bridges that carry Interstate 5 traffic over the Columbia River between Vancouver, Washington, and Portland, Oregon, in the United States...
and the Glenn Jackson Bridge. In 2006 there were 278,043 weekday vehicle crossings on the two bridges.
Demographics
As of the census of 2008, there were 164,000 people in Vancouver alone but an estimated 2,250,000 people in the Portland-Vancouver Metro area. As of the 2000 census there were 56,628 households, and 36,298 families living in the city. The population density is 3,354.7 people per square mile (1,295.4/km²). There were 60,039 housing units at an average density of 1,403.0 per square mile (541.7/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 84.81% White, 2.50% African American, 0.97% Native American, 4.51% Asian, 0.54% Pacific Islander, 2.86% from other races, and 3.80% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.29% of the population. 16.4% were of German, 9.2% English, 8.4% Irish and 7.9% American ancestry according to Census 2000. 89.2% spoke English, 5.1% Spanish, 3.2% Russian, 1.4% UkrainianUkrainian language
Ukrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet....
and 1.1% Vietnamese
Vietnamese language
Vietnamese is the national and official language of Vietnam. It is the mother tongue of 86% of Vietnam's population, and of about three million overseas Vietnamese. It is also spoken as a second language by many ethnic minorities of Vietnam...
as their first language. A large increase in persons with Russian or Ukrainian as their primary language has occurred.
There were 56,628 households out of which 33.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.3% were married couples living together, 12.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.9% were non-families. 27.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 3.06.
In the city the population was spread out, with 26.7% under the age of 18, 9.8% from 18 to 24, 32.1% from 25 to 44, 20.6% from 45 to 64, and 10.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 96.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.8 males.
The median
Median
In probability theory and statistics, a median is described as the numerical value separating the higher half of a sample, a population, or a probability distribution, from the lower half. The median of a finite list of numbers can be found by arranging all the observations from lowest value to...
income for a household in the city was $41,618, and the median income for a family was $47,696. Males had a median income of $37,306 versus $26,940 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 city was $20,192. 9.4% of families and 12.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.1% of those under the age of 18 and 8.2% of those 65 and older.
Economy
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...
people, the Hudson's Bay Company
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
pioneered extractive industries such as the fur trade
Fur trade
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of world market for in the early modern period furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most valued...
and timber. Subsistence agricultural gave way to market and export crops such as apples, strawberries and prunes. Largely bypassed by the railroad in the 1880s, when the Oregon Steam Navigation company would ferry trains across the river downstream from St. Helens, Oregon
St. Helens, Oregon
St. Helens is the county seat of Columbia County, Oregon. It was founded by Captain H. M. Knighton, a native of New England, in 1845 as "Plymouth". The name was changed to St. Helens in the latter part of 1850 for its view of Mount St. Helens some away in Washington. The population was 10,019 at...
to Kalama, Washington
Kalama, Washington
Kalama is a city in Cowlitz County, Washington, United States. It is part of the 'Longview, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area'. The population was 2,344 at the 2010 census.-History:...
, early downtown development was focused around Washington Street (where ferries arrived), lumber and Vancouver Barracks activities such as a large spruce mill for manufacturing airplanes. A 1908 railroad swing bridge
Swing bridge
A swing bridge is a movable bridge that has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its centre of gravity, about which the turning span can then pivot horizontally as shown in the animated illustration to the right...
across the Columbia allowed greater industrial developments such as the Standifer Shipyard during the first world war. With the Interstate Bridge and Bonneville Dam
Bonneville Dam
Bonneville Lock and Dam consists of several run-of-the-river dam structures that together complete a span of the Columbia River between the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington at River Mile 146.1. The dam is located east of Portland, Oregon, in the Columbia River Gorge. The primary functions of...
Vancouver saw an industrial boom in the 1940s, including the Kaiser shipyard
Kaiser Shipyards
The Kaiser Shipyards were seven major shipbuilding yards located mostly on the U.S. west coast during World War II. They were owned by the Kaiser Shipbuilding Company, a creation of American industrialist Henry J...
and Alcoa
Alcoa
Alcoa Inc. is the world's third largest producer of aluminum, behind Rio Tinto Alcan and Rusal. From its operational headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Alcoa conducts operations in 31 countries...
