Pe Ell

History

In 1897, the North Pacific Railway built a railroad depot in the town. In 1907, Pe Ell's population was around 1,000—larger than it is today. The rich agricultural and timber resources of the region attracted farmers, millworkers, and loggers. By 1909, the town had a bank, three dry goods stores, two general stores, three grocery stores, two barber shops, five saloons, four hotels, a newspaper, a blacksmith, and even an opera house. Pe Ell was officially incorporated on March 9, 1906. The community was once home to the Rock Creek sanitorium in the 1930s. Owned by both Lewis and Pacific counties, it was overseen by Dr. Angus MacMillan who also managed a similar tuberculosis hospital in Forest, Washington during the 1940s. The town lost its water supply, which was provided over the historic Weyerhaeuser Pe Ell Bridge, during the Great Coastal Gale of 2007. The Chehalis River in the Pe Ell area rose during the event, overcoming the bridge and wrecking the water main. The lost pipe system was estimated to have a repair cost of $800,000; the system was installed three years earlier for $1.6 million. The financial costs to replace the bridge and the water supply lines led the Pe Ell community to temporarily consider dissolving the town's government.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all of it land. State Route 6 passes through the town and connects it to Chehalis in the east and Raymond in the west.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  343
• Song Sparrow

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  268
• Common Raven

  Corvus corax Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  221
• Steller's Jay

  Cyanocitta stelleri (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  215
• Dark-eyed Junco

  Junco hyemalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  214
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  210
• Spotted Towhee

  Pipilo maculatus Swainson, 1827 · Aves
  195
• Pacific Wren

  Troglodytes pacificus S.F.Baird, 1864 · Aves
  183

Most recent

• 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 2.86 — 2026-03-11
  2 km W of Home, 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