A Review of the Resources and Industries of the State of Washington, 1909 Part 8

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate No. 42.--Wheat-Raising in Klickitat County.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate No. 43.--Eighty-Acre Orchard in Klickitat County.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate No. 44.--Manufacturing Scenes, Chehalis, Lewis County.]

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PRINc.i.p.aL CITIES AND TOWNS.

PROSSER, its chief town and county seat, is on the Yakima river and Northern Pacific railway in the western central part of the county, and has about 2,000 population. It is the chief distributing center of the county. It has three weekly newspapers, six churches, good water supply, banks, stores, warehouses, lumber yards, etc.

KENNEWICK, at the easterly center of the county, on the Northern Pacific and Portland & Seattle railroads and on the Columbia river, is a town of much importance, having about 1,500 people. It is noted for the remarkable earliness of its fruits and vegetables. It has the usual business, church and school establishments, including an ice and cold storage plant.

KIONA, on the Yakima river, midway between Prosser and Kennewick, CARLEY AND PETERSON, in the southern portion of the county, on the Columbia river, are all growing and prospering smaller towns.

CHEHALIS COUNTY

Chehalis county is central among the counties bordering on the Pacific, the towns about Grays Harbor being its seaports. It has an area of 2,600 square miles and a population of 35,000.

RESOURCES.

Its industries arise out of its vast timber belts, its fertile low lands, and its fisheries. It is said to have 800,000 acres of magnificent timber lands, the great bulk of it unmarketed. Logging and the manufacture of wood products make up its chief occupation, though general farming and fruit-raising is rapidly gaining. The lands of the county when reclaimed from the forests are fertile and respond generously to the labor of the husbandman. In 1906, 15,000 apple trees were planted in the county. The fis.h.i.+ng industry, including the canning of salmon, sardines, clams and oysters, is a thriving industry and destined to develop into much larger proportions.

TRANSPORTATION.

Grays Harbor is open to the ocean, but is splendidly protected and has safe anchorage. It is the largest lumber s.h.i.+pping port in the state. The Humptulips and Chehalis rivers empty their waters into the bay, and are both navigable for some distance.

In addition, the Northern Pacific railroad skirts both sides of the bay and a logging railroad from Shelton, in Mason county, has nearly reached the ocean, going through the county from east to west. Other railroads have surveying parties in the field, and a conflict is on to share the vast lumber-carrying trade of the county with the Northern Pacific, which has till now monopolized it.

Chehalis county is one of the most important counties in the state, and offers an abundant opportunity for Yankee energy to exercise itself [Page 50]

in almost every avenue of business. Its opportunities and resources are numerous and vast. The newcomer may look long and find no better place for his talents.

PRINc.i.p.aL CITIES AND TOWNS.

MONTESANO is the county seat, located at the head of navigation on the Chehalis river, and on the Northern Pacific railway. It has a population of about 3,500. It has sawmills, sash and door factories, and is surrounded by a prosperous farming community, dairying being very remunerative.

ABERDEEN is the commercial metropolis of the county. Nearly $15,000 is daily paid out to wage-earners. Much commerce from the ocean is centering here, 736 vessels clearing from Grays Harbor in 1907. Seven hundred and seventy-seven thousand dollars has been appropriated by congress for the improvement of the harbor. The city has terminal rail rates, and the Northern Pacific and Chicago, Milwaukee & St.

Paul railroads are hustling after its trade. The business portion of the city is built of stone, brick or cement. It has eleven large sawmills, many s.h.i.+ngle mills and various other factories for utilizing the products of its timber, besides fish and clam canneries and other factories. Its population, now about 15,000, is rapidly growing.

HOQUIAM, Aberdeen's nearby neighbor, has a population crowding 11,000, and is a hustling manufacturing and commercial center, not different in its general business from Aberdeen.

ELMA, twelve miles east of Montesano, is a town of 2,700.

COSMOPOLIS, south of the river from Aberdeen, has about 1,200, and is a sawmill town.

OAKVILLE, MAKRHAM and SATSOP are small growing towns on the Northern Pacific railway. Many other embryo towns will in time grow into prosperous business centers.

CHELAN COUNTY

Chelan county is one of picturesque beauty and abundance of both developed and undeveloped wealth. It faces the Columbia river eastward, while its back rests against the peaks of the Cascades, 5,000 to 6,000 feet above the sea. Lake Chelan is the largest fresh water body in the state, fifty miles long and one to four wide, and lies 400 feet higher than the Columbia river.

Chelan county has 2,000 square miles, much of it mountainous and full of minerals. Its population is at present about 14,000.

RESOURCES.

Horticulture, agriculture, lumbering, stock-raising, mining and dairying all flourish on the bountiful natural fitness of the county for these occupations. The climate is attractive. It is a suns.h.i.+ny county.

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TRANSPORTATION.

Steamers ply up and down the Columbia river. The Great Northern railway crosses the county through the valley of the Wenatchee river and the Was.h.i.+ngton & Great Northern railway is projected along the western boundary of the Columbia river.

PRODUCTS.

All kinds of temperate zone fruits mature here in wonderful perfection and abundance. The valleys run with water from the mountains to irrigate the lands, and furnish vast power, much of it undeveloped.

Hills in the western part of the county are timbered and all the vacant lands are gra.s.s covered. Over 1,000,000 fruit trees have been planted in the last three years in the county.

The mountain foothills are full of mineral veins of copper, gold, silver, lead and molybdonite. Some have been producing for twenty years. Trout in the streams and game on the hills add to its attractiveness.

PRINc.i.p.aL CITIES AND TOWNS.

WENATCHEE is the county seat and largest town, having about 3,500 people. It is located on the Columbia river near where the Great Northern railway crosses it. It is the chief distributing center for the county and much other territory, chiefly north of it.

LEAVENWORTH, westward of Wenatchee, and also on the railroad, has a population of 1,200 and is a division point.

CHELAN, at the foot of Lake Chelan, has about 700 people.

CASHMERE, on the railroad, is of about equal size.

LAKESIDE, PESHASTIN and ENTIAT are smaller towns, all thriving and growing.

CLALLAM COUNTY

Clallam county occupies 2,000 square miles of the northwestern part of the Olympic peninsula, having 35 miles of sh.o.r.e land on the Pacific and 90 miles on the straits. The Olympic mountains and foothills cover the southern half mostly, while the northern half is made up of lower hills and valleys. Several large lakes nestle among the mountains; one of them, Lake Crescent, is a famous summer resort. Lake Crescent is known as the home of the celebrated Beardslee trout. The eastern and southern parts have a rainfall sometimes nearing 100 inches annually, while in the eastern northerly part it is about 20 to 25 inches only.

An important section of the county is that known as Sequim Prairie This is a level district of about 5,000 acres, located three miles back from Port Williams. Most of it is under irrigation, and the soil thus treated produces marvelous crops.

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RESOURCES.

Lumber, fish, agricultural products and coal comprise its chief resources. The timber of the county is very vast and very little exploited. Its proximity to the ocean makes it very advantageous for all fis.h.i.+ng industries. Its valleys are noted for the fertility of their soils, and many a farmer has grown wealthy from their cultivation.

TRANSPORTATION.

Facilities for getting about are limited to boats and wagons. A splendid boat service is maintained with Seattle and other Sound ports, and a system of public roads is now in process of construction that will be unexcelled in the state. Several surveying parties are now in the woods and it is believed that Grays Harbor and the Straits of Juan de Fuca will be soon united with railroad iron and Clallam county will come to its own.

PRINc.i.p.aL TOWNS AND VILLAGES.