, as well as a Boise Cascade
Boise Cascade
Boise Cascade Holdings, LLC, which uses the trade name Boise, is an American pulp and paper company, ranked as the thirteenth largest forest products company in the world....
paper mill, just west of the Interstate Bridge.
As the old-growth forests were depleted and heavy industry left the United States, Vancouver's economy has largely changed to high tech and service industry jobs, with many residents commuting to Portland. Vancouver contains the corporate headquarters for Nautilus, Inc.
Nautilus, Inc.
Nautilus, Inc. , located in Vancouver, Washington, United States, is the marketer, developer, and manufacturer of branded health and fitness products sold under such names as Bowflex, Nautilus, PEARL iZUMi, Schwinn Fitness, StairMaster, Trimline and Universal.Nautilus and its corporate...
and The Holland (parent company of the Burgerville, USA
Burgerville, USA
Burgerville is a privately held American restaurant chain in Oregon and southwest Washington, owned by The Holland Inc. As the chain's name suggests, Burgerville's sandwich menu consists mostly of hamburgers, though it also offers chicken and turkey sandwiches, vegetarian burgers, and halibut fish...
restaurant chain).
Downtown is home to a variety of independently owned small businesses, while outer areas are dominated by strip mall
Strip mall
A strip mall is an open-area shopping center where the stores are arranged in a row, with a sidewalk in front. Strip malls are typically developed as a unit and have large parking lots in front...
s and franchise stores.
Vancouver is increasingly popular with retirees, partially because of its proximity to Portland and the absence of a state income tax in Washington.
Largest Employers
According to the City's 2009 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the largest employers in the city are:| # | Employer | # of Employees |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vancouver Public Schools Vancouver Public Schools Vancouver Public Schools is a school district in Vancouver, Washington covering of land in Clark county.-Schools:Vancouver High School stood for many years at the intersection of Columbia and West Fourth Plain Boulevard, but was closed down in the mid-1950's, with students split between two new... |
3,358 |
| 2 | Evergreen Public Schools | 3,076 |
| 3 | Southwest Washington Medical Center | 2,556 |
| 4 | County of Clark Clark County, Washington Clark County is a county located in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Washington, across the Columbia River from Portland, Oregon.Clark County was the first county of Washington, named after William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition... |
1,925 |
| 5 | Hewlett-Packard Hewlett-Packard Hewlett-Packard Company or HP is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA that provides products, technologies, softwares, solutions and services to consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses and large enterprises, including... |
1,800 |
| 6 | Fred Meyer Fred Meyer Fred Meyer, Inc., is a chain of hypermarkets founded in 1922 in Portland, Oregon, by Fred G. Meyer. The company was one of the pioneers of one-stop shopping, eventually combining a complete grocery supermarket with a drugstore, clothing store, shoe store, fine jewelers, home decor store, home... |
1,543 |
| 7 | SEH America Shin-Etsu Chemical is the largest chemical company in Japan, ranked No. 9 in Forbes Global 2000 for chemical sector. Shin-Etsu has the largest global market share for polyvinyl chloride, semiconductor silicon and photomask substrates.... |
1,190 |
| 8 | City of Vancouver | 1,097 |
| 9 | Wells Fargo Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational diversified financial services company with operations around the world. Wells Fargo is the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by assets and the largest bank by market capitalization. Wells Fargo is the second largest bank in deposits, home... |
840 |
| 10 | Kaiser Permanente Kaiser Permanente Kaiser Permanente is an integrated managed care consortium, based in Oakland, California, United States, founded in 1945 by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and physician Sidney Garfield... |
785 |
Public schools
Vancouver has two school districts: Vancouver Public SchoolsVancouver Public Schools
Vancouver Public Schools is a school district in Vancouver, Washington covering of land in Clark county.-Schools:Vancouver High School stood for many years at the intersection of Columbia and West Fourth Plain Boulevard, but was closed down in the mid-1950's, with students split between two new...
and Evergreen School District.
