Kosmos () was an
unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...
in
Lewis County, Washington
Lewis County is a county in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 82,149. The county seat is Chehalis, and its largest city is Centralia. Lewis County comprises the Centralia, WA Micropolitan Stati ...
, southwest of
Glenoma and is now considered a
flooded town.
Kosmos is named from a Greek term meaning "the world or universe as an embodiment of order and harmony".
History
The town officially began in 1891 under the name, Fulton, after Homer Fulton, the first postmaster.
The site would change its moniker to Kosmos in 1903, chosen by the wife of B.W. Coiner, a homesteader.
The town's primary economy was based on logging and sawmills, with mining for mercury also a principal venture.
The community was served by the Fulton Ferry before bridges were built to reach the area.
A school district and schoolhouse were begun in 1913. At its most prosperous, Kosmos had a population between 500-600 people, two grocery stores, a post office, and a locomotive shop, among other amenities.
Flooding
Residents relocated from Kosmos, along with its neighboring communities of
Neskia and
Riffe, in advance of the completion of the
Mossyrock Dam
Mossyrock Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam on the Cowlitz River near Mossyrock in Lewis County, Washington. The reservoir created by the dam is called Riffe Lake and the primary purpose of the dam is hydroelectric production while flood con ...
in 1968. Before the
Cowlitz River
The Cowlitz River is a river in the state of Washington in the United States, a tributary of the Columbia River. Its tributaries drain a large region including the slopes of Mount Rainier, Mount Adams, and Mount St. Helens.
The Cowlitz has a d ...
rose behind the dam and formed
Riffe Lake, contractors razed most structures, except for their foundations. Several bridges near the town were demolished, including Steffen Creek Bridge which was destroyed by experimental explosive testing under the direction of the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
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.
Periods of low water occasionally exposed remains of the town until 2017 when the lake's water level was dropped 30 feet, exposing the remains of the town since. The remains can be accessed at the Kosmos Wildlife Area Unit, part of the
Cowlitz River Wildlife Area,
and portions of concrete foundations, areas of logging camps, and remains of mills and timber factories are visible.
Notes
References
Unincorporated communities in Washington (state)
Unincorporated communities in Lewis County, Washington
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