Kalama

History

Kalama was first settled by Native Americans, particularly members of the Cowlitz Indian Tribes. The first white settler recorded was in 1853. That first settler was Ezra Meeker and his family. Only one year later, Meeker moved to north Puyallup, Washington, but he sold his Donation Land Claim to a Mr. John Davenport, The town also received many Hawaiians who worked under the service of the Hudson's Bay Company and also intermarried with local indigenous peoples like the Nisqually during this time; descendants of such unions still living on Nisqually Reservation to this day. The population of Kalama peaked at 5,000 people, but in early 1874, the railroad moved its headquarters to Tacoma, and by 1877, only 700 people remained in Kalama. Kalama originated with a stake driven by Gen. John W. Sprague of the Northern Pacific Railway who in March 1870 selected a spot near the mouth of the Kalama river to mark the beginning point of Northern Pacific's Pacific Division. From that stake, the Northern Pacific began building north to Puget Sound, ultimately reaching Commencement Bay at what was to become Tacoma before going bankrupt. Construction began in April 1871 with a crew of 800 men, with the official 'first spike' being driven in May 1871 about the same time that the ceremonial spike was driven at a site west of Helena, Montana to mark the completion of the transcontinental Northern Pacific Railroad in the fall of 1883. The following year in October 1884, a 3 track, long railroad ferry, Tacoma, marked the beginning of about 25 years of ferry service across the Columbia River. was located near the south end of Sandy Island about a mile south of Goble. However the crossing times were excessive when the Tacoma had to work against the tide, and the ferry slip was…

Geography

As the Columbia River exits the Portland Basin, it becomes laterally confined by the Coast Range and Cascade Range foothills before re-expanding downstream into its estuarine reach. Kalama is situated on this narrow floodplain along the east bank of the river, where surrounding terrain constrains development away from the channel. Located in Southwest Washington, Kalama is the fourth-largest city in Cowlitz County. According to Cowlitz County GIS data, the total incorporated area for the city of Kalama is 3.83 square miles (9.9 km2). The elevation ranges from 2ft (0.6m) to 1125ft (343m), with an average elevation of 227ft (69m). Longview, the largest city in the county, is 10mi (16km) to the north. Kalama sits along the Interstate 5 (I-5) corridor between the Seattle metropolitan area, 113 mi (182 km) to the north, and the Portland metropolitan area, 35 mi (56 km) to the south. Highway access to Kalama is provided by Exit 27, Exit 30, and Exit 32 from I-5. Kalama sits along the final stretch of the Columbia River, after the last major confluence, approximately 75 river miles (121km) from the Pacific Ocean. Based on the nearest USGS gauge, typical discharge in the Columbia River near Kalama is on the order of hundreds of thousands of cubic feet per second (tens of thousands of cubic meters per second), with seasonal highs in spring and lows in late summer. In 2023, average monthly discharge peaked in May at approximately 408,000 CFS (11,560 m³/s) and declined to about 92,900 CFS (2,630 m³/s) in September, representing a more than fourfold difference between seasonal high and low flows. Discharge in the Columbia River near Kalama is comparable in magnitude to major North American rivers such as the Ohio River and exceeds that of the Yukon River. A small fraction of…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Dark-eyed Junco

  Junco hyemalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  9,878
• Song Sparrow

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  9,221
• Steller's Jay

  Cyanocitta stelleri (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  7,830
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  7,789
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  6,912
• Spotted Towhee

  Pipilo maculatus Swainson, 1827 · Aves
  6,521
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  6,324
• Golden-crowned Sparrow

  Zonotrichia atricapilla (J.F.Gmelin, 1789) · Aves
  6,212

Largest nearby schools

• Kelso High School
  High · Kelso · 1,424 students · 19.5:1 ratio
• Mark Morris High School
  High · Longview · 914 students · 21.3:1 ratio
• Woodland Middle School
  Middle · Woodland · 682 students · 17.5:1 ratio
• Woodland High School
  High · Woodland · 658 students · 20.6:1 ratio
• Coweeman Middle School
  Middle · Kelso · 570 students · 21.9:1 ratio
• Kalama Elem School
  Elementary · Kalama · 562 students · 16.1:1 ratio
• Huntington Middle School
  Middle · Kelso · 539 students · 20:1 ratio
• North Fork Elementary School
  Elementary · Woodland · 445 students · 14.8:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 3.73 — 2026-09-05
  20 km E of Castle Rock, Washington
• M 2.61 — 2026-07-31
  18 km NE of Amboy, Washington
• M 2.52 — 2026-03-17
  7 km SE of Mineral, Washington
• M 2.65 — 2025-12-19
  5 km WSW of Pe Ell, Washington
• M 2.84 — 2025-09-13
  3 km NE of Mineral, Washington
• M 2.66 — 2025-06-16
  7 km ESE of Mossyrock, Washington