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Washington Counties

There are 39 counties in the state of Washington.

Washington was carved out of the western part of Washington Territory and admitted to the Union as the 42nd state in 1889. The first counties were created from unorganized territory in 1845.

Pacific County, Washington

Pacific County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: South Bend
Year Organized: 1854
Square Miles: 975

Court House:

300 Memorial Drive
County Courthouse
South Bend, WA 98586-0000

Etymology - Origin of County Name

The Pacific Ocean.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History

Pacific County was created 4 February 1851 from Lewis County

Pacific County, named after the Pacific Ocean, is perched at the southwestern corner of Washington state. The ocean forms its western border and the north shore of the Columbia River and Wahkiakum County form its southern border. Grays Harbor County lies to the north and Lewis County to the east. A distinctive geographical feature is the 30-mile-long Long Beach Peninsula, which meets the ocean on its western side and shelters Willapa Bay on its eastern side. In 1851 Pacific County was the third county created in what would become Washington Territory. The economic base of the area's indigenous Chinook and Lower Chehalis peoples as well as of early-arriving settlers was oystering, especially in Shoalwater (later Willapa) Bay, and fishing. Soon lumber became a predominant early industry, followed by cranberry farming, dairy farming, and later, vacationing and tourism. Pacific County's area is nearly 1,000 square miles and the 2005 population was about 21,000 people. The county's four incorporated cities are Raymond, South Bend, Long Beach, and Ilwaco. Of the 39 Washington counties, Pacific County ranks 28th in population and 30th in land area.
File 7914: Full Text >

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,224 square miles (3,169 km²), of which, 933 square miles (2,416 km²) of it is land and 291 square miles (752 km²) of it (23.74%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

Grays Harbor County, Washington - north
Lewis County, Washington - east
Wahkiakum County, Washington - southeast
Clatsop County, Oregon - south

Cities and Towns:

- Ilwaco	city	Incorporated Area
- Long Beach	city	Incorporated Area
- Raymond	city	Incorporated Area
- South Bend (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resource Guide

Counties: US Map

The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of our country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."

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