Salkum is a rural

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in Lewis County,

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. The town is located on

U.S. Route 12 U.S. Route 12 or U.S. Highway 12 (US 12) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway, running from Aberdeen, Washington, to Detroit, Michigan, for almost . The highway has mostly been superseded by Interstate 90 (I-90 ...

and is west of Silver Creek.

Etymology

The area was a village of the

Cowlitz Indian Tribe The Cowlitz Indian Tribe is a federally recognized tribe of Cowlitz people. They are a tribe of Southwestern Coast Salish and Sahaptan indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest located in Washington. Other Cowlitz people are enrolled in the C ...

. Salkum is a Cowlitz Indian word meaning "boiling water" or "boiling up", a reference to a nearby series of waterfalls on Mill Creek. The waterway was once known as Salkum Creek and the community took its name from the prior moniker.

History

The first non-Native settlers built a

grist mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that h ...

at Mill Creek in 1881, beginning the town's future. The community, lacking immediate access to local roads, was served by a steamer that traveled 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 ...

, bringing supplies to residents and in return, shipping grain and livestock to regional markets. A dock once existed on Mill Creek, the original location of the Salkum settlement. A post office was established in 1882 and moved in 1890, shifting the town's center two miles north. Salkum became a timber community, producing lumber until the 1930s when the sawmills shut down. Salkum opened its first library, as part of the

Timberland Regional Library Timberland Regional Library (TRL) is a public library system serving the residents of western Washington state, United States including Grays Harbor, Lewis, Mason, Pacific, and Thurston counties. Timberland Regional Library has 27 community libr ...

system, in 1986 as a test to expand library services to rural communities. Proving successful, the community refurbished an unoccupied gas station and the library was moved into the larger building in 1993.

Government and politics

Politics

Salkum is recognized as being majority Republican and

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

. Third parties receiving votes in the 2020 election were the Libertarian Party and

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

, and there were 3 votes for

Write-in candidates A write-in candidate is a candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot but seeks election by asking voters to cast a vote for the candidate by physically writing in the person's name on the ballot. Depending on electoral law it may be poss ...

Infrastructure

Salkum is among 8 locations that are part of an EV installation project on the White Pass Scenic Byway. The program will stretch from the White Pass Ski Area to Chehalis and is run in partnership with Lewis County PUD, Twin Transit, state government agencies, and local community efforts. The venture began in 2023 from two grants totaling over $1.8 million.

References

Populated places in Lewis County, Washington Unincorporated communities in Lewis County, Washington Unincorporated communities in Washington (state) {{LewisCountyWA-geo-stub