Kelso, Washington
11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1921 and the latest in 1990. It stands in the Longview-Kelso census division. It lies in ZIP code area 98626. The Survey maps it on the Kelso quadrangle. 12,720 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 75 feet above sea level.
On record in Kelso
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 3 records
Adam Catlin Houselisted 1994
Nat Smith Houselisted 1975
US Post Office-Kelso Mainlisted 1991
Population over time
2 figuresKelso grew from 11,925 to 12,720 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 | 11,925 | |
| 2020 | 12,720 | +795 (+7%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 surveys from 11 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.
- 1921 USGS Kalama quadrangle1:62500
- 1953 USGS Hoquiam quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1953 USGS Kelso quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1957 USGS Hoquiam quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Hoquiam quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1962 USGS Hoquiam quadrangle1:250000
- 1990 USGS Kelso quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
128 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 128 fires within 5 miles of Kelso between 1992 and 2020, burning about 141 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 3 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 | 45 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 31 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 21 |
| Other causes | 7 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 6 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 4 |
| Fireworks | 4 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 3 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 2 |
| Natural | 2 |
| Smoking | 2 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 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 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Washington State Department of Natural Resources Headquarters | MILL STREET |
| 6 September 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Washington State Department of Natural Resources Headquarters | OWL CREEK |
| 4 September 2009 | Misuse of fire by a minor | under an acre | Washington State Department of Natural Resources Headquarters | MT. BRYNION RD |
| 28 September 2016 | Misuse of fire by a minor | under an acre | Oregon Department of Forestry Salem Headquarters | HARBOR VIEW DR. #1 |
| 25 September 1998 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Washington State Department of Natural Resources Headquarters | not named |
| 23 September 1992 | Natural | under an acre | Washington State Department of Natural Resources Headquarters | not named |
| 20 September 2001 | Recreation and ceremony | 1.0 acres | Washington State Department of Natural Resources Headquarters | not named |
| 13 September 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Washington State Department of Natural Resources Headquarters | ROCKY POINT |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 32 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 32 workings within 5 miles of Kelso: 24 past producers, 5 producers, 2 occurrences, 1 plant. 6 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Aluminum, Stone, Dimension. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (Facility) Longview Aluminum Smelter | Aluminum, Contained or Metal | Plant | ||
| Grady Quarry | Stone | Past Producer | ||
| Mount 5640 Quarry | Stone, Dimension | Past Producer | ||
| Longview | Aluminum | Occurrence | ||
| Section 4 | Aluminum | Occurrence | ||
| 40th Street Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Corman Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Deal Pit | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Headquarters Rd. Pit | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Memorial Park Road Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
10 since 2005Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Kelso in 10 storm reports between 2005 and 2017: 8 flood, 1 thunderstorm wind, 1 heavy rain. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 2015 | Flood | Kelso | $2,098,000 | The Cowlitz River at Kelso exceeded flood stage. Rises of the Kalama River resulted in flood damage of many businesses in Kalama including Motel 6, Remax, and the Burger Bar. Camp Kalama was closed due to flooding of the Kalama River. The I-5 offramp in Longview was closed due to high water. |
| March 2017 | Flood | Kelso | - | Heavy rain in addition to high river levels on the Columbia River caused the Cowlitz River near Kelso to flood. The river crested at 22.10 feet, which is 0.60 feet above flood stage. |
| November 2015 | Flood | Kelso | - | Heavy rain caused the Cowlitz River near Kelso to flood. The river crested at 22.1 feet, which is 0.6 ft above flood stage. |
| January 2009 | Flood | Kelso | - | Heavy rain caused flooding along the Cowlitz and Coweman Rivers which resulted in the evacuation of 4000 people. |
| January 2007 | Heavy Rain | Kelso | - | A total accumulation of 1.71 inches was reported at Washougal. |
| December 2007 | Flood | Kelso | - | The Cowlitz River flooded near Kelso, causing only minor flooding. |
| November 2006 | Flood | Kelso | - | The Cowlitz River at Kelso crested at 23.1 feet on November 7th, with a flood stage of 21.5 feet. |
| January 2006 | Flood | Kelso | - | no account filed |
| January 2006 | Flood | Kelso | - | no account filed |
| April 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Kelso | - | no account filed |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Kelso | 0.8 miles | 11 | |
| Davis Terrace | 1.1 miles | 11 | |
| Longview | 1.7 miles | 11 | |
| Monticello (historical) | 1.7 miles | 11 | |
| Rocky Point | 1.7 miles | 11 | |
| Beacon Hill | 2.1 miles | 11 | |
| Columbia Heights | 2.1 miles | 11 | |
| Lexington | 2.8 miles | 11 |
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 Kelso | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q868654 | 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 1512343. 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.






