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 ...
located in
Lewis County, Washington
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 Stat ...
.
Etymology
An early resident, J.G. Browning named the town "Willoway" for the saying "Where there's a will, there's a way", the favorite saying of his wife, Edna. In 1892, the town's name was changed by the railroad to Pamona to distinguish it from the Willapa townsite. However, the town was required to change the name again as another Pomona, Washington existed.
Two different versions for arriving at the current, official name are recorded. Historical archives indicate that the moniker was chosen as "Edna", after Edna Browning, with the first letter subsequently changed because a post office, Edna, was already in use. Other research has the town renamed by a railway superintendent on behalf of a family member, Adna Marian, in 1894.
History
During the
Great Coastal Gale of 2007
The Great Coastal Storm of 2007 was a series of three powerful Pacific storms that affected the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington and the Canadian province of British Columbia between December 1 and December 4, 2007.
The storms on December 2 ...
, downtown Adna was inundated with rushing floodwaters approximately high. Batting cages at the high school were used as a command center during the flood.
Geography
Adna is located next to the Chehalis River and is southwest of Chehalis. The town of Littell is 1.5 miles to the east. The town straddles
Washington State Route 6
State Route 6 (SR 6) is a long State highways in Washington, state highway in Pacific County, Washington, Pacific and Lewis County, Washington, Lewis counties in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. The highway, which e ...
.
Parks and recreation
Situated next to Adna High School is Back Memorial County Park. The grounds were donated by the Back family in 1978 and the grounds have hosted a softball tournament that raises scholarships in memory of a local coach. The park was temporarily used by the high school football team in the early 1980s when the stadium was being rebuilt. It is home to ballfields and a small running track.
To the southeast of the community is Rose County Park. Locally shortened to Rose Park, the area is and contains picnic facilities, playgrounds, and a hiking path that was outfitted as a fitness trail. Both parks are under the oversight of the Lewis County Parks and Recreation Department and maintenance for Back Memorial is handled by the local
Lions Club
Lions Clubs International, is an international service organization, currently headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois. , it had over 46,000 local clubs and more than 1.4 million members (including the youth wing Leo clubs, Leo) in more than 200 ge ...
.
A paved parking lot and trailhead are located in Adna for access to the
Willapa Hills Trail
The Willapa Hills Trail is a intercounty rail trail in the U.S. state of Washington that is part of the Willapa Hills State Park. Following an east–west route alongside State Route 6, the tract links Chehalis and South Bend, traveling throu ...
.
Government and politics
Politics
Adna 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 ...
Adna is home to the Adna School District, which includes two schools, Adna Elementary and Adna Middle/High School. One of the first schools to serve Adna was built in 1893 and was known as the Bell Tower School. The high school football field was constructed by the
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration (WPA; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to 1943) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to car ...
(WPA) in the 1930s on the site of the original Adna High School.
Sports
, the high school girls softball team has won the state championship 12 times, seven in Class 2B since the level began in 2002. Championship runs include back-to-back titles in 1994-1995 and a
three-peat
In sports (especially in North America), a three-peat is winning three consecutive championships or tournaments. The term, a portmanteau of the words ''three'' and ''repeat'', originated with the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Ass ...
from 2023-2025. The Adna team was the first to accomplish three consecutive titles in Class 2B play and the third team overall in the state regardless of classification. Other title years include 2011, 2015, and 2019.
The Adna football team won the state championship in 1989. The baseball team won the 2B state title in 2015.
Infrastructure
A broadband project, authorized due to a $12 million Washington State Broadband Office grant given to the Lewis County PUD, is to be installed in the Bunker Creek area around Adna. The placement of
fiber-optic cable
A fiber-optic cable, also known as an optical-fiber cable, is an assembly similar to an electrical cable but containing one or more optical fibers that are used to carry light. The optical fiber elements are typically individually coated with p ...
and other components will stretch along and across State Route 6 and is expected to begin in 2024 and completed in 2026.
The
post office
A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...