Small Cities in western Washington: Raymond

Raymond is one of the larger cities in Pacific County in the state of Washington. It was incorporated in 1907 and economically driven by logging, timber mills, commercial fishing, and oyster culture. Logging and fishing declined in the mid-20th century, as did the city's prosperity, but after 2012, marijuana cultivation and sales partly revived the city. As of 2025, the city still looks rough. 

Willapa River and unused railroad swing bridge

Raymond was built next to the Willapa River. This allowed lumber vessels to access Willapa Bay and hence the open Pacific Ocean. However, the mouth of Willapa Bay is once of the more treacherous openings along the Oregon and Washington coast because of waves and shifting shoals. I assume this may have somewhat limited Raymond's commercial growth compared to Aberdeen in Grays Harbor. 

Willapa Bay is still a major oyster harvesting area. Raymond calls itself "The Oyster Capital of the World." 

 I explored the streets near the west end of downtown.   

Commercial building on 1st. Street (Kodak Tri-X 400 film, Rolleiflex 3.5 E camera)

Apartments on 1st Street

Two wood houses remain at the corner of 2nd and Ellis Streets. The Weyerhauser wood mill beyond the buildings includes a log yard, sawmill, planer mill, kilns, and planer machines. 

 

Former department store, 2nd Street at Duryea Street

Rear of commercial building facing 3rd Street

Commercial building at 2nd and Duryea Streets

HAVA no-kill cat shelter for homeless, abandoned, or abused cats, 431 2nd Street

439 2nd Street

Golden Lion Inn, 524 3rd St.

 

These photographs look rather bleak. There were very few people about.  

The Golden Lion Inn is a modest establishment on 3rd Street. One of the building has a distinct 1960s motor court look with horizontal bricks and wide overhang roof line. I doubt I would stay there, but the property looked well-maintained.

I took most of the photographs on Dec. 29, 2025. The square frames are Kodak Tri-X 400 film from my Rolleiflex 3.5E with 75mm ƒ/3.5 Xenotar lens. The rectangle frames are Ilford XP2 film from my Pentax MX camera and a 50mm ƒ/2 Rikenon lens. This Ricoh lens is a remarkably good plastic-bodied consumer lens sold with many Sears cameras in the 1980s. It is a standard 6-element double Gauss design, multi-coated. I am still deciding if I like XP2, which is a C-41 film (like color print film but monochrome only). It is easy to use and flexible with exposure.