Winlock, Washington
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Winlock () is a city in Lewis County, Washington, United States. The population was 1,472 at the 2020 census, and was estimated to be 2,515 in 2024. It was named after territorial army general, William Winlock Miller, who briefly resided there. Winlock is mostly famous for having the World's Largest Egg, reflecting its former status as a major producer of eggs. Early in its history, Winlock attracted many immigrants from
Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
,
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, and
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
.


History


Origin

Winlock began as a
Northern Pacific Railroad The Northern Pacific Railway was an important American transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the Western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest between 1864 and 1970. It was approved and chartered b ...
construction camp called Wheeler's Camp in c. 1871. The railroad was then in the process of extending its line from
Kalama Kalama Hakaleleponi Kapakuhaili (1817 – September 20, 1870) was a Queen consort of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi alongside her husband, Kauikeaouli, who reigned as King Kamehameha III. She chose the baptismal name Hakaleleponi after the Biblical f ...
to
Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, Washington, Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia ...
. Dr. C. C. Pagett, an early resident, donated the land for the townsite. In 1873, he named it for General William Winlock Miller of Olympia, a man of some renown in the area. Miller had promised to give a
school bell The ringing of a school bell announces important times to a school's students and staff, such as marking the beginnings and ends of the school day, class periods, and breaks. In some schools it may take the form of a physical bell, usually ...
to the town if it were to be named after him. The town was incorporated on February 28, 1883.


Early economy

Lumbering Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks
was the initial economic driver. A number of
sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...
s were established beginning in the late 1800s. In the late 1920s there were four mills in operation, employing 350 men and producing over 30 million board feet of fir lumber annually.Advertising pamphlet, Winlock Commercial Club, c1928 Agriculture developed in the early 1900s with the impetus on the raising of poultry and the production of eggs. A branch of the Washington Cooperative Egg & Poultry Association located in the town constructed a large building in the north end of town, near the railroad tracks, around 1920. It housed grain storage bins and poultry processing facilities. The building remains standing today. Several hatcheries were located in the town. More than 750,000 baby chicks were produced during the 1928 season. In 1922 it was noted in a local newspaper that the only American city that produced more eggs than Winlock was
Petaluma, California Petaluma is a city in Sonoma County, California, United States, located in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Its population was 59,776 according to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...
. In a single weekend in 1923, Winlock shipped 38,400 dozen eggs to
New York state New York, also called New York State, is a state in the northeastern United States. Bordered by New England to the east, Canada to the north, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south, its territory extends into both the Atlantic Ocean and ...
. Winlock at that time was touted as the "Egg and Poultry Capital of the World".


21st century

A fire in Winlock's downtown area consumed the city's historic Warne's Drug Store building in late 2022. The structure was built in 1911 but burned down the following year. Rebuilt soon thereafter, the building housed the now-defunct Winlock News and Winlock Phone Company, as well as other various businesses for the next century. At the time of loss, the location was used as a hostel for six years. An annexation proposal by the city to incorporate Winlock's urban growth area (UGA) was dismissed in 2023 by the Lewis County Supreme Court over a combination of protests from residents in the UGA and the questions of statutory and filing periods and connected legal authority. The UGA, formed from a county contract in 2006, is recorded as containing with a population of 335 residents. A citizen-led petition for the proposal to be reviewed by the Washington State Boundary Review Board for Lewis County exceeded the minimum voting requirements and a subsequent unanimous approval of the annexation by the board occurred in August of that year. The annexation was adopted by a majority vote of the Winlock city council that autumn.


Geography

According to the
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (0.00%) is water. The city grew an additional after the 2023 UGA annexation. Olequa Creek, a main tributary of the Cowlitz River, runs through the center of town from north to south. The eastern edge of the Willapa Hills lie to the west. To the east are relatively flat
prairie Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...
s. A notable landmark about four miles west of town is Sam Henry Mountain, elevation , named for an early section superintendent of the
Northern Pacific Railroad The Northern Pacific Railway was an important American transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the Western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest between 1864 and 1970. It was approved and chartered b ...
. Mt. St. Helens, about to the east can be seen from viewpoints around the area. In May 1980, Winlock was covered with about of volcanic ash from the second major eruption of this peak one week after the cataclysmic eruption of May 18.


