kelso/longview history
TRANSCRIPT
Rivalries on the Cowlitz
Kelso/Longview Beginnings
“But an opposition town has sprung up, laid out by Nathaniel Stone...”
Peter Crawford’s journal on the founding of Freeport
Nathaniel Stone
The First Rivalries
MONTICELLO• 1st town on the lower
Cowlitz River• Founded by Darby
Huntington in 1849• Was the county seat for
15 years• Center of trade and
transportation• Destroyed by a flood in
1867
FREEPORT• 2nd town on lower
Cowlitz River• Founded by Nathaniel
Stone in c. 1865• Located a half mile
north of Monticello• In 1865 voters chose
Freeport as the county seat
• It was a better location
The “New” Monticello
• Darby Huntington built the new town down river
• Overrun by fires and floods
• Never attained the importance of the first Monticello
Darby Huntington
Freeport
• Became leading town on the Cowlitz
• Lost the county seat to Kalama in 1872
• Remained an important town until the coming of the railroad
The Rest is History
• “…But we have the railroad…” Peter Crawford on defending his plan to build a city on his donation land claim on the east bank of the lower Cowlitz.
Peter Crawford, 1884
Kelso
• Laid out by Peter Crawford in 1884
• Named after his boyhood home in Scotland
• Free building lots were given to people to get the town started
• This town had a railroad!
Another Rival
• In 1889 Adam Catlin founded a new town
• Located directly across the river from Kelso’s business section
• Freeport businessmen moved to Catlin
• Catlin consolidated with Kelso in 1908, became known as West Kelso
Adam Catlin
A Secure Future for Kelso?
• In 1922 Kelso won the battle for the
county seat• With a courthouse, the railroad, the port
dock, and well established businesses, Kelso’s future seemed secure.
• And then a newcomer named R.A. Long and Long-Bell Lumber company move to the area… .
What does the New Century Hold for the Latest Rivalry?
LongviewThe huge mill’s of Longview’s heyday are shutting down or downsizing
KelsoDevelopers are looking hard at Kelso and its rivers, railroad, interstate highway, airport, and cheap industrial and residential land.