The Vancouver Public Schools cover most of west Vancouver and has six high schools: Hudson's Bay High School
Hudson's Bay High School
Hudson's Bay High School is located in Vancouver, Washington, USA, in the Central Park area of Vancouver. Hudson's Bay is known for having two strong magnet programs, as well as a children's day care and district-wide mothers transportation program. It is located across from Clark College, where...
, Columbia River High School
Columbia River High School
Columbia River High School is a public high school in Vancouver, Washington, United States. It is part of the . The school was opened to students in 1964. Columbia River has over 1,300 students...
, Fort Vancouver High School
Fort Vancouver High School
Fort Vancouver High School, known as FVHS, is a public high school located in Vancouver, Washington. It is named after Fort Vancouver, an early trading outpost...
, Lewis and Clark High School, Skyview High School
Skyview High School (Vancouver, Washington)
Skyview High School is a high school located in the Salmon Creek area of northern Vancouver, Washington. Opening its doors in 1997, it is the newest of six high schools in the Vancouver School District. The New Building design model incorporates an open classroom floor plan with the use of many...
, and the Vancouver School of Arts and Academics
Vancouver School of Arts and Academics
The Vancouver School of Arts and Academics , located in Vancouver, Washington in the Vancouver School District, is a public arts magnet school for grades 6 to 12...
(grades 6–12). It also has six middle schools: Alki Middle School
Alki Middle School
Alki Middle School is a Middle school located in Vancouver, Washington inside the boundaries of the Vancouver School District. It houses grades 6-8. See below for information on "Houses"....
, Discovery Middle School, Gaiser Middle School, Jason Lee Middle School
Jason Lee Middle School (Vancouver)
Jason Lee Middle SchoolPrincipalSusan ConeAssistant PrincipalBrian LudermanAssistant PrincipalValerie SeeleyLocationVancouver, WashingtonSchool typePublicSchool MascotPanther-History:...
, Thomas Jefferson Middle School, and McLoughlin Middle School.
Vancouver Public School's elementary schools include Sarah J. Anderson, Chinook, Eisenhower, Felida, Ben Franklin, Fruit Valley Community Learning Center, Harney, Hazel Dell, Hough, Martin Luther King, Lake Shore, Lincoln, Marshall, Minnehaha, Peter S. Ogden, Eleanor Roosevelt, Sacajawea, Salmon Creek, Truman, Walnut Grove, and Washington.
The Evergreen School District covers most of east Vancouver and has six high schools: Evergreen High School
Evergreen High School (Vancouver, Washington)
Evergreen High School is a public high school located in Vancouver, Washington. It was founded shortly after the district was formed in 1945. Evergreen was the first high school in the Evergreen Public Schools.-Facilities:...
, Mountain View High School
Mountain View High School (Washington)
Opened in 1981, Mountain View High School, located in Vancouver, Washington, is a public school in the Evergreen School District. In 2009, the enrollment was 1716...
, Heritage High School, Union High School
Union High School (Camas, Washington)
Union High School is an American public high school in Camas, Clark County, Washington. Founded in 2007, Union is the newest school in the Evergreen Public Schools. The campus was completed in July 2007. Union High School's principal is Brian Grimsted. Union's school colors are Black, Silver,...
, Legacy High School, and the Clark County Skills Center.
The district also consists of six middle schools: Covington Middle School, Cascade Middle School, Frontier Middle School, Pacific Middle School, Wy'East Middle School, and Shahala Middle School.
Evergreen School District's elementary schools include Burton, Hearthwood, Ellsworth, Image, Orchards, Sunset, Silver Star, Sifton, Pioneer, Burnt Bridge Creek (BBC), York, Crestline, Riverview, Marrion, Fisher's Landing, Mill Plain, Columbia Valley, Harmony, Illahee, and Endeavour.
Vancouver is also home to the Washington School for the Deaf and Washington State School for the Blind, and Home Choice Academy, a school for home-schoolers.
Colleges and universities
- Clark CollegeClark College (Washington)Clark College is a community college located in Vancouver, Washington.The college, which celebrated its 75th anniversary on October 1, 2008, was founded as a private, two-year, junior college in 1933...
