The county seat is Kelso, and its largest city is Longview. The county was formed in April 1854. Its name derives from an anglicized version of the language of the Cowlitz Indians.
Prior to the Europeans' arrival, numerous Native American tribes lived in the area, with the Cowlitz tribe being the largest. The Cowlitz are considered to be the first regional inhabitants to engage in commerce as they traded extensively with other tribes in Western and Eastern Washington.
A smallpox outbreak in 1829-30 resulted in a significant decline in the Cowlitz Indian population.
When the new Washington Territorial government began functioning, among its first actions was to create Cowlitz County, from the southwestern portion of Clark County. This proclamation was finalized on April 24, 1854, signed into law by Governor Isaac Stevens. Later in 1854, the western portion of the new county was partitioned off to form Wahkiakum County; otherwise the county's boundary has remained unchanged until the present.
Nearly every town that sprang up in the late 19th century began around a logging or lumber-milling operation.
Four towns have functioned as the Cowlitz County seat:
Monticello (1854-1865), Freeport (1865-1872), Kalama (1872-1922), Kelso (1922-Present)
Cities
Castle Rock * Kalama * Kelso * Longview * Woodland (Partly in Clark County)
Census-designated Places
Beacon Hill * Cougar * Lexington * Longview Heights * Ryderwood
Unincorporated Communities
Ariel * Bunker Hill * Caples * Carrolls * Coal Creek * Davis Terrace * Eufaula * Evergreen Terrace * Harrington Place *
Kid Valley * Oak Point * Olequa * Ostrander * Pigeon Springs * Pleasant Hill * Rocky Point * Rose Valley * Saint Helens *
Sandy Bend * Sightly * Silver Lake * Stella * Toutle * Vision Acres * West Longview * Woodland Park * Yale
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Updates:
Mar 2025:
Obits/Death Notices: WALKER [jd]
Feb 2025:
Census Records: 1890 Veterans
Census (Complete)
Sep 2024:
News: Marriages: SCHAFER-JOHNSON
May 2024:
Military Records: WORLD WAR II
CASUALTIES, KOREAN WAR CASUALTIES, VIETNAM WAR CASUALTIES
Jun 2023:
Obits/Death Notices: BOZORTH,
MARTIN, OSTRANDER, PATTON
May 2023:
Obits: LITTLE
April 2023: Crime News for St. MARTIN; WIDEEN
March 2023: burials in Abernethy Cemetery
Marriage News for BARTON-CHESTNUT, BOONE, HALL-SEIBLE, PRICE-BENSON, NOSTRANT-BRAGG, CAIRNS - HARRISS
obits for ABERNETHY, YOUNG
Crime News for DIMOND, BUFFON
Gossip News for SCOTT, ROBINSON
PREVIOUS UPDATES
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Surrounding Counties:
Lewis County - north
Skamania County - east
Clark County - south
Wahkiakum County - west
Columbia County - south
