Centralia () is a city in Lewis County, Washington, United States. It is located along Interstate 5 near the midpoint between Seattle and Portland, Oregon. The city had a population of 18,183 at the 2020 census. Centralia is twinned with Chehalis, located to the south near the confluence of the Chehalis and Newaukum rivers.
History
Skookumchuck The area was first settled by the Upper Chehalis people, who had several villages at the confluence of the Skookumchuck and Chehalis rivers. The first non-indigenous settlers arrived in 1845. In 1850, J. G. Cochran and his wife Anna were led there via the Oregon Trail by their adopted son, George Washington, a free African-American. The family feared Washington would be forced into slavery if they stayed in Missouri after the passage of the Compromise of 1850. Cochran filed a donation land claim near the Borst Home in 1852 and was able to sell his claim to Washington for $6,000 because unlike the neighboring Oregon Territory, there was no restriction against passing legal ownership of land to African Americans in the newly formed Washington Territory.
The town was originally called Skookumchuck after the nearby river, itself named for a Chinook Jargon word meaning "rapids." As it grew, local Upper Chehalis people continued to live there each summer for the harvest, and some took jobs in town. However, their community was devastated by a smallpox epidemic in 1852, and after they abandoned a nearby village, settlers burned it down. Skookumchuck settlers then built and moved into Fort Henness near the site, worried that the Upper Chehalis would attack them during the Puget Sound War. A few settlers remained in town, with one writing that he saw the fort as "injurious to our friendship". The Upper Chehalis did not fight in the war and remained connected to Skookumchuck. Although the Upper Chehalis had not signed the Treaty of Point Elliott due to concerns over the reservation terms, some moved to the Chehalis Reservation when it was created in 1864.
The Skookumchuck community was connected to the Columbia and Puget Sound regions via the first major road in the area in 1857. In the 1850s and 1860s, Centralia's Borst Home, at the confluence of the Chehalis and Skookumchuck Rivers, was the site of a toll ferry, and the halfway stopping point for stagecoaches operating between Kalama, Washington and Tacoma.
Centerville and Centralia Upon hearing of the imminent arrival of the Northern Pacific Railway (NP) in 1872, Washington and his wife, Mary Jane, filed a plat for the town of Centerville, naming the streets with a Biblical theme, and offering lots for $10 each with one lot free to buyers who built houses. Washington also donated land for a city park, a cemetery, and a Baptist church. Responding to new settlers' concern about a town in Klickitat County with the same name, the town was renamed Centralia by 1883, as suggested by a recent settler from Centralia, Illinois, and officially incorporated on February 3, 1886. The town's population boomed, then collapsed in the Panic of 1893, when the NP went bankrupt; entire city blocks were offered for as little as $50 with no takers. Washington (despite facing racial prejudice from some newcomers) made personal loans and forgave debt to keep the town afloat until the economy stabilized; the city then boomed again based on the coal, lumber and dairying industries. When Washington died in 1905, all businesses in the town closed, and 5,000 mourners attended his funeral. The city bestowed an honor to Washington in 2023 by declaring August 15, his recognized birthday, as Centralia's Founder's Day.
A large fire on June 26, 1908, part of a string of arson attempts spanning between the Twin Cities that month, decimated a block in the city's downtown district. The early morning blaze, which began at the Star Saloon, caused the loss of twelve buildings but only one person was reported injured.
On November 11, 1919, the Centralia Massacre occurred. Spurred on by local lumber barons, American Legionnaires (many of whom had returned from WWI to find their jobs filled by pro-union members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)), used the Armistice Day parade to attack the IWW hall. Marching unarmed, the Legionnaires broke from the parade and stormed the hall in an effort to bust union organizing efforts by what was seen to be a Bolshevik-inspired labor movement. IWW workers including recently returned WWI veteran Wesley Everest, stood their ground, engaged and killed four Legionnaires. Everest was captured, jailed and then brutally lynched. Other IWW members were also jailed. The event made international headlines, and coupled with similar actions in Everett, Washington and other lumber towns, stifled the American labor movement until the economic devastation of the 1930s Great Depression changed opinions about labor organizations.Wobbly War: The Centralia Story, John McClellan,
During the Great Depression, Centralia's lumber industry contracted, and many sawmills shut down. However, lumber and mining remained Centralia's main industries over the next decades, and Centralia had Washington state's largest open-pit mine during the 1960s. In the 1980s, Centralia's downtown revitalized as a historic retail core. Centralia's TransAlta mine, the last coal mine in the state, closed in 2006.
