Cathlamet is a town located along the Ocean Beach Highway in Wahkiakum County, Washington, United States, where it is the county seat. The population was 560 at the 2020 census.
Wahkiakum County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,422, making it one of the least populous counties in Washington. The county seat and only incorporated town is Cathlamet.
In June 1925, Walter Coates begins regular service across the lower Columbia River using twin eight-car diesel ferries. He operates one ferry between the town of Cathlamet and Puget Island, both in Wahkiakum County, and a second ferry between the other side of the island and Westport, Oregon. The two-ferry river crossing is made possible by the opening of a road across the two-and-a-half-mile-wide island. Coates uses an old Buick to shuttle foot passengers from one ferry to the other. Coates sold the ferry service in 1932, fearing that as the highway on the Washington side extended downriver he would lose business to the Astoria ferry. But the two-ferry river crossing at Puget Island continued under other owners until 1939, when the opening of the Puget Island-Cathlamet Bridge (now the Julia Butler Hansen Bridge) eliminated that ferry crossing. By then Elmer Danielsen and his wife owned and operated the Puget Island to Westport ferry. In 1948, the Danielsens built for the run the Alamar, a 14-car ferry that cost $43,700. After the Danielsens ended operations in 1959, Wahkiakum County took over the ferry service, using leased equipment for several years.In 1962, the County commissioned construction of a new ferry, the Wahkiakum. It cost $46,000, featured a navigation system and twin diesel engines providing 300 horsepower, and accommodated 12 cars on its 36-by-75-foot deck. Walter Coates began ferry service across the Columbia River via Puget Island in June 1925.The Wahkiakum has made the one-and-a-half mile run between Puget Island and Westport ever since. Operated by the Wahkiakum County Public Works Department, it operates 365 days a year, making at least 18 runs a day. The Wahkiakum is the last ferry on the lower Columbia
Crown Zellerbach #6 was built by the Willamette Iron & Steel Works in Portland, OR, in 1924 for the Crown Willamette Paper Co., in Astoria, OR. It later moved to Youngs River, OR, and then Cathlamet, WA. An oil burner, it weighs 140,00 lbs and has 36” drivers and 12” x 15” cylinders. Operating at a boiler pressure of 200 psi, it delivered 30,350 lbs tractive effort. In 1981, #6 was donated to the Western Washington Forest Industries Museum, and is now on display at the intersection of Division and River St in Cathlamet, WA. The net fencing makes it impossible to get good photos of the engine.
![Crossing Gate]](http://www.atdlines.com/motion/train6.gif)
![Power By ETS]](http://www.atdlines.com/images/power.gif)
![[Email Us]](http://www.atdlines.com/images/mailbutn.gif)
