Shelton

History

Shelton was officially incorporated in 1890. The city was named after David Shelton, a delegate to the territorial legislature. The land was previously called "Cota" and was inhabited and managed by the Squaxin Island Tribe, or "People of the Waters", who had inhabited the land for centuries before contact with white settlers. The land was ceded, along with 4,000 sq. miles of Indigenous land, on December 26, 1854, with the passage of the Treaty of Medicine Creek. After the passage of the treaty, David Shelton and his wife, Frances Shelton, each took a claim of land enabled by the Donation Land Claim Act totaling 640 acres in what would eventually be incorporated as Shelton. Shelton was once served by a small fleet of steamboats which was part of the Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet. These boats included the Old Settler, Irene, Willie, City of Shelton, Marian, Clara Brown, and S.G. Simpson. The economy was built around logging, farming, dairying and ranching as well as oyster cultivation. Shelton also identified itself as "Christmastown, USA" due to the area's cultivation of Christmas trees; the name was later revived for an annual festival. The Ridge Motorsports Park opened in 2012, and has hosted MotoAmerica and Trans-Am Series races. File:Shelton davidshelton 1890.jpg|David Shelton, 1812–1897 File:Shelton WA sawmills.JPG|Shelton sawmills File:Simpson lumber-Shelton Washington.jpg|Simpson Timber Company mill in Shelton, on the Oakland Bay, viewed from the southeast. File:RPPC 10 ft fir log Shelton Wn.jpg|Loggers with a ten-foot fir log in Shelton, Washington in the early 20th century

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water. With extremely precipitous rainfall in winter and dry summer of less than 33 mm in the driest month (less than 1/3 of the rainy season), Shelton has a warm summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen: Csb) with cold winters, similar to the larger cities of the Pacific Northwest.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Song Sparrow

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  8,839
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  8,166
• Spotted Towhee

  Pipilo maculatus Swainson, 1827 · Aves
  7,751
• Dark-eyed Junco

  Junco hyemalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  7,126
• Steller's Jay

  Cyanocitta stelleri (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  5,638
• Chestnut-backed Chickadee

  Poecile rufescens (J.K.Townsend, 1837) · Aves
  5,540
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  5,477
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  5,049

Most recent

• M 2.51 — 2026-08-09
  11 km SSW of River Road, Washington
• M 2.84 — 2026-05-27
  4 km W of Wauna, 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 2.6 — 2026-01-25
  1 km ENE of Enetai, Washington
• M 3.0100000000000002 — 2026-01-22
  2 km NNW of Ames Lake, Washington