Longview, Washington

City of Longview
City of Longview
City
	Downtown Longview
	Location of Longview, Washington
Country	United States
State	Washington
County	Cowlitz
Settled	1850s
Incorporated	February 14, 1924
Government
• Type	Council-Manager
• City Manager	Bob Gregory
• Mayor	Dennis Weber
Area
• City	14.1 sq mi (36.5 km2)
• Land	13.7 sq mi (35.5 km2)
• Water	0.4 sq mi (1.0 km2)
Elevation	20 ft (6 m)
Population (2006)
• City	35,570
• Density	2,530.0/sq mi (976.8/km2)
• Metro	97,325
Time zone	UTC-8 (PST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-7 (PDT)
ZIP codes	98632
Area code	360
FIPS code	53-40245Template:GR
GNIS feature ID	1506304Template:GR
Website	ci.longview.wa.us

Longview is a city in Cowlitz County, Washington, United States. It is the principal city of the 'Longview, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area' which encompasses all of Cowlitz County. The population was 34,660 at the 2000 census, with an estimated population of 35,570 as of April 1, 2006. Longview is located in southwestern Washington, at the junction of the Cowlitz and Columbia rivers.

History

Located at the confluence of the Cowlitz and Columbia Rivers, the area known as Longview was first settled in the early 1850s. The area remained sparsely populated for nearly 60 years, consisting mostly of farmland and wilderness. In 1918, Missouri timber baron Robert A. Long decided to move his operation out to the west coast, owing to the Long-Bell lumber company's dwindling supplies in the south. By 1921, the decision had been made by Wesley Vandercook to build a mill near the small town of Kelso, Washington. It soon became apparent that Kelso, with a population of barely 2,000 would not be able to support the approximately 14,000 men that would be required to run the mill.

The Long-Bell company contracted with George Kessler, a city planner based in St. Louis, to build the city that would support the two mills that were now planned. Longview was officially incorporated on February 14, 1924. At the time of its conception, Longview was the only planned city of its magnitude to have ever been conceived of and built entirely with private funds. A number of prominent buildings in Longview were purchased with R. A. Long's personal funds, including R. A. Long High School, the Longview Public Library, the YMCA building and the Monticello Hotel .

Education

Longview is served by eight public elementary schools (Columbia Heights, Columbia Valley Gardens, Kessler, Mint Valley, Northlake, Olympic, Robert Gray, and Saint Helens), three public middle schools (Cascade, Monticello, and Mount Solo), and two public high schools (Robert Alexander Long aka R. A. Long and Mark Morris).

Longview is also served by two religious based schools. The Saint Rose Catholic school serves kindergarten through eighth grade. Three Rivers Christian School currently operates under two campuses. The Longview Christian campus, serving preschool through sixth grade, and Cornerstone campus (located in neighboring Kelso, WA) which serves seventh through twelfth grades.

An intense rivalry exists not only between R. A. Long High School and crosstown Mark Morris High School^{[citation needed]}, but also between Kelso High across the Cowlitz River in Kelso. The R. A. Long/Mark Morris rivalry culminates every year in so-called "Civil War" basketball games, the first held at R. A. Long's gymnasium (known locally as the "Lumberdome"), and the second on Mark Morris' Ted M. Natt court.

Lower Columbia College (LCC), based in Longview, is Washington state's oldest junior college.

Economy

Manufacturing

With access to the Columbia River, Interstate 5 and the west coast railways, Longview supports a large and rapidly diversifying manufacturing base. The abundance of timber around Longview provides the city's two largest employers, Weyerhaeuser and Longview Fibre with logs. Other major manufacturers in Longview include NORPAC (newsprint), Pacific Lamination (liquid packaging), Solvay Chemicals (Peroxide), EquaChlor (Chlorine, Caustic Soda). Smaller operations include Epson Toyocom, Northwest Hardwoods, Caffall Brothers, Peterson Manufacturing, JM Huber, Specialty Minerals and the soon to be in operation Simpson Timber Company.

Marine Transportation

The Port of Longview, established in 1921, has eight marine terminals handling a wide range of cargo from windmills, pencil pitch, calcined coke, pulp bales, lumber, logs and steel. The Port is 66 miles from the Pacific Ocean.

Geography

Longview is located at 46°8′34″N 122°57′20″W / 46.14278°N 122.95556°W / 46.14278; -122.95556Invalid arguments have been passed to the {{#coordinates:}} function (46.142733, -122.955636)Template:GR.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 36.5 km² (14.1 mi²). 35.5 km² (13.7 mi²) of it is land and 1.0 km² (0.4 mi²) of it (2.84%) is water.

