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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.

Skamania County, Washington

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

County Seat: Stevenson
Year Organized: 1854
Square Miles: 1,656

Court House:

PO Box 790
County Courthouse
Stevenson, WA 98648-0790

Etymology - Origin of County Name

A Chinookan word meaning swift water.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History

Skamania County was created 9 March 1854 from Clark County

Skamania County on the Columbia River in Southwest Washington is home to several of the state's most famous features including Mount St. Helens in the northwest and Bonneville Dam in the southeast. It has the distinction of having been created by the Washington Territorial Legislature, abolished, then recreated. The county's story was shaped by the river and particularly by the rapids called The Cascades B that divided the lower from the middle Columbia. Skamania has always been tied to the economy and politics of Oregon and of Portland, the principal seaport on the Columbia. In the last years of the twentieth century, the economy shifted away from logging, and tourism became the dominant industry. Half of Skamania County's workers are employed outside the county. In 2005, the estimated population was 10,664.
File 7811: Full Text >

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,684 square miles (4,361 km²), of which, 1,656 square miles (4,290 km²) of it is land and 27 square miles (71 km²) of it (1.63%) is water. 90% of Skamania is forested and 80% is a part of Gifford Pinchot National Forest.

Neighboring Counties:

Lewis County, Washington - north
Yakima County, Washington - northeast
Klickitat County, Washington - east
Hood River County, Oregon - south
Multnomah County, Oregon - southwest
Clark County, Washington - west
Cowlitz County, Washington - west

Cities and Towns:

- North Bonneville	city	Incorporated Area
- Stevenson (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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