Chinook

History

Chinook was the site of the first court in Pacific County in 1853, as well as the county's first salmon cannery in 1870. Chinook was once a wealthy town based on the salmon harvest. There was no road connection to Ilwaco until 1891, when the bridge was completed across the Chinook River. Later, the Ilwaco Railway and Navigation Company built a narrow gauge railroad from Megler to Ilwaco, passing down the main street of Chinook. The railroad was dismantled in 1931.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 1.0 square miles (2.6 km2), all of it land. The town is located on Baker Bay, on the north side of the Columbia River just behind Cape Disappointment and the mouth of the Columbia.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  9,436
• Song Sparrow

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  8,394
• Bald Eagle

  Haliaeetus leucocephalus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  7,497
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  6,918
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  6,829
• Double-crested Cormorant

  Phalacrocorax auritus (Lesson, 1831) · Aves
  5,801
• White-crowned Sparrow

  Zonotrichia leucophrys (J.R.Forster, 1772) · Aves
  5,609
• Western Gull

  Larus occidentalis Audubon, 1839 · Aves
  5,501

Most recent

• M 2.65 — 2025-12-19
  5 km WSW of Pe Ell, Washington
• M 2.74 — 2024-12-31
  7 km NNW of Montesano, Washington
• M 3.09 — 2023-11-24
  4 km WSW of Deer Island, Oregon
• M 2.58 — 2023-10-02
  8 km NW of Hoquiam, Washington
• M 2.68 — 2023-07-02
  11 km W of Deer Island, Oregon
• M 2.52 — 2020-12-06
  10 km NNW of Hoquiam, Washington