Chelatchie is an

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 ...

Clark County, Washington Clark County is the southernmost county in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 503,311, making it Washington's fifth-most populous county. Its county seat and largest city is Vancouver. It was the first ...

. Chelatchie is located about northeast of

Vancouver, Washington Vancouver ( ) is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, located in Clark County, Washington, Clark County. Founded in 1825 and incorporated in 1857, Vancouver had a population of 190, ...

in the Chelatchie Prairie (or Chelatchie Valley) area, and consists of several homes, a general store, and a

United States Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency within the United States Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture. It administers the nation's 154 United States National Forest, national forests and 20 United States Natio ...

visitor center for the Mount St. Helens Volcanic National Monument. It is one of the more remote communities on

Washington State Route 503 State Route 503 (SR 503) is a state highway serving Clark and Cowlitz counties in the U.S. state of Washington. The highway travels north from a short concurrency with SR 500 in Orchards through Battle Ground, the eastern t ...

, and serves as a gateway into the Siouxon Creek area of the

Gifford Pinchot National Forest Gifford Pinchot National Forest is a National Forest located in southern Washington, managed by the United States Forest Service. With an area of , it extends along the western slopes of Cascade Range from Mount Rainier National Park to the C ...

History

The area was first settled around 1860, and was among the first settlements in the area. The name was derived from "ch'álacha," a Klickitat word describing a valley with tall ferns. The Chelatchie Prairie Railroad was extended to the area in 1948, with the International Paper Company opening a plywood mill at the end of the line in 1960, which operated until 1979.

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Clark County, Washington Unincorporated communities in Washington (state)