Centralia, Washington Centralia, Washington Centralia Downtown Historic District Centralia Downtown Historic District Location of Centralia, Washington Location of Centralia, Washington Centralia / s n t re li / is a town/city in Lewis County, Washington, United States.

8 Centralia College In the 1850s and 1860s, Centralia's Borst Home at the confluence of the Chehalis and Skookumchuck Rivers was the site of a toll ferry, and the halfway stopping point for stagecoaches operating between Kalama, Washington and Tacoma.

Cochran and his wife Anna were led there via the Oregon Trail by their adopted son, a no-charge black named George Washington (Washington pioneer), as the family feared he would be forced into standardized if they stayed in Missouri after the passage of the Compromise of 1850.

Cochran filed a donation territory claim near the Borst Home in 1852, and was able to sell his claim to Washington for $6000 because unlike the neighboring Oregon Territory, there was no restriction against passing legal ownership of territory to negroes in the newly formed Washington Territory.

Finding that another town in the south-central part of the state bore the same name, the town was officially incorporated as Centralia on February 3, 1886, so christened by a recent settler from Centralia, Illinois.

The boom lasted until November 11, 1919, when the continuing Centralia Massacre occurred.

As extractive industries faced decline, Centralia's evolution refocused on motorway oriented food, lodging, retail and tourism, as well as county-wide shipping and warehousing facilities, dominant to 60% populace growth over the past four decades.

Founded as a barns town, Centralia's economy was originally dependent on such extractive industries as coal and lumber.

The 1972 opening of I-5 exit 82 made Centralia the halfway stopping point between Seattle and Portland, Oregon, and heralded the beginning of motorway oriented development.

On November 28, 2006, it was reported that Trans - Alta Corp., the biggest employer in Centralia and operator of the Centralia Coal Mine, would eliminate 600 high-paying coal quarrying jobs. Even with fears to the contrary, there has been little substantial economic effect upon the City of Centralia as a result.

Data indicates that Centralia is experiencing expansion both in its light industrialized areas as well as its core company district, historic downtown Centralia. Additional evolution of county-wide distribution and transit facilities, along with in-migration from retirees from more populated counties to the north, have helped diversify the economy, though unemployment remains stubbornly high and per-capita income well below the state average. According to the United States Enumeration Bureau, the town/city has a total region of 7.56 square miles (19.58 km2), of which, 7.42 square miles (19.22 km2) is territory and 0.14 square miles (0.36 km2) is water. According to the Koppen Climate Classification system, Centralia has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated "Csb" on climate maps. Temperatures are usually quite mild, although Centralia is generally warmer in the summer and colder in the winter than locations further north along the Puget Sound.

Climate data for Centralia Amtrak, the nationwide traveler rail system, provides service to Centralia station (Washington), stopping at the town's renovated 1912 barns depot.

Amtrak train 11, the southbound Coast Starlight, is scheduled to depart Centralia at 11:45am with service to Kelso-Longview, Portland, Sacramento, Emeryville, California (with bus connection to San Francisco), and Los Angeles.

Amtrak train 14, the northbound Coast Starlight, is scheduled to depart Centralia at 5:57pm everyday with service to Olympia-Lacey, Tacoma and Seattle.

Amtrak Cascades trains, operating as far north as Vancouver, British Columbia and as far south as Eugene, Oregon, serve Centralia a several times everyday in both directions.

BNSF trains in Centralia's downtown rail yard and on the mainline serve small-town and county-wide shippers, but can affect the timeliness of Amtrak service and are a noisy reminder of the days of the town's heyday as the crossroads of four primary barns s (Union Pacific, Milwaukee Road, Great Northern and Northern Pacific).

Centralia is a noncharter code town/city with a Council-Manager form of government.

Although slightly less so than Lewis County as a whole, Centralia is conservative and leans Republican.

Centralia's dominant journal is The Chronicle and is ranked seventeenth in the state based on weekday circulation and serves most of Lewis County.

Centralia College Centralia College is the earliest continuously operating junior college in the state of Washington.

The college's first classes were held in the top floor of the Centralia High School building and classes were taught by part-time teachers who also taught high school pupils.

Littel, Centralia Public Schools Superintendent and Dean Frederick E.

During the early years Centralia College prepared pupils who would later go on to enroll at the University of Washington and a special partnership between the universities remained in place until 1947.

The following year Centralia College earned its accreditation from the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities.

Two years later the college's first primary campus building, Kemp Hall, was constructed in the heart of Centralia.

