Kelso Files
Where is Kelso in Washington State?
The City of Kelso is located next to the Columbia River and Interstate 5 Freeway in Southwest Washington State. Kelso is also the County Seat of Cowlitz County, the Headquarters of Cowlitz County Fire & Rescue, and the Cowlitz County Sheriff's Headquarters. Kelso and Longview both have their own police departments. The Law Enforcement community is very good and well-coordinated with a common communications system and a joint 911 Emergency Center. The primary train rail lines (BNSF & Union Pacific) from Washington to California run directly through Kelso. State Highway 4 in Washington and US Highway 30 in Oregon Connect I-5 to the ocean beaches in both states.
What are some Major Industries in Cowlitz County?
The Ports of Longview and Kalama are major maritime shipping ports in Washington State and on the west coast of the United States. The Port of Rainier businesses in Oregon (just across the Columbia River from the Port of Longview) are also expanding each year. Primary industries in the area are log shipment exportation, grain shipment exportation, finished lumber, paper products, chemical manufacturing, rolled steel, tourism, food processing, imported large windmill components storage & logistics, and heavy commercial machinery sales, manufacturing, & repair.
Rivers run through it!
Kelso is not far from Mt. St. Helens. Ash fill from the 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens was used to prepare the Three Rivers Mall land for complex construction after it was dredged from the Cowlitz River. The Coweeman, Cowlitz, and Columbia Rivers either run through or border the Kelso City Limits. Kelso was the smelt capital of the US before the Mt. St. Helens eruption. Salmon fishing on the Columbia River is still a popular past time here when the season is open and the fish are running. Fishing and hunting are very popular sports in this area. The Kalama and Lewis Rivers have a long history of memorable river fishing experiences. Local reservoirs upriver on the Cowlitz and Lewis rivers host a large number of recreational boaters and fishermen during the spring, summer, and fall months.
Why do we live in Kelso?
My wife was born in Kelso, attended public schools here, and graduated from LCC. We totally remodeled the old Matson family house (homesteaded in the 1920's.) We both retired and moved to Kelso in 2004 from Puyallup, Washington. I worked at Boeing Phantom Works in aerospace research & development programs (mostly military & space projects) and Bonnie worked as a carpenter and project manager in the commercial building remodeling and maintenance construction industry.
We moved here to get away from the automobile traffic problems in the Seattle-Tacoma area, to downsize our home, to realize lower utility rates, and to pay lower taxes. We are about 50 miles north of Portland, Oregon, if we want to go to a bigger city for services or products that we can't buy locally. Two of our children and five of our grand children live in or near Kelso. We built our house and shop to fit our retired lifestyle. We like traveling and going out frequently to the Pacific Ocean beaches.
Community Involvement
We created and operated a Woman-owned Small Business headquartered in Kelso from 2005 through 2009. We closed the two-person, aerospace consulting and construction project management S-corporation at the end of 2009 (when the current business recession started and after Congress passed the Health Care Bill.) "Stimulus Funds" were spent mostly to pay state employee labor union salaries, fund state infrastructure projects, and pay for growing medicaid, unemployment, and welfare services.
We are both active in our local church and several community volunteer service programs. I served on the Cowlitz County Local Emergency Planning Committee for a number of years and am a trained CERT member.
Please come back again -- this website page is still under construction.