Lindberg is an

extinct town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

in Lewis County, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

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 ...

. Though the exact location of Lindberg is unknown, the community was located approximately west of

Morton, Washington Morton is a city in Lewis County, Washington, Lewis County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The population was 1,036 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History 19th century A village of the Cowlitz people, Upper Cowl ...

and in the present-day, is considered a neighborhood on State Route 7. The town existed under several names, at first as Glenavon, and as Coal Canyon and Millberg. The community was a

company town A company town is a place where all or most of the stores and housing in the town are owned by the same company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schoo ...

focused on logging and timber production, and existed as a populated area into the 1940s.

History

The community was first known as Glenavon, after the Tacoma Eastern Railroad established a station at the crossing of East Fork Tilton River after the completion of a rail line from Ashford to Morton in 1910. The Lindberg community began as a

logging camp A logging camp (or lumber camp) is a transitory work site used in the logging industry. Before the second half of the 20th century, these camps were the primary place where lumberjacks would live and work to fell trees in a particular area. Many ...

and company town under the Linco Log and Lumber Company in 1911 and was known at first as Coal Canyon. Containing a sawmill and shingle factory, a post office was established in 1911 under the Coal Canyon name but after the town burned down in a 1918 fire, the community was rebuilt and then renamed after Coal Canyon's original founder, Gustaf (Gus) Lindberg. The post office remained in operation until either 1923 or 1925. Lindberg had a peak population of approximately 200 in the 1920s. Due to financial difficulties, Lindberg lost his property in the mid 1920s, but the camp continued under the name of Millberg but remained known under the Lindberg moniker, via the Lindberg & Hoby Logging Camp, into the 1940s. Many homes in Lindberg were made of brick, a rarity in the usual mill towns of the era. The area shows few signs of the logging operation, but both sides of the road through this section are dotted with houses and businesses, all of which bear a Morton address, though they are outside the limits of the town proper.

Geography

Lindberg was located approximately west of Morton. By 1928, there were two train stops bracketing Lindberg, East Fork (formerly Glenavon) to the north and Coal Canyon to the south. In the 21st century, Lindberg is considered a neighborhood located on State Route 7. The

GNIS The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database of name and location information about more than two million physical and cultural features, encompassing the United States and its territories; the associated states of the Marshal ...

lists location as unknown, however period maps (1920-1930 census districts) show Lindberg on State Route 7, about three miles north of the

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 ...

junction, where the East Fork Tilton River joins

Tilton River The Tilton River is a tributary of the Cowlitz River, in the U.S. state of Washington. Named for the first territorial surveyor for Washington Territory James Tilton (surveyor), it flows for about , entirely within Lewis County. Course The T ...

References

Ghost towns in Lewis County, Washington Ghost towns in Washington (state) {{Ghost-town-stub