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Raymond

This 104 mile side trip cuts west across coastal range between Grays River Divide (to south) and P and E Ridge to north, going up Chehalis River valley, across Pe Ell Prairie, and coming out on west side along Willapa River thorugh Willapa River valley.

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The church is all that is left of Claquato, founded by Louis H. Davis in 1852, one of the earliest settlements in Lewis County, and the first county seat. The church among the oldest in Washington, stands on a hill beside an old cemetery. It was built as a Protestant Episcopal Church in 1856. The entire tower framing is mortise and tenon work of high quality; even the lookouts supporting...

Learn more about Claquato Church

Mile: 49

A timbered recreation area, it was named for rainbows which form in the falls under certain light conditions. A local story states has that it was named by George Onn of Dryad, for the Rainbow Division, which participated in World War I. The park features shoreline on the Chehalis River and 120-acres of old-growth timber. Five miles of shady trails wind through the park. A 200-foot cable footbridge, suspended over...

Learn more about Rainbow Falls State Park

Mile: 35

One of many lumber towns that were once on the Chehalis-South Bend branch of Northern Pacific Railway. The town was once two miles south of the present location, and was called Salal. It moved when Leudinghaus Brothers of Chehalis built a saw mill at the present site. Its name, supplied by the Northern Pacific Railway at the suggestion of W. C. Albee, who was superintendent of the South Bend branch...

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Mile: 34

A lumber town that was intended to be called Pierre, but became known as Pe Ell through the inability of the Native Americans to pronounce the “r’s” in the French name. The town was platted in 1891 by Omar Maurmann, first white settler; later many Polish families, attracted by the growing lumber industry, settled here. A large many-windowed Catholic church, a school, and a three-story rectory are among the outstanding...

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Mile: 38

The town once depended on a large sawmill and when the mill cut the available timber the place was nearly abandoned. It was named for Harry W. McCormick, owner of McCormick Lumber Company. Mr. McCormick became post master on May 31, 1899 and the post office operated until July 15, 1929 and the sawmill closed the next year. By 1941 the town was a ghost of a formerly thriving sawmill...

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Mile: 26

A lumber town, it was named for the lumber company of Walworth & Neville in 1903 taking the first syllable of Walworth and the last of Neville. An older name for the place is Rock Creek, taken from the nearby creek. By 1941the weathered but once pretentious offices and residences of the mill staff contrasted with the shabby shacks occupied by Japanese and other laborers, long since gone, like the...

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Mile: 25

The highest point between Chehalis and South Bend at the crest of a divide southeast of South Bend in east central Pacific County is called Pluvius. W. C. Albee, when superintendent of South Bend branch of Northern Pacific Railway, devised the name because of the heavy rainfall in the region. The name is an alteration of the Latin word Pluviosus which has the significance of heavy rains or precipitation. The...

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Mile: 22

Established when the Northern Pacific Railway lines were built through the Willapa Valley in the late 1880s. When John Brophy, a pioneer settler, platted a town site, he erected a large sign on the property which read Menlo Park, in memory of his former home in Menlo Park, California. Railway employees cut the sign in half, leaving only Menlo. The original name given to this station by Northern Pacific officials...

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Mile: 6

Willie Keil was 19 when he died in Missouri. His father, Dr. William Keil, was on his way to the Willapa Valley to start a religious colony of Germans and Swiss pioneers. Dr. Keil promised Willie that he could ride in the lead wagon of the wagon train, and he kept that promise by placing Willie’s body in a metal coffin filled with alcohol and bringing him to this site...

Learn more about Willie Keil Grave Site

Mile: 5

Settled in 1852 it is one of the oldest communities in the state. In the early days it was the head of navigation on the Willapa River, and a supply point for Willapa Valley, until the railroads were built. The first name was Woodard's Landing, for Samuel Lowell Woodard, the first settler, who arrived in 1852. When postal service was established, the present name became official. It is for the...

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A lively and independent little town on the estuary of the Willapa River. It derives its prosperity from lumber manufacture, oyster culture, and shipping; and the ups and downs of the lumber industry are markedly reflected in Raymond. In 1861, the schooner Willamette with its master and owner, Captain John Vail, was wrecked at the harbor entrance. Bearing no grudge for so costly an introduction to these shores, Vail homesteaded...

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Points of Interest
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Raymond Theater

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US Post Office

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Carnegie Library