Randle, Washington

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Randle, Washington
Unincorporated community
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Randle
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Randle
Coordinates: 46°32′07″N121°57′26″W / 46.53528°N 121.95722°W / 46.53528; -121.95722
Country United States
State Washington
County Lewis
Elevation
892 ft (272 m)
Time zone UTC−8 (PST)
 • Summer (DST) UTC−7 (PDT)
ZIP code
98377
Area code 360
GNIS feature ID1524864 [1]

Randle is a small town in eastern Lewis County, Washington, United States. Randle is located on U.S. Route 12 and is notable as the northeastern access point to the Mount St. Helens Windy Ridge viewpoint, by way of forest service roads that cut through the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.

Contents

Randle is located next to the Cowlitz River and is about 4 miles (6.4 km) north of the Cispus River, a tributary of the Cowlitz. The Cowlitz River winds westward through a rural valley in Randle known locally as "Big Bottom Valley," which is reflective of the fact that the valley floor, in certain areas, is "big". The flat, fertile land is, in places, more than 3 miles (4.8 km) wide.

Etymology

An 1889 petition to open a post office for the community was created by an early settler of the area, James Randles, but it lacked a town name in the paperwork. Due to a clerical decision by the then existing rules of the Washington Territory, the surname of Randles (excluding the "s") was determined as the moniker for the town. [2]

History

William Joerk explored in the area around 1882 and the townsite was officially founded in 1902. [3] One of the first to settle the town was James L. Randles in 1886 who helped deliver mail in the site's infancy and would spearhead the creation of a post office. Randles would pass away in 1920 and be buried in Centralia due to winter conditions at the time of his death. In 2023, his body was ceremoniously reburied next to family members in a Randle cemetery. [2]

The White Pass High School was built in 1951. In 2011, it was demolished and built into a new school.

In 2021, a charge of sexual assault was filed against the rapper and songwriter, Lil Mosey; the incident, occurring in Randle, was reported to have happened in 2020. A trial and acquittal of the musician took place at the Lewis County courthouse in Chehalis in early 2023. [4]

Geography

Randle is the center of the White Pass School District, which, in addition to Randle, covers the small towns of Glenoma, Washington, and Packwood, Washington (its school district jurisdiction includes a vast rural expanse in extreme eastern Lewis County, terminating at the Cascade Mountains and the county border with Yakima County). The community of Randle is located within Census Tract 9719 of Lewis County.

Climate

This region experiences warm (but not hot) and dry summers, with no average monthly temperatures above 71.6 °F. According to the Köppen climate classification system, Randle has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated "Csb" on climate maps. [5]

Arts and culture

Historic buildings and sites

Randle is home to the Randle Ranger Station-Work Center, a complex of rustic buildings built by the Civilian Conservation Corps and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). The North Fork Guard Station No. 1142, another NRHP site, is located near the town.

Economy

In 2019, Crystal Geyser Water Company purchased property in Randle and proposed the construction of a water bottling plant. The proposal drew extensive opposition from local residents who were concerned about damage to the Cowlitz River watershed and industrialization of the area. [6] In 2022, Lewis County PUD authorized a deal to acquire the property from Crystal Geyser to expand the adjacent campground and wilderness areas along the Cowlitz River. [7]

Parks and recreation

The community is located northeast of several recreation areas, including Riffe Lake, Taidnapam Park, and Cowlitz Falls Park which is located on the Cispus River near its junction to the reservoir, Lake Scanewa. [8] The Cowlitz Falls Campground, also known as Leonard “Bud” Allen Park, is a 110-acre (45 ha) park under the control of the Lewis County PUD and is situated near the Cowltiz River, southwest of the town center. [9] [10]

Education

The White Pass High School was built in 1951. In 2011, it was demolished and built into a new school.

Politics

Presidential Elections Results
Year Republican Democratic Third parties
2020 [11] 67.95%68930.67% 3111.39% 14

Note that the voting information is based on the Randle East and Randle West precincts only. As this is an unincorporated community, there are no defined bounds, and the precinct may be incongruous with the census boundaries.

The 2020 election included votes for candidates of the Libertarian Party and Green Party.

Infrastructure

The community 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. [12]

The Timberland Regional Library system built a new 3,400-square-foot public library in Randle that formally opened to the public in January 2025. It replaced a previous library location in a rented space. [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lewis County, Washington</span> County in Washington, United States

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 Statistical Area, which is also included in the Seattle-Tacoma, WA Combined Statistical Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Centralia, Washington</span> City in Washington, United States

Centralia is a city in Lewis County, Washington, United States. It is located along Interstate 5 near the midpoint between Seattle and Portland, Oregon. The city had a population of 18,183 at the 2020 census. Centralia is twinned with Chehalis, located to the south near the confluence of the Chehalis and Newaukum rivers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chehalis, Washington</span> City in Washington, United States

Chehalis is a city in and the county seat of Lewis County, Washington, United States. The population was 7,439 at the time of the 2020 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morton, Washington</span> City in Washington, United States

Morton is a city in Lewis County, Washington, United States. The population was 1,036 at the 2020 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cowlitz people</span> Two distinct indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest

The term Cowlitz people covers two culturally and linguistically distinct indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest; the Lower Cowlitz or Cowlitz proper, and the Upper Cowlitz / Cowlitz Klickitat or Taitnapam. Lower Cowlitz refers to a southwestern Coast Salish people, which today are enrolled in the federally recognized tribes: Cowlitz Indian Tribe, Quinault Indian Nation, and Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation. The Upper Cowlitz or Taitnapam, is a Northwest Sahaptin speaking people, part of the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cowlitz River</span> River in Washington, United States

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Packwood, Washington</span> Census-designated place in Washington, United States

Packwood is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located in easternmost Lewis County, Washington, in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the CDP had a population of 319, while the town and surrounding Packwood community had a total population of 1,073.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cispus River</span> River in Washington, United States

The Cispus River is about 54 miles (87 km) long and flows into the Cowlitz River at Lake Scanewa in the Cascade Range of Washington. Its tributaries drain most of south-central and southeastern Lewis County, extreme northeast Skamania County, and some of western Yakima County.

