Tokeland

History

Tokeland is named after Chief Toke of the Shoalwater Bay Tribe. Toke made the area a summer home for himself and his family, and his presence was first documented there by Lieutenant John Meares after Toke approached Meares' ship in his canoe at the mouth of Willapa Bay in 1788. In 1854, J. F. Barrows settled on Toke Point, but left only a few years later. No other known settlers appeared in the area until the arrival of George Brown in 1858. When the town's first post office was established in 1894, the Kindreds operated it, and continued doing so for 17 years. Lizzie Kindred was also partial owner of the Tokeland Oyster Company when it opened in 1905. The Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe built a tsunami evacuation tower in 2022. The freestanding structure was built at a cost $5 million, $1.2 million supplied by the tribal council and an additional $3.8 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The tower is considered the first of its type in the United States. In honor of tribal elder Lee Shipman who guided the project to completion, the council bestowed the tower the nickname, "Auntie Lee".

Geography

Tokeland is located in Willapa Bay, by the mouth of the Cedar River. According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 0.5 square miles (1.3 km2), all of it land. During early talks to build a tsunami evacuation tower, studies were undertaken by the Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe, in conjunction with several local, state, and federal agencies, that determined the Tokeland area could be hit by a tsunami within a range of 10 to 22 minutes after an ensuing high-magnitude earthquake. Construction on the tsunami evacuation tower, which is the first of its kind in the United States, was finished in 2022. It was nicknamed "Auntie Lee Tower" in honor of Tribal elder Lee Shipman who led the Tribe's effort to obtain funding and build the tower. The tower's design drew inspiration from nearby Ocosta Elementary School, which also doubles as a tsunami evacuation structure.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  3,996
• Great Blue/Cocoi Heron

  Ardea herodias Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  3,307
• Western Gull

  Larus occidentalis Audubon, 1839 · Aves
  3,084
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  2,985
• Bald Eagle

  Haliaeetus leucocephalus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  2,523
• Brown Pelican

  Pelecanus occidentalis Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  2,491
• Caspian Tern

  Hydroprogne caspia (Pallas, 1770) · Aves
  2,490
• Double-crested Cormorant

  Phalacrocorax auritus (Lesson, 1831) · Aves
  2,488

Most recent

• M 2.65 — 2025-12-19
  5 km WSW of Pe Ell, Washington
• M 2.84 — 2025-05-13
  25 km WNW of Hoodsport, Washington
• M 2.5 — 2025-03-28
  16 km NNE of Amanda Park, Washington
• M 2.74 — 2024-12-31
  7 km NNW of Montesano, Washington
• M 2.65 — 2024-09-12
  15 km NNW of Amanda Park, Washington
• M 2.93 — 2024-04-02
  3 km N of Onalaska, Washington