Credit for Centralia College surviving amid these difficult times is in part given to Margaret Corbet, administrator, faculty member, and namesake of Corbet Hall, due to her accomplishments to keep the college financially afloat. Starting in the fall of 2012, Centralia College will begin offering a bachelor's degree program in Applied Science in Management. The degree is the first undergraduate degree offered by the college and part of an overall expansion of the school under the projected '20 year plan'. Centralia College Panorama Centralia Timberland Library Borst Home Built in 1864 at the site of the toll ferry crossing at the confluence of the Chehalis and Skookumchuck rivers, the Borst Home fulfilled a promise by Joseph Borst to his young wife Mary to build her the finest home along the Washington extension of the Oregon Trail.

The building homes a large chandelier taken from the old Centralia High School.

Centralia Factory Outlets is an supply mall that hosts tenants such as Aeropostale, Bass, Bath & Body Works, Billabong, Christian Outlet, Claire's, Coach, Eddie Bauer, Helly Hansen, Lane Bryant, Nike Clearance Store, Polo Ralph Lauren Factory Store, Quiksilver, Van Heusen, VF Outlet, Volcom and others.

Centralia Farmer's Market is held Fridays, May to September and has been in existence since 1996.

Centralia Park System comprises of a range of 15 beautiful parks, trails, and recreational and outside areas of interest scattered athwart 240 acres of combined space.

Centralia Square Built in 1920 by Joseph Wohleb, Washington's first experienced architect, this long-time Elks Lodge was restored in 2015 to its initial glory, including a 9-room boutique hotel with ballroom, two restaurants and the town's initial antique mall.

The building also features a mural depicting the laborer's side of the Centralia Massacre as a counterpoint to the statue commemorating the American Legionnaires slain in that incident, which stands in the Carnegie Library park athwart the street.

The interior of Centralia Union Depot Centralia Union Depot was assembled in 1912 and features red brick architecture, vintage oak benches, and internal and external woodworking throughout.

In 2007 the City of Centralia bought the theater and it is presently being further restored by the Historic Fox Theatre Restorations.

Murals are found throughout historic downtown Centralia.

Examples include murals depicting: The founder of Centralia (Centerville) titled George Washington, Buffalo Bill and his Wild West Show and an abstract mural depicting the 1919 Armistice Day Centralia Massacre also known as the Wobbly War.

Notable natives of Centralia include undivided dancer Merce Cunningham, singer Ann Boleyn, pianist Charlie Albright, Milwaukee Brewers Lyle Overbay, cable tv and early mobile phone entrepreneur Craig Mc - Caw, CFL offensive lineman Calvin Armstrong, video game designer and programmer Soren Johnson, Stanford quarterback Tavita Pritchard, former MLB outfielder Bob Coluccio, Metropolitan Opera soprano Angela Meade.

Longtime NBA player Detlef Schrempf visited Centralia High School as an exchange pupil from the former West Germany (1980 1981), starring in basketball Seattle-based modern band Harvey Danger uses Centralia as a metaphor in its song "Moral Centralia," found on the 2005 album Little by Little....

Seattle-based underground modern band Tuna mentions " Centralia's sweet Sampson " in their song Krazy Kat Since 2012 global sculptor, James Kelsey, has been based out of Centralia.

Wobbly War: The Centralia Story, John Mc - Clellan, ISBN 0917 - 048628 "Centralia, Washington Koppen Climate Classification (Weatherbase)".

"CENTRALIA, WASHINGTON (451276)".

College, Centralia.

"Centralia College - Centralia, Washington".

Www.centralia.edu, Centralia College for.

"About Centralia College".

"Centralia College holds its first day of classes on September 14, 1925.

Www.centralia.edu, Centralia College for.

"Bachelor of Applied Science in Management - Centralia College".

Www.centralia.edu, Centralia College for.

"Centralia College Master Plan".

"Centralia Factory Outlets - The Northwest\'s Original Outlet Shopping Destination".

"Home - Centralia Farmers Market - Lewis County WA".

"City of Centralia, WA - City Parks and Trails".

"Historic Borst Home Centralia Washington".

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Centralia, Washington.

Centralia City Hall (Unofficial Website) The Centralia City Guide (unofficial website) Centralia Downtown Association

Categories:
Centralia, Washington - Cities in Washington (state)Cities in Lewis County, Washington - Industrial Workers of the World - Populated places established in 1852 - Superfund sites in Washington (state)Micropolitan areas of Washington (state)1852 establishments in Oregon Territory