Description
Kalama’s story is one of triumph, adversity, and perseverance. Pioneers first settled in the area along the Columbia River in 1847, but Kalama was not officially incorporated there until 1890. Early riverboats stopped in Kalama to obtain timber for their boilers. The Northern Pacific Railroad chose Kalama as the terminus to complete a rail line to Puget Sound and a rail-transfer ferry crossed between Kalama and Goble, Oregon. The city was even the county seat for a time. However, it also endured many hardships, surviving devastating floods, a fire that destroyed the business district, and the loss of its agricultural base. Each time, its citizens rebuilt. Learn more about this city were rail, road, and river meet in this pictorial history.
