Chehalis, Washington
17 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1916 and the latest in 1985. It stands in the Centralia-Chehalis census division. It lies in ZIP code area 98532. It stands on Coal Creek. The Survey maps it on the Centralia quadrangle. 7,439 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 243 feet above sea level.
Research this city
On record in Chehalis
Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.
On the National Register 12 records
Chehalis Downtown Historic Districtlisted 1997
Hillside Historic Districtlisted 1996
John R. Jackson Houselisted 1974
Lewis County Courthouselisted 2014
O. B. McFadden Houselisted 1975
O. K. Palmer Houselisted 1986
Pennsylvania Avenue-West Side Historic Districtlisted 1991
St. Helens Hotellisted 1991
US Post Office-Chehalis Mainlisted 1991- Burlington Northern Depotlisted 1974
- Cascade Schoollisted 2026
- Scout Lodgelisted 2004
Population over time
2 figuresChehalis grew from 7,259 to 7,439 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 7,259 | |
| 2020 | 7,439 | +180 (+2%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
10 surveys from 17 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1916 USGS Chehalis quadrangle1:125000, 4 printings
- 1953 USGS Hoquiam quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1954 USGS Centralia quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1957 USGS Hoquiam quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Hoquiam quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1962 USGS Hoquiam quadrangle1:250000
- 1975 USGS Centralia quadrangle1:24000
- 1975 USGS Centralia NW quadrangle1:24000
- 1980 USGS Centralia quadrangle1:100000
- 1985 USGS Centralia quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
63 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 63 fires within 5 miles of Chehalis between 1992 and 2020, burning about 120 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 2 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 23 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 11 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 11 |
| Smoking | 4 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 3 |
| Fireworks | 2 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 2 |
| Natural | 2 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 2 |
| Other causes | 2 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Washington State Department of Natural Resources Headquarters | not named |
| 8 September 1998 | Recreation and ceremony | 2.0 acres | Washington State Department of Natural Resources Headquarters | not named |
| 5 September 1998 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Washington State Department of Natural Resources Headquarters | not named |
| 29 September 2016 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Washington State Department of Natural Resources Headquarters | B & D |
| 14 September 2014 | Misuse of fire by a minor | under an acre | Washington State Department of Natural Resources Headquarters | BROCKWAY |
| 13 September 2000 | Debris and open burning | 3.0 acres | Washington State Department of Natural Resources Headquarters | not named |
| 11 September 2016 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Washington State Department of Natural Resources Headquarters | PROFFITT RD |
| 1 September 2012 | Smoking | under an acre | Washington State Department of Natural Resources Headquarters | SPINDLE WOOD |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 13 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 13 workings within 5 miles of Chehalis: 12 past producers, 1 occurrence. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Silica, Clay. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lund | Silica | Occurrence | ||
| Unnamed Pit | Clay | Past Producer | ||
| Borrow Pit | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Gillingham Pit | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Bernobich Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Fate Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Hanaford Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Shorey Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Sunbird Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unnamed Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
1 since 2013Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Chehalis in 1 storm report in 2013: 1 lightning. The reports record 1 injury. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 2013 | Lightning | Chehalis | 1 hurt | A 59 year old motorcycle driver was injured when he was struck by lightning while driving on Interstate-5. |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newaukum | 2.3 miles | 17 | |
| Claquato | 3.1 miles | 15 | |
| Centralia | 3.8 miles | 17 | |
| Littell | 4.2 miles | 15 | |
| Oxley | 4.3 miles | 15 | |
| Blakeslee Junction | 5.1 miles | 17 | |
| Fords Prairie | 5.2 miles | 17 | |
| Adna | 5.6 miles | 15 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Chehalis | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q249441 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1503929. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.









