Longview, Benton County, Washington

Longview is an unincorporated historic community in Benton County, Washington, United States, located approximately three miles west of Umatilla, Oregon on the north bank of the Columbia River, just above Devil's Bend Rapids.[3]

Longview, Washington
Unincorporated community
Longview, Washington Location of Longview, Washington
Coordinates: 45°55′44″N 119°24′48″W[1]
Country	United States
State	Washington
County	Benton
Elevation [2]	302 ft (92 m)
Time zone	UTC-8 (Pacific (PST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-7 (PDT)
ZIP code	99346
Area code(s)	509
GNIS feature ID	1514878[2]

This community was known as King, for David and America King who homesteaded here, from 1904 until the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway established a construction camp in 1906 called Gravel because of the abundance of gravel found in the area. At the completion of the railroad construction, the SP&S established a station that went through several name changes; first Francis in 1908, then Tuton in 1909, and Longview in 1911. Francis was rejected because Washington already had a Frances, Tuton was often confused with the nearby town of Luzon, and so the name became Longview, because of the "long" view of the Columbia River from the community's location.[4][5]

In October 1922, the developers of Longview in Cowlitz County, Washington petitioned the residences of Longview, Benton County to change the station name, freeing the name for their development in Cowlitz County. In exchange for a covered platform on which to drop the mail in a protected location, the residence agreed and the railroad chose the name Barger. Finally, on November 23, 1943, the station was renamed the original King until it closed in 1951.[3][5]

References

1. "Longview (historical)". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. March 1, 1993. Retrieved 2012-10-28.
2. "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
3. "Washington Place Names database". Tacoma Public Library. Archived from the original on September 5, 2012. Retrieved October 30, 2012.
4. "Station Roster Master List: Longview". Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association. Retrieved October 30, 2012.
5. Davis, Jean Carol; Bergum, Vickie Silliman (1996). Benton County Place Names. Kennewick, WA: East Benton County Historical Society. pp. 3, 43, 47, 48.