(two year) - Washington State University, Vancouver
Architecture and notable buildings
Mother JosephMother Joseph
Mother Joseph of the Sacred Heart, S.P., was born Esther Pariseau in Saint-Elzéar, Quebec, Canada...
was one of the first architects in the region, and because of its relatively long history, Vancouver contains a variety of buildings. Homes vary from Victorians
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
and craftsman bungalows downtown, to small wartime tract housing
Tract housing
Tract housing is a style of housing development in which multiple similar homes are built on a tract of land which is subdivided into individual small lots...
and ranch-styles
Ranch-style house
Ranch-style houses is a domestic architectural style originating in the United States. First built in the 1920s, the ranch style was extremely popular amongst the booming post-war middle class of the 1940s to 1970s...
mid-town, with rural styles and larger homes in the outer ring. In addition to the reconstructed Fort Vancouver
Fort Vancouver
Fort Vancouver was a 19th century fur trading outpost along the Columbia River that served as the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company in the company's Columbia District...
at the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site
Fort Vancouver National Historic Site
Fort Vancouver National Historic Site is a United States National Historic Site located in the states of Washington and Oregon. The National Historic Site consists of two units, one located on the site of Fort Vancouver in modern-day Vancouver, Washington; the other being the former residence of...
, the city was named one of the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
' "Dozen Distinctive Destinations" for 2003.
Other notable buildings in Vancouver include:
- The Covington HouseCovington House (Vancouver, Washington)The Covington House historic cabin in Vancouver, Washington, was built by Richard and Charlotte "Anna" Covington born, raised and married in London, England who travelled by ship around Cape Horn/South America, stopping at the Sandwich Islands/Hawaii and finally arriving at Fort Vancouver in the...
at 4201 Main Street, a log cabinLog cabinA log cabin is a house built from logs. It is a fairly simple type of log house. A distinction should be drawn between the traditional meanings of "log cabin" and "log house." Historically most "Log cabins" were a simple one- or 1½-story structures, somewhat impermanent, and less finished or less...
and boarding schoolBoarding schoolA boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
built 1846-1848. - Officers RowOfficers RowOfficers Row, a part of the Vancouver National Historic Reserve, is a congregation of 21 of the former homes of U.S. military officers stationed at the Vancouver Barracks in Vancouver, Washington. The oldest of the homes, named the Grant House Officers Row, a part of the Vancouver National Historic...
, including The Grant House (first house on the Columbia Barracks) and the Queen AnneQueen Anne Style architectureThe Queen Anne Style in Britain means either the English Baroque architectural style roughly of the reign of Queen Anne , or a revived form that was popular in the last quarter of the 19th century and the early decades of the 20th century...
-style 1866 Marshall House - Mother JosephMother JosephMother Joseph of the Sacred Heart, S.P., was born Esther Pariseau in Saint-Elzéar, Quebec, Canada...
's Providence Academy, constructed in 1868, where Evergreen Boulevard crosses Interstate 5Interstate 5 in WashingtonInterstate 5 in Washington is a highway in the U.S. state of Washington that extends from its border with Oregon to its border with Canada... - St. James Catholic ChurchSt. James Catholic Church (Vancouver, Washington)St. James Catholic Church is a church building and parish of the Roman Catholic Church located in Vancouver, Washington, United States. The parish is part of the Archdiocese of Seattle and traces its roots to the initial arrival of missionary priests in the Oregon Country in the 1830s; its first...
(originally St. James Cathedral), saw its first Roman Catholic mass celebrated August 16, 1885 - The Carnegie LibraryCarnegie LibraryCarnegie Library, Carnegie Public Library, Carnegie Free Library, Carnegie Free Public Library, Andrew Carnegie Library, Andrew Carnegie Free Library or Carnegie Library Building may refer to any of the following Carnegie libraries:- California :*Carnegie Library , listed on the National Register...
at Sixteenth and Main, which opened on New Year's Eve, 1909, to showcase its unusual electric lights - The 1914 Chicago-styleChicago school (architecture)Chicago's architecture is famous throughout the world and one style is referred to as the Chicago School. The style is also known as Commercial style. In the history of architecture, the Chicago School was a school of architects active in Chicago at the turn of the 20th century...