The Lewis and Clark Bridge spans the Columbia River, linking Longview to Rainier, Oregon. It is the only bridge spanning the river between Portland and Astoria, Oregon.

Climate

Being situated in something of a mini-gorge, Longview's climate varies from its close neighbor, Portland. Summers are warm, averaging about 76 °F with little or no rain. Located about 80 miles inland across a stretch of relatively flat ground, the Longview skies can be overcast due to moisture from the Pacific Coast marine layer. Due to the gorge-like effect, marine pushes on summer evenings can frequently reach gusts up to 30-40 mph. Fall is usually cooler but foggy; on some days the fog never clears. By the early-to-mid November, rainfall begins in typical Northwest fashion. Winter tends to be chilly and rainy, with occasional violent windstorms or spates of unusually-warm (65-70 degree) temperatures. This is due to extremely warm air coming from the Pineapple Express which can drop 3-6 inches of rain in a matter of days. One or two snowfalls (typically less than six inches—but up to a meter in the surrounding foothills) happen each year. Spring is warmer, but still a little wet; this is the most common time for the occasional thunderstorms.

Demographics

As of the census Template:GR of 2000, there were 34,660 people, 14,066 households, and 8,931 families residing in the city. The population density was 976.8/km² (2,530.0/mi²). There were 15,225 housing units at an average density of 429.1/km² (1,111.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 89.35% White, 0.72% African American, 1.76% Native American, 2.17% Asian, 0.13% Pacific Islander, 2.96% from other races, and 2.92% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.82% of the population. 17.3% were of German, 11.2% English, 10.3% United States or American, 8.5% Irish and 7.3% Norwegian ancestry according to Census 2000.

There were 14,066 households out of which 30.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.5% were married couples living together, 12.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.5% were non-families. 30.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 2.96.

In the city the population was spread out with 26.0% under the age of 18, 8.9% from 18 to 24, 27.1% from 25 to 44, 22.6% from 45 to 64, and 15.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 93.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.0 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $35,171, and the median income for a family was $43,869. Males had a median income of $38,972 versus $26,625 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,559. About 12.3% of families and 16.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.0% of those under age 18 and 6.8% of those age 65 or over.

Longview in Popular Culture

The title of the song "Longview" by the rock band Green Day was inspired by the city. The pop-punk trio had several friends in the area due to frequent performances in Portland, Oregon. Often they would meet other punk acts from Longview who would open their shows for them. According to one concert's press agent, Jim Baltutis, Green Day played a show at a Longview club, the Cafè Forum, in the summer of 1992, which later inspired the title of the song. However, several misconceptions circulate about the title, one being that the members of the band attended Longview's R.A. Long High school, and at one of their shows they decided to name it after their "Home-Town" - Green Day is actually from Berkeley, California.

Films shot in Longview include God's Country and the Woman (1937)[1], Men of Honor (2000)[2], and Into the Wild (2007)[3]

Interesting facts

Longview and its neighbor city Kelso, Washington are two of the few American cities with 18-and-over casinos.

Longview is the only town in the United States to have a bridge dedicated to squirrels, the "Nutty Narrows Bridge." [4] The bridge surface is constructed from a retired fire hose, and the suspension cables are made from wire.

Notable Residents

James P. Fleming, recipient of the Medal of Honor for heroic action as a United States Air Force helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War, 1968.
Moulton Taylor, inventor of the Aerocar, the first practical flying automobile.
Janet Elaine Adkins, the first assisted suicide patient of Jack Kevorkian, was born in Longview.
Emilee Melton, was born in Longview, WA Founder and CEO of C&C Soaps [Best of cold pressed Soaps of the Nation 2007]
Jason Schmidt [5], pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, born in Kelso, WA and graduated from Kelso High School.
David Korten, author of When Corporations Rule the World (ISBN 1887208046)

Media

Media outlets based in Longview include 3 AM radio stations licensed in the city, and 4 FM stations. KLTV, the local cable access channel, has their headquarters in downtown Longview, at the corner of 12th Avenue and Washington Way. Longview's primary newspaper is The Daily News, which won a 1981 Pulitzer Prize for its coverage of the Mount St. Helens eruption. The Columbia River Reader newspaper celebrates the community, its entertainment, arts and travel opportunities of the Lower Columbia River region through stories and photos by local writers and photographers including Robert Benchley Society Award for Humor winning author Horace J. Digby, Emmy Award winning photographer Dale Dimmick, and others.

Sister City

In 1999, the City of Longview forged a Sister City relationship with Wako, Japan. As a part of that relationship, a delegation of students visits Longview in the summer, and a group of adults visits in October.