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Kelso, WA
Kelso is located in Southwest
Washington State
at the confluence of the Cowlitz,
Coweeman, and Columbia
rivers. It seems that there is water
around every corner in this community.
It has a population of around 12,000 people.
A Scotsman named Peter Crawford founded Kelso in the
1840’s and named it after his hometown in Scotland.
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Access to Kelso from Interstate-5 is accomplished by using
Exits 39 and 40. That makes Kelso
around 40 miles from the center of the bridge where I-5 crosses the
Columbia River between Vancouver and Portland.
Further, Kelso is 80 miles from the Pacific Beaches and
125 miles from Seattle. Nine miles north on I-5 at Exit 49 then 6
mi. east on the Spirit Lake Highway WA-504 is the
Mount Saint
Helens National Volcanic Monument. This visitor center is loaded with great
displays and photos of the eruption.
Visit their web site.
http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/mshnvm/
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Kelso Visitor Center
105 Minor Road
Kelso, WA 98626
Phone: 360-577-8058
The Kelso Volcano and Visitor Center
is located off of I-5 Exit 39 at 105
Minor Road..
It is open seven days a week to provide tourist information about
the area. It also has documentation
about the 1980 eruption of Mt.
Saint Helens.
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You can also drive up WA-503 (The Lewis River Road)
along lake Merwin
and Yale Lake
to see Mt.
Saint Helens from another view. The road leaves from I-5 Exit 21 in Woodland. You will find the town of Cougar on this road.
Longview
Longview
has a population of around 35,000 people and an elevation of only 13 feet
above sea level. In 1923 a lumber tycoon
named R.A. Long selected the site for a deep water port and forest products
milling site. Longview is one of the largest planned
communities in the country.
Monticello, an
abandoned town site at the same location was the location of the Monticello
Convention in 1852 were settles petitioned the US Congress to create a
territory separate from Oregon Territory north of the Columbia
River. The following
year Washington
Territory was
created.
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The Discovery Corps
Lewis and Clark and the rest of the Discovery Corps
camped at the mouth of the Cowlitz
River in 1805.
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Kalama Chamber of Commerce
431 North
First Street
Kalama,
WA 98625
Phone:
360-673-6299
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River Cities Chamber of Commerce
1563
Olympia Way
Longview,
WA 98632
Phone:
360-423-8400
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Castle Rock Chamber of Commerce,
Exhibit Hall, &
Visitors Information
Center
147 Front
Avenue NW
Castle Rock,
WA 98611
Phone:
360-274-6603
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Cowlitz County
Department of Tourism has a great website.
Visit their web
site.
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The Cowlitz County
Historical Museum
405 Allen
Street
Kelso,
WA
Open Tues-Sat 9am to 5 pm
This museum has displays of the local history which
include a partial log cabin with period furnishings, a native canoe, a logger’s
bunkhouse, a railroad depot, and other artifacts showing pre-colonial times
to present.
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Woodland Chamber of
Commerce
PO Box
1012
Woodland,
WA 98674
Phone:
360-225-9552
http://www.woodlandwachamber.com/
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