U.S. National Bank (now the Heritage Building) at sixth and Main - The 1916 U.S. Post OfficeUnited States Postal ServiceThe United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...
at 1211 Daniels Street - The vertical-lift Interstate BridgeInterstate BridgeThe Interstate Bridge is a pair of nearly identical steel vertical-lift, through-truss bridges that carry Interstate 5 traffic over the Columbia River between Vancouver, Washington, and Portland, Oregon, in the United States...
, which opened on February 14, 1917, OregonOregonOregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
's 58th anniversary - The 1935 art decoArt DecoArt deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
telephone exchange building at Eleventh and Washington - The 1941 Clark County courthouse, designed by prolific local architect Day Hillborn
- Smith Tower, a round downtown apartment building for the elderly, built in 1965
- The Hilton Hotel and Vancouver Convention Center across from Esther Short park
Many of these buildings have been re-purposed. The 1867 Slocum House, an Italianate villa style residence originally built one block south of its current location in Esther Short Park
Esther Short Park
Esther Short Park is a public park and town square located in downtown Vancouver, Washington. Established in 1853, it is the oldest public park in the state of Washington. It has been called the "oldest public park in the West" by some, but was created after Lafayette Park in St. Louis, Missouri. ...
. It was moved to its present location at Esther Short Park in 1966 and now houses a community theatre company. The Carnegie Library was expanded in the 1940s, becoming the Clark County Historical Museum after a new library was built in 1963. Other buildings have been torn down for urban renewal or renovated to house professional offices such as lawyers and accountants.
Art and Culture
Vancouver has recently seen a revitalization of local art and cultural events. In 2010 there was a movement among local artists to form cooperatives and meet with established local gallery owners for a monthly forum known as "Art Conversations". Much of Vancouver's art scene is located in Downtown Vancouver.Film and Theatre
The Kiggins Theatre
Kiggins Theatre
The Kiggins Theatre is a single-screen movie theater in Vancouver, Washington. Named for former Vancouver mayor and businessman John P. Kiggins, it opened in 1936. It is located at 1011 Main Street in downtown Vancouver.-Architecture:...
located within the Downtown Vancouver Art District, was built in 1936 by architect Day Hillborn and still is in use as a classic independent
Independent business
In business, an independent business as a term of distinction generally refers to privately owned companies . Independent businesses most commonly take the form of sole-proprietorships...
theatre
Movie theater
A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....
, it was named for J.P. Kiggins, an entrepreneur and politician who cut a swath through town in the early 20th century, serving as Vancouver's mayor for 15 non-consecutive years between 1908 and 1935.
Annual events
Since the mid-1960s, Vancouver hosted a Fourth of July fireworksFireworks
Fireworks are a class of explosive pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. The most common use of a firework is as part of a fireworks display. A fireworks event is a display of the effects produced by firework devices...
display on the grounds of Fort Vancouver National Historic Site
Fort Vancouver National Historic Site
Fort Vancouver National Historic Site is a United States National Historic Site located in the states of Washington and Oregon. The National Historic Site consists of two units, one located on the site of Fort Vancouver in modern-day Vancouver, Washington; the other being the former residence of...
that drew many people to the city. The display routinely ran to 45 minutes, attracted up to 60,000 visitors and was broadcast on area television, one of the largest west of the Mississippi River. Due to the death of key organizer "Mister Fireworks" Jim Larson and a poor economy, the show was not held in 2009. A shorter, redesigned 2010 show charged admission and brought in approximately 35,000 people.
Late August features the Vancouver Wine and Jazz Festival in Esther Short Park, the largest jazz festival in SW Washington.
Each September sees St. Joseph Catholic School host the Vancouver Sausage Fest, drawing attendance upwards of 100,000 over three days.
Local media
Vancouver is located within the Portland media market for print, radio, and television media. It does however serve as the hometown for some media.- The ColumbianThe ColumbianThe Columbian is a daily newspaper for Vancouver, Washington and Clark County in Washington State in the United States. The paper was published for its first decade as a four page daily that was meant as a counterweight to the local Republican newspaper The Independent. Printer Tom Carolan began...
- The Independent - A student-operated newspaper of Clark CollegeClark College (Washington)Clark College is a community college located in Vancouver, Washington.The college, which celebrated its 75th anniversary on October 1, 2008, was founded as a private, two-year, junior college in 1933...
published weekly during the Fall, Winter and Spring terms of the academic year. - The OregonianThe OregonianThe Oregonian is the major daily newspaper in Portland, Oregon, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 1850...
