Onalaska, Washington
Onalaska, Washington | |
|---|---|
  Onalaska | |
| Coordinates: 46°34′47″N 122°42′37″W / 46.57972°N 122.71028°WCoordinates: 46°34′47″N 122°42′37″W / 46.57972°N 122.71028°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Washington |
| County | Lewis |
| Area | |
| • Total | 1.60 sq mi (4.15 km2) |
| • Land | 1.60 sq mi (4.15 km2) |
| • Water | 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2) |
| Elevation | 515 ft (157 m) |
| Population | |
| • Total | 621 |
| • Density | 387/sq mi (149.5/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC-8 (Pacific (PST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-7 (PDT) |
| ZIP code | 98570[3] |
| Area code(s) | 360 |
| GNIS feature ID | 2586742[4] |
| FIPS code | 53-51410 |
Onalaska is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Lewis County, Washington, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 621.[2] Onalaska is located along Washington State Route 508.
Etymology[]
The name for the community comes from the poem "The Pleasures of Hope" by Scottish poet Thomas Campbell. The towns of Onalaska in Washington, Arkansas, Texas, and Wisconsin share a linked history to one another through the lumber industry.[5]
Geography[]
Onalaska is in west-central Lewis County, in the valley of the South Fork of the Newaukum River. State Route 508 passes through the community, leading west 9 miles (14 km) to Napavine and east 24 miles (39 km) to Morton. Chehalis, the Lewis county seat, is 14 miles (23 km) northwest of Onalaska.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Onalaska CDP has an area of 1.6 square miles (4.2 km2), all of it recorded as land.[1] The South Fork of the Newaukum forms the southern edge of the community, and Carlisle Lake is on the western edge. The Newaukum River flows west to the Chehalis River at Chehalis.
History[]
Onalaska was built around the inland mill established by the Carlisle Lumber Company in 1909.[6] At its peak in 1929, company inventory numbered over 20 million board feet of lumber — enough to stretch all the way to the Panama Canal.
The company's surviving 225-foot smokestack near Carlisle Lake was built approximately in 1920, and is the last trace of one of the most successful mid-sized sawmills in Washington state. In May 2021, the site was listed to the Washington Heritage Register by the Washington State Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.[7]
The mill employed a sizeable number of Japanese and Japanese Americans. They lived north of today's State Route 508 and east of Carlisle Avenue. The streets, which ran parallel to Carlisle Avenue were called Oriental Avenue, Nippon Avenue and Tokyo Avenue.
According to Onalaska, a history of the Carlisle Lumber Company by Vic Kucera, the 1940 census showed 62 people of Japanese descent living in Lewis County. Because of their experience in the mill, the local Japanese Americans were forced to relocate to Camp Tulelake in California to help with its construction, Kucera writes. The Army relied on their labor to finish the camp where they were subsequently interned for the duration of WWII.
The Lewis County Museum in Chehalis has an exhibit honoring the Japanese and Japanese American internees.[8][9]
In 2014, Governor Jay Inslee awarded $20,000 to Onalaska Wood Energy during his Climate Tour that year, and praised the company as “one of the leaders in biofuel technology.” By 2020, the company had left 100,000 gallons of hazardous waste and in 2021 the EPA started an emergency $0.9 million cleanup, shipping the waste by truck and railroad to Idaho and Utah.[10]
Government and politics[]
Politics[]
Onalaska is recognized as being majority Republican and conservative, similar in respects to other rural populations within Lewis County.
The results for the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election for the Onalaska voting district were as follows:[11]
- Donald J. Trump (Republican) - 968 (70.35%)
- Joe Biden (Democrat) - 368 (26.74%)
- Jo Jorgensen (Libertarian) - 24 (1.74%)
- Howie Hawkins (Green) - 7 (0.51%)
- Other candidates - 1 (0.08%)
- Write-in candidate - 8 (0.58%)
Education[]
The Onalaska School District provides the community's education.
- Onalaska Elementary/Middle School is the community's public elementary/middle school
- Onalaska High School is the community's public high school
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b "2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files –Washington". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Total Population: 2010 Census DEC Summary File 1 (P1), Onalaska CDP, Washington". data.census.gov. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
- ^ ZIP Code Lookup
- ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Onalaska Census Designated Place
- ^ Victor J. Kucera (2011). Onalaska: From Kansas to Washington... via Wisconsin, Arkansas, Minnesota and Texas 1886-1942. Pacific Star Press. ISBN 978-0983611806.
- ^ "Carlisle Lumber Company". SNAC (Social Networks and Archival Context). National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
- ^ Hill, Elizabeth (May 17, 2021). "Onalaska Smokestack Unanimously Approved to State Historical Registry". The Daily Chronicle. The Daily Chronicle. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
- ^ Lewis County Historical Museum
- ^ Perednia, Graham (May 26, 2017). "'Time Has Revealed the Injustice of Your Experience:' Museum to Honor Japanese-Americans". The Daily Chronicle (Lewis County). Retrieved March 4, 2021.
- ^ https://www.chronline.com/stories/once-celebrated-onalaska-company-leaves-behind-100000-gallons-of-hazardous-waste,267756
- ^ "Lewis County 2020 Election". Results.Vote.WA. Results.Vote.WA. Retrieved July 21, 2021.
External links[]
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- Unincorporated communities in Lewis County, Washington
- Unincorporated communities in Washington (state)
- Census-designated places in Lewis County, Washington
- Census-designated places in Washington (state)
- Washington (state) geography stubs