The town's name was originally a reference to the town's location as the midway point between Tacoma and Kalama, which were originally the NP's Washington termini. This central moniker continued to have longevity when it became the midpoint between Seattle and Portland, Oregon after the constructions of Interstate 5 and its predecessor, U.S. Route 99.
Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which, is land and is water.
Landforms Located off Interstate 5 is Plummer Lake, a small body of water caused by the excavation of glacial rock for gravel purposes beginning in 1910. The lake is named after Sydney Plummer, owner of the quarry and excavating company at the time. , Plummer Lake is privately owned.
Climate This region experiences warm (but not hot) and dry summers, with no average monthly temperatures above 71.6 °F. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Centralia has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated "Csb" on climate maps. Temperatures are usually quite mild, although Centralia is generally warmer in the summer and colder in the winter than locations further north along the Puget Sound.
Demographics
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Centralia had a population of 18,183 and the median age was 37.1 years.
23.7% of residents were under the age of 18, 19.0% were 65 years of age or older, and for every 100 females there were 95.3 males, while for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 91.0 males age 18 and over.
98.6% of residents lived in urban areas, while 1.4% lived in rural areas.
There were 7,127 households in Centralia, of which 29.7% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 35.8% were married-couple households, 20.4% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 33.4% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 32.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 7,594 housing units, of which 6.1% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.9% and the rental vacancy rate was 5.4%.
+ Racial composition as of the 2020 census Race Number Percent White 13,594 74.8% Black or African American 200 1.1% American Indian and Alaska Native 264 1.5% Asian 244 1.3% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 47 0.3% Some other race 1,734 9.5% Two or more races 2,100 11.5% Hispanic or Latino (of any race) 3,457 19.0%
2010 census As of the 2010 census, there were 16,336 people, 6,640 households, and 3,867 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 7,265 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 85.1% White, 0.6% African American, 1.4% Native American, 1.0% Asian, 0.3% Pacific Islander, 7.4% from other races, and 4.1% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 16.1% of the population.
There were 6,640 households, of which 31.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.7% were married couples living together, 14.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 6.1% had a male householder with no wife present, and 41.8% were non-families. 33.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 3.06.
The median age in the city was 34.8 years. 24.7% of residents were under the age of 18; 10.7% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 25.7% were from 25 to 44; 22.3% were from 45 to 64; and 16.6% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.3% male and 51.7% female.
2000 census As of the 2000 census, there were 14,742 people, 5,943 households, and 3,565 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,990.6 people per square mile (768.1/km). There were 6,510 housing units at an average density of 879.0 per square mile (339.2/km). The racial makeup of the city was 89.76% White, 0.44% African American, 1.25% Native American, 0.94% Asian, 0.30% Pacific Islander, 4.94% from other races, and 2.38% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 10.22% of the population.
There were 5,943 households, out of which 29.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.7% were married couples living together, 13.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.0% were non-families. 32.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 3.02.
In the city, the population was spread out, with 25.2% under the age of 18, 10.5% from 18 to 24, 25.7% from 25 to 44, 19.4% from 45 to 64, and 19.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.6 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $30,078, and the median income for a family was $35,684. Males had a median income of $31,595 versus $22,076 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,305. About 13.6% of families and 18.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 24.4% of those under age 18 and 10.8% of those age 65 or over.
Economy and employment Founded as a railroad town, Centralia's economy was originally dependent on such industries as railroads and timber, as well as coal and agriculture. At one time, five railroad lines crossed in Centralia, including the Union Pacific Railroad, Northern Pacific Railway, Milwaukee Road, Great Northern Railroad and a short line.
The explosion of Mount St. Helens on May 18, 1980, devastated the local lumber industry, as 12 million board feet of stockpiled lumber and 4 billion board feet of salable timber was damaged or destroyed.https://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/msh/impact Unemployment surged to double digits, and the town lost most of its retail base.
In 1988, London Fog opened the first factory outlet store in the Northwest, choosing the location because it was the midpoint between major northwest cities. Their success spawned the region's first factory outlet center, creating a tourist shopping destination. This led in turn to the redevelopment of the vintage downtown marketplace as an antique, art and specialty store destination.