(based in Portland, Oregon; this paper also covers some southwest Washington news) - The VanCougar - Weekly newspaper of Washington State University Vancouver
- The Vancouver Business Journal covers local business news http://www.vbjusa.com/
- The Vancouver VoiceThe Vancouver VoiceThe Vancouver Voice was an alternative newspaper serving Clark County and Southwest Washington in the United States, with a focus on the area's largest city, Vancouver. It ceased publication with volume 5, issue 13 of August 19, 2011.-History:...
was southwest Washington's only alternative periodical, published from 2006-2011.
Transportation
Interstate 5 in Washington
Interstate 5 in Washington is a highway in the U.S. state of Washington that extends from its border with Oregon to its border with Canada...
and I-205
Interstate 205 (Oregon-Washington)
Interstate 205 is a loop route that serves the Portland—Vancouver metropolitan area in the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington. I-205 is officially named the War Veterans Memorial Freeway, and is also known as the East Portland Freeway...
, both of which run north–south, across the 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...
into Portland and toward Seattle. It also has two heavily travelled state highway
State highway
State highway, state road or state route can refer to one of three related concepts, two of them related to a state or provincial government in a country that is divided into states or provinces :#A...
s within the city limits. SR 14 begins at I-5 in downtown Vancouver and makes its way east. It is a freeway all the way until Camas
Camas, Washington
Camas is a city in Clark County, Washington, with a population of 19,355 at the 2010 census. Officially incorporated on June 18, 1906, the city is named after the camas lily, a plant with an onion-like bulb prized by Native Americans. At the west end of downtown Camas is a large Georgia-Pacific...
. SR 500
Washington State Route 500
State Route 500, commonly known as SR 500, Highway 500, or 500, is a Washington state highway located in Clark County, Washington, United States.-Route description:...
begins from I-5 at 39th Street in north Vancouver, travels east connecting with I-205, and continues east into the suburb of Orchards where the freeway terminates at Fourth Plain Boulevard, and meets with the south end of north-south-oriented 117th Ave., SR 503
Washington State Route 503
State Route 503, also known as the St. Helens South Roadway, is a state route through the state of Washington. It has a spur route, State Route 503 Spur. It has a Southern terminus at State Route 500 and a Northern terminus at Interstate 5....
. A third state highway, SR 501
Washington State Route 501
State Route 501 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Washington.- Segment 1 :SR 501 starts at its southern terminus at Interstate 5 in Vancouver, continuing west on Mill Plain Boulevard and north on Northwest Lower River Road to a wash-out west of Vancouver.- Segment 2 :SR 501 resumes at the...
, starts at I-5 and heads west through downtown and continues along a path that runs between the Columbia River and Vancouver Lake
Vancouver Lake
Vancouver Lake is a large lake just west of Vancouver, Washington, United States, north of the Columbia River and Portland, Oregon), south of Ridgefield, Washington and the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge....
. Route 501 – SR501 dead ends a few miles north of Vancouver.
The Port of Vancouver USA operates a port on the Columbia River, which separates Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
to the south and Washington to the north. It handles over 400 ocean-going vessels annually, as well as a number of barges which ply the river and its tributaries as far as Lewiston, Idaho
Lewiston, Idaho
Lewiston is a city in and also the county seat of Nez Perce County in the Pacific Northwest state of Idaho. It is the second-largest city in the northern Idaho region, behind Coeur d'Alene and ninth-largest in the state. Lewiston is the principal city of the Lewiston, ID - Clarkston, WA...
.
The area's mass transit system is C-TRAN, the Clark County Public Transportation Benefit Area Authority, which operates 135 buses, vanpools, and paratransit vehicles. There are also a number of express routes into Portland's downtown.