Glenoma is an unincorporated community in Lewis County located off U.S. Route 12, between the towns of Morton and Randle. The area is northeast of Riffe Lake.

Doty, Washington is an unincorporated community located 1.3-miles directly west of Dryad and 5 miles east of Pe Ell on Washington State Route 6. As of 2023, approximately 250 people reside in or around Doty, which boasts a general store, post office, fire department, and two churches. Logging and farming are the industries that most of the residents rely on for income.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dryad, Washington</span> Unincorporated community in Washington, United States

Dryad is a rural unincorporated community in Lewis County, Washington. The town of Doty is 1.3-miles to the west, with Adna and Ceres to the east, on Washington State Route 6. The Chehalis River bisects the area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salkum, Washington</span> Unincorporated community in Washington, United States

Salkum is a rural unincorporated community in Lewis County, Washington. The town is located on U.S. Route 12 and is 2.1 miles (3.4 km) west of Silver Creek.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mineral, Washington</span> Census-designated place in Washington, United States

Mineral is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Lewis County, Washington, on State Route 7 near the Pierce/Lewis county line. Mineral originally began as a logging camp and mining town. Prospectors searching the area for gold instead found coal and arsenic. By the early 1920s, the mines closed, and with a devastating fire to the town's largest sawmill, Mineral began to turn to tourism as its main industry, primarily through recreational fishing on Mineral Lake. The population was 193 at the 2020 census, down from 202 at the 2010 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timberland Regional Library</span> Public library system in Washington

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 libraries, 2 cooperative library centers, and 3 library kiosks. It was founded in 1968, following a four-year demonstration project, and is funded through property taxes and timber taxes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cowlitz Falls Dam</span> Dam in Lewis County, Washington

Cowlitz Falls Dam is a 70 megawatt hydroelectric dam in Lewis County, Washington. It was constructed in the early 1990s and completed in 1994. The dam is 140 feet (43 m) high and 700 feet (210 m) wide.

Cora was a former farming community and is a locale in Lewis County, Washington, United States. Cora is located off U.S. Route 12, next to the Cowlitz River between the towns of Randle and Packwood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swofford, Washington</span> Unincorporated community in Washington, United States

Swofford, also known as Swofford Valley, is an unincorporated community in central Lewis County, in the U.S. state of Washington. The town sits on the south shore of Riffe Lake, approximately 4.0 miles (6.4 km) southeast of Mossyrock.

Parks and recreation in Chehalis, Washington is administered by the Chehalis Parks and Recreation Department. Trails that connect Chehalis with locations beyond the city limits are maintained in conjunction with other local jurisdictions, state government agencies, and/or local non-profit groups and volunteers.

Harmony is an unincorporated town in Lewis County, Washington. The community is located near the junction of the Cowlitz River and Mayfield Lake, and is situated off Route 122, north of Mossyrock.

References

  1. ↑ "Randle". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  2. 1 2 Sexton, Owen (July 10, 2023). "Randle's Civil War Veteran Founder Reburied in Town He Established, 102 Years After Death". The Chronicle. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
  3. ↑ Majors, Harry M. (1975). Exploring Washington. Van Winkle Publishing Co. p. 126. ISBN   978-0-918664-00-6.
  4. ↑ Fitzgerald, Emily (March 2, 2023). "Jury Finds Rappers 'Lil Mosey' and 'Band Kid Jay' Not Guilty in Lewis County Rape Case". The Chronicle. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  5. ↑ Climate Summary for Randle, Washington
  6. ↑ Brown, Alex (June 14, 2019). "Crystal Geyser Bottling Proposal Draws Fierce Opposition in Randle". The Chronicle . Retrieved July 14, 2019.
  7. ↑ "East County Journal". Devaul Publishing. July 6, 2022.
  8. ↑ Rose, Buddy (October 29, 2004). "Coho bring anglers to Lake Scanewa". The Chronicle (Centralia, Washington) . Retrieved February 7, 2024.
  9. ↑ Brown, Alex (June 14, 2019). "Crystal Geyser Bottling Proposal Draws Fierce Opposition in Randle". The Chronicle. Retrieved April 18, 2024.
  10. ↑ "Leonard "Bud" Allen Park/Cowlitz Falls Campground". Lewis County PUD. Retrieved April 18, 2024.
  11. ↑ "Lewis County 2020 Election". Results.Vote.WA. Retrieved July 21, 2021.
  12. ↑ The Chronicle staff (March 7, 2023). "Construction Begins on U.S. Highway 12 Electric Vehicle Charging Station Network". The Chronicle. Retrieved June 21, 2023.
  13. ↑ The Chronicle staff (December 27, 2024). "New Timberland Regional Library in Randle to celebrate grand opening on Jan. 11". The Chronicle. Retrieved January 10, 2025.
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