On the Waterfront, Raymond, Washington (2024)

Raymond is on an estuary of the Willapa River near South Bend in Pacific County, Washington. Much of the city was built on piles on the tidelands. Like many rural Washington cities, it was originally a lumber mill town with adjacent farming in the river valley. Early in the 20th century, the city was bustling with lumber mills and freshly cut logs trains. Ocean-going ships took lumber to distant ports. Like many Pacific Northwest towns, the Great Depression devastated the local economy. The economy revived during World War II and during the post-war housing construction boom. Logging began to diminish in the 1970s, and the town fell on hard times. Today, it is part of the Evergreen Coast and has partly reformed itself as a tourist and museum town.

Willapa River (Kodak Panatomic-X film, 80mm ƒ/2.8 Planar-CB lens, dark yellow filter)

Weyerhaeuser Raymond Sawmill (250mm ƒ/5.6 Sonnar lens, yellow-green filter)

Raymond Trestle swing bridge, Willapa River (40mm ƒ/4 Distagon lens)

Detail, railroad swing bridge (100mm ƒ/3.5 Planar lens)

The Raymond trestle is another example of the impressive engineering that railroads achieved early in the 20th century. The control house was wood and has partly collapsed. The bridge is part of the Willapa Hills Trail, but the trail needs to divert through town instead of cross the river here. 

Stan Hatfield South Fork Industrial Park (50mm ƒ/4 Distagon lens)

Stan Hatfield South Fork Industrial Park

The Port of Willapa Bay runs several industrial parks with buildings rented to tenants. I do not know what this machinery once did.

Commercial Street, Raymond 

I plan to return to Raymond and look around some more. It is revitalizing, but there is old architecture and housing that I want to photograph.

The 2024 photographs are from Kodak Panatomic-X film and my Hasselblad 501CM camera. Praus Productions in Rochester, New York, developed the film in Xtol.