In 1995, Clark County voters defeated a ballot measure that would have funded extension of Portland's MAX Light Rail system north into Vancouver. Opposition to paying for light rail was strong at that time, but slowly declined over the following several years, eventually leading Vancouver officials to begin discussing the idea again. Meanwhile, TriMet
TriMet
TriMet, more formally known as the Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon, is a public agency that operates mass transit in a region that spans most of the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon...
reconstituted its planned MAX line to Vancouver as a shorter line running only within Portland, which potentially could later be extended across the river and into Clark County. This extension of the MAX system opened in 2004 as the Yellow Line
MAX Yellow Line
The MAX Yellow Line is a 5.8-mile route in the Metropolitan Area Express light rail system in Portland, Oregon. The route, which opened May 1, 2004, runs between Portland State University , in downtown Portland, and the Portland Expo Center...
, running as far north as the Portland Expo Center
Portland Metropolitan Exposition Center
The Portland Metropolitan Exposition Center, usually referred to as the Expo Center, is a convention center located in the Kenton neighborhood of Portland, Oregon. Opened in the early 1920s as a livestock exhibition and auction facility, the Expo Center now hosts over 100 events a year, including...
, approximately 1 miles (2 km) south of downtown Vancouver.
Vancouver has always been well served by rail; current freight railroads operating in Vancouver include the BNSF
BNSF Railway
The BNSF Railway is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. It is one of seven North American Class I railroads and the second largest freight railroad network in North America, second only to the Union Pacific Railroad, its primary...
, Union Pacific
Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....
, and the local shortline Lewis and Clark Railway
Lewis and Clark Railway
The Lewis and Clark Railway is a county-owned railroad located in Clark County, Washington. The line is 33 miles long, beginning at the BNSF interchange at Rye Junction in Vancouver, Washington and stretching northeast, passing through Brush Prairie and Battle Ground to the line's northern end...
. Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
, the national passenger rail system, provides service to Vancouver. Three routes, the Coast Starlight
Coast Starlight
The Coast Starlight is a passenger train operated by Amtrak on the West Coast of the United States. It runs from King Street Station in Seattle, Washington, to Union Station in Los Angeles, California. The train's name was formed as a merging of two of Southern Pacific's train names, the Coast...
, the Empire Builder
Empire Builder
The Empire Builder is a passenger train route operated by Amtrak in the Midwestern and Northwestern United States. It is Amtrak's busiest long-distance route and busiest daily train, carrying more than 500,000 travelers annually since 2007. Overall, it is the railroad's 10th-busiest line. Before...
, and the Amtrak Cascades
Amtrak Cascades
The Amtrak Cascades is a passenger train route operated by Amtrak in partnership with the states of Washington and Oregon in the Pacific Northwest of the United States and the province of British Columbia in Canada...
serve the city.
Pearson Field
Pearson Field
Pearson Field , is a city-owned public-use airport located one mile southeast of the central business district of Vancouver, a city in Clark County, Washington, United States....
, located near downtown Vancouver, is the main airport serving the city. The airport is intended primarily for general aviation without any commercial air service. The nearest commercial airport is Portland International Airport
Portland International Airport
Portland International Airport is a joint civil-military airport and the largest airport in the U.S. state of Oregon, accounting for 90% of passenger travel and more than 95% of air cargo of the state. It is located within Portland's city limits just south of the Columbia River in Multnomah...
(PDX).
In 2008, Vancouver passed a citywide law requiring anyone on a wheeled device such as a bicycle, skateboard, scooter or skates to wear a helmet while on any sidewalk, street, trail or other public property. Many local cyclists opposed the law as a misuse of city funds and police efforts, as well as encroachment on personal freedoms. Despite opposition from the public, the Vancouver City Council passed the measure 5-1 with the mayor saying, "[S]tatistics be damned. I support this."
Sister cities
Vancouver has two sister citiesTown twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...
:
Joyo
Joyo, Kyoto
is a city located in Kyoto, Japan. It is halfway between Kyoto and Nara. It contains historical sites including the Shibagahara Tomb and Mito shrine.As of 2008, the city has an estimated population of 80,669 and the density of 2,540.09 persons per km²...
, Japan Arequipa
Arequipa
Arequipa is the capital city of the Arequipa Region in southern Peru. With a population of 836,859 it is the second most populous city of the country...
, Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
Source:
See also
People from Vancouver, WashingtonExternal links
- City of Vancouver Web Site, including sesquicentennial timeline
- Vancouver Chamber of Commerce Web Site
- Fort Vancouver National Historic Site