Demographics

As of the 2023
American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is an annual demographics survey program conducted by the United States Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the United States census, decennial census ...
, there are 631 estimated households in Winlock with an average of 3.08 persons per household. The city has a median household income of $68,750. Approximately 17.6% of the city's population lives at or below the
poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...
. Winlock has an estimated 59.2% employment rate, with 15.2% of the population holding a bachelor's degree or higher and 91.7% holding a high school diploma. The top five reported ancestries (people were allowed to report up to two ancestries, thus the figures will generally add to more than 100%) were English (83.2%), Spanish (14.2%), Indo-European (2.1%), Asian and Pacific Islander (0.5%), and Other (0.0%). The median age in the city was 33.8 years.


2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 1,472 people, 523 households, and 351 families residing in the city. The
population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...
was . There were 565 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 75.48%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 0.88%
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 2.04% Native American, 0.27% Asian, 0.61%
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 6.39% from some other races and 14.33% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 15.22% of the population.


2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 1,339 people, 475 households, and 327 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 535 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 84.69%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 0.67%
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 1.57% Native American, 0.60% Asian, 0.30%
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 8.36% from some other races and 3.81% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 13.14% of the population. There were 475 households, of which 38.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.5% were
married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
living together, 13.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 8.8% had a male householder with no wife present, and 31.2% were non-families. 24.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.79 and the average family size was 3.26. The median age in the city was 34 years. 30.2% of residents were under the age of 18; 7.6% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 26.2% were from 25 to 44; 23.9% were from 45 to 64; and 12.1% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 51.2% male and 48.8% female.


2000 census

As of the 2000 census, there were 1,166 people, 420 households, and 286 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 462 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 88.25%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 0.17%
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 0.77% Native American, 0.77% Asian, 0.00%
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 6.17% from some other races and 3.86% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 8.58% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 22.1% were of
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
, 18.4% English, 12.2% American and 7.3% Irish. There were 420 households, out of which 35.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.3% were
married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
living together, 10.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.7% were non-families. 26.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.78 and the average family size was 3.38. In the city, the population was spread out, with 31.9% under the age of 18, 8.0% from 18 to 24, 26.5% from 25 to 44, 21.1% from 45 to 64, and 12.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.9 males. The median income for a household in the city was $30,000, and the median income for a family was $38,875. Males had a median income of $31,667 versus $20,547 for females. The
per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...
for the city was $13,269. About 13.4% of families and 19.0% of the population were below the
poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...
, including 30.4% of those under age 18 and 16.7% of those age 65 or over.


Arts and culture


Festivals and events

The first Winlock Egg Days Festival was held in 1921 after a paved road (now State Route 505) was completed between the town and the extinct community of Cowlitz. Known at first as the "Poultry and Egg Day", the annual event incorporates the city's poultry history and a local resident is honored as a festival marshal. Since 2000, the city has hosted an annual Winlock Pickersfest (formerly known as the Winlock Bluesgrass Festival) at Winolequa Park. The festival focuses on the use of stringed instruments, particularly the banjo, and are incorporated into various musical genres including Americana, bluegrass, and jazz. The three-day event is usually held on the first weekend of August.


Groups and organizations

Winlock is home to the Hope
Grange Grange may refer to: Buildings * Grange House, Scotland, built in 1564, and demolished in 1906 * Grange Estate, Pennsylvania, built in 1682 * The Grange (Toronto), Toronto, Ontario, built in 1817 * Monastic grange, a farming estate belonging to ...
(No. 155). It was established on March 18, 1904 in Evaline, beginning with 19 members.


Historic buildings and sites

Situated near Olequa Creek in a residential area west of the downtown core is the Sacred Heart Catholic Church which was built in 1908. It was closed in 2014 due to financial concerns. The church was reopened as a parish of the Saint George Byzantine Catholic Church of Olympia in November 2024 after a foundation formed by local residents purchased the building that summer with the intention to remodel, repair, and preserve the historic church.


