Cathlamet, WA

Cathlamet is Wahkiakum County’s seat and only incorporated town, set on the Columbia River’s southwest Washington shore. The name reaches back to the Kathlamet people and a Chinookan word for a rocky stretch of river channel. James Birnie arrived in 1846, opened Birnie’s Retreat as a trading post, and helped turn the river settlement into the town on the map today. The Julia Butler Hansen Heritage Center occupies a home built in 1857, and July’s Bald Eagle Days closes Main Street for a parade and street fair. Cathlamet is a river county seat with Native, trading-post, and festival history in one compact town.