Postcard - Aberdeen, Washington

 

"Hoquiam and Aberdeen, Washington. Located on Grays Harbor, these twin cities are port of call for export of timber products to all corners of the earth. Rich in logger and sailor folklore, this area is also known as 'Gateway to the Olympics.'"

This has a 1979 date on  the reverse. Actually, Hoquiam is nowhere to be seen in this photo, although part of Cosmopolis is on the left, south of the Chehalis River.

Postcard - Aberdeen, Washington

"Confluence of Wishkah and Chehalis River. Here is shown the bridge between Aberdeen and Cosmopolis with logs awaiting their voyage to nearby mills for processing into lumber, pulp or some other by-product. Aberdeen is the hub and shopping center for the Grays Harbor area and southern Gateway for the beautiful Olympic Peninsula."

I know this predates 1981, but probably is pre-1977 since the Wishkah Mall is not to be seen here. If you click on and enlarge the photo you can make out the Olympic Mountains on the horizon. 

Phone photo 2163

Isaac Stevens, Washington's first territorial governor, is pictured stealing land from the Natives of Grays Harbor in the 1850s at a site that is now the city of Cosmopolis. Yes, we actually have a city called Cosmopolis here. Locals call it "Causy." This scene is in the Grays Harbor County Courthouse, Montesano, Washington, which the locals call "Monte." Monte is a most pleasant city.

Stevens has a controversial place in Washington history generated in part by his shabby treatment of the Indian population. After he left our corner of the world, he was killed in action at the first Battle of Bull Run in the Civil War while serving in the Union Army.

Phone photo 1184

Chehalis River
Cosmopolis, Washington

Phone photo 1183

Morty Comix # 2293

Morty Comix # 2293 was deposited in a shelf of community reading material in a restaurant in Cosmopolis, Washington

Phone photo 255

In Cosmopolis, Washington, there is a fading mural on some kind of water treatment plant that sits behind a nasty barbed-wire fence. This picture depicts the first territorial governor, Isaac Stevens, in an historic pose while in the act of stealing the land from the Native Americans.

McCleary, Washington Does Not Exist!

According to this map in the 2010 Traveler's Companion : the Definitive Guide to Southwest Washington and Northwest Oregon, my town does not exist!

I have circled where McCleary is supposed to be. Apparently our town exists in another dimension. Actually that might explain a few things. On the highest point in the road between Oly and the beach, I've always said we are in that narrow Twilight Zone where the Aberdeen and Olympia spheres of influence don't quite touch.

Actually there are quite a few other towns missing, including Oakville, Satsop, Brady, Cosmopolis, Bezango, Cathlamet, Tokeland, Humptulips, Bucoda, Rainier, and many more.