Winlock Egg

The Winlock Egg was listed as the world's largest egg by
Ripley's Believe It or Not! ''Ripley's Believe It or Not!'' is an American franchise founded by Robert Ripley, which deals with bizarre events and items so strange and unusual that readers might question the claims. Originally a newspaper panel, the ''Believe It or Not'' ...
in 1989. The current structure is the fourth reincarnation of the original egg. The first egg was built for a celebration of the opening of the Pacific Highway Bridge over the Columbia River between Washington and Oregon. The idea of an egg came from John G. Lawrence, the manager of the newly formed egg and poultry co-op as a way to represent the growing industry centered in Winlock in the 1920s. During that time farmers in Winlock were shipping as much as a quarter million cases of eggs to market a year. The first egg was made of an egg shaped wood frame stretched with canvas and painted white. It was mounted onto a truck as part of a parade of floats and vehicles that traveled from Olympia, Washington to
Salem, Oregon Salem ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County, Oregon, Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, w ...
on October 23, 1923, to celebrate the expansion of trade between Washington and Oregon through the railroad. After the parade, the egg was placed on a platform near the train depot, and has since remained a source of local pride. The first egg was covered with plaster and measured long, with a maximum diameter of . After 20 years in the elements, the egg had deteriorated and was replaced by a
plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic polymers, synthetic or Semisynthesis, semisynthetic materials composed primarily of Polymer, polymers. Their defining characteristic, Plasticity (physics), plasticity, allows them to be Injection moulding ...
version made by a new company to the area, the Johnny Simpson's Plastic Company. This version lasted until 1958 when it fell from its rotted platform and cracked. A
fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) is a common type of fibre-reinforced plastic, fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened i ...
replacement was made but not installed until 1965. Weighing in at , the fiberglass egg was in length but there were concerns that it was shaped too much like a football. The community created a fenced park, Vern Zander Memorial Park, around the attraction and the egg was labeled with a sign denoting it as the world's largest egg. Another fiberglass replacement egg was installed in 1991. The new sculpture was part of the Winlock Egg Day Parade before it was placed in the Vern Zander Memorial Park on top of a steel support. The egg, in the 21st century, has been painted to reflect certain interests or events, including being depicted as a red, white, and blue American flag after the
9/11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
and decorated with the
Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...
logo in the 2010s.


Parks and recreation

The city is home to Winolequa Park, Winlock's largest public park. Also known as Winolequa Memorial Park, it began by community volunteer effort in the 1960s and 1970s. Since 2018, community groups and volunteers install the Winlock Memorial Christmas Tree at Vern Zander Memorial Park during the year end holiday season. , approximately 450 ornaments containing a collection of the names of Winlock residents who have died are hung on the tree as to honor "those who are gone but will never be forgotten". Winlock was the planned site for the Southwest Washington Regional Equestrian Center. Also known as the REQ Center, formal planning began in 2006 and the horse arena was to have a seating capacity of over 7,000 people and was estimated to cost between $50 million and $80 million. The equestrian center was projected to present a variety of professional horse and rodeo competitions. An official site was chosen in 2008 but the center's placement in Winlock was cancelled that same year after a project manager and a developer were fined after pleading guilty to illegally filling approximately of wetlands at the location. In 2009, the arena was proposed to be moved to Napavine.


Government and politics


Politics

Winlock 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 ...
.


Government

The city council for Winlock consists of 5
at-large At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather tha ...
, non-partisan members. The mayor, elected by the citizens of the city, also functions as Winlock's chief administrative officer.


Education


Sports

Winlock High School's football team won Class B state titles in 1955, 1958, and 1959. Since the 1920s, a senior player is chosen annually to receive the Otis Roundtree Award, named for a local resident who played for the
Washington Huskies The Washington Huskies are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Washington, located in Seattle. The school competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) N ...
in the 1890s.


Infrastructure

State Route 505 begins in Winlock and runs east to
Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels thro ...
and beyond to the town of Toledo. State Route 603, a former state highway, continues north from Winlock to intersect with State Route 6 near Chehalis. The
BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three Transcontinental railroad, transcontine ...
's Seattle Subdivision, a double track railroad, runs through the middle of the town.
Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad is a Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United States after BNSF, ...
and
Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
trains also use these tracks. The nearest Amtrak station is Centralia. Winlock began constructing a
fiber optic An optical fiber, or optical fibre, is a flexible glass or plastic fiber that can transmit light from one end to the other. Such fibers find wide usage in fiber-optic communications, where they permit transmission over longer distances and at ...
expansion of a regional
broadband In telecommunications, broadband or high speed is the wide-bandwidth (signal processing), bandwidth data transmission that exploits signals at a wide spread of frequencies or several different simultaneous frequencies, and is used in fast Inter ...
project in 2023. The initiative is led by a grant of $23.5 million from the Washington State Broadband Office with an additional $2.3 million from a regional communications company. Once completed, the broadband system will be owned by Lewis County. The venture was originally planned to be completed in 2024, but forecasted out to late 2026.


References


External links


A History of Winlock, Washington

History of Winlock and vicinity

Winolequa Park
{{authority control Cities in Washington (state) Cities in Lewis County, Washington