Winlock, Washington

Evaline is an unincorporated community in Washington, United States, south of Napavine and 3 miles north of Winlock on State Route 603.

Saint Urban is an unincorporated community in Lewis County, Washington, United States. It is located approximately three miles (4.8 km) northeast of Winlock.

Gospodor Monument Park is a roadside attraction along Interstate 5 near Toledo, Washington, in the United States. It features four sculptures, collectively known as the Gospodor monuments, created in 2002. The tallest sculpture, meant to commemorate Mother Teresa, stands over 100 feet and features a gold painted wooden statue of Jesus. Another sculpture monument features a carving of Mother Teresa posed in prayer. Two additional towering artworks honor victims of The Holocaust, which features an eternal electric flame, and a 100-foot tall tribute depicting Chief Seattle, commemorating Native Americans and other indigenous tribes. Smaller memorials to historical figures, such as Susan B. Anthony, and a carved, wooden eagle encased in glass, were later added as the park expanded.After their installation in 2002, the sculptures caused routine traffic jams due to drivers slowing down and rubbernecking. The monuments, along with their night lights, were highly controversial with local residents and the government of Lewis County acted to prevent additional sculptures from being erected.Dominic Gospodor, who commissioned the artworks and was the landowner, died in 2010. Ownership of the park was purchased by, and transferred to, the Cowlitz Tribe two years later, with a focus on land and wildlife conservation. Gospodor's estate did not provide any funds to maintain the works and the pieces began decaying due to weather and lack of maintenance. The glass encased eagle, in good condition, was moved to downtown Toledo under a permanent loan agreement between the Cowlitz people and the city.

Vader is a city in Lewis County, Washington, United States. The community began in the 1870s and was known under several different names during its early years. Vader was most recognizably known as Little Falls, after a waterfall on nearby Olequa Creek, until an official name change to Vader in 1913. The city's moniker has remained an issue, with unsuccessful votes held in the 21st century to convert back to Little Falls. Incorporated under the name of Little Falls in 1906, the early town grew largely out of logging and clay manufacturing at the turn of the 20th century, growing to a population that was reported to have reached as high as 5,000 people, despite census records failing to support the numbers. The city became known as Vader, after an American Civil War veteran and resident, in 1913. In the 1910s, several fires decimated the sawmill and factory industries of the community which led to a decades-long decline to Vader's population and economy. By the 2000s, a lack of funding closed the local school and educational district. In the 21st century, community efforts have been undertaken to rejuvenate the economic conditions of the city. Several projects began to highlight the logging history of Vader as well as showcase historic buildings, such as Old City Jail, and two National Register of Historic Places structures, the Ben Olsen House and Grace Evangelical Church of Vader. Two parks were created and the community has continued to hold an annual May Day Festival, first begun in the 1950s. According to the 2020 census, Vader's population rebounded to a level not recorded since 1910.

Grace Evangelical Church of Vader, also known as Grace United Methodist Church of Vader, is a historic Methodist church in Vader, Washington. Added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 2003, the church is one of two NRHP-listed sites in the city, along with the Ben Olsen House. The church and congregation have undergone several name changes due to mergers between religious affiliations and districts. The most widely used, and current name, Grace United Methodist Church of Vader, has been in existence since 1969. After residents in what was then known as Little Falls formed an Evangelical mission in 1891, the Late Victorian Gothic church was constructed by local craftsmen in 1902. The land was donated, with the express condition the grounds be used to build a house of worship. Open to parishioners of various cultures and heritages, the structure was often too small to accommodate crowds attending services; an annex was built in the 1930s to alleviate the issue. At the time of its national historic designation, the structure was considered slightly altered but remaining mostly true to the overall historic footprint and style of the church. A belfry, altered from remodeling efforts during the Great Depression, is located on the façade and contains an original cast iron bell. Stained glass windows in Gothic style provide light to the sanctuary that features beaver board ceilings and walls. The interior also includes a balcony, a classroom, narthex, and vestibule. Religious services have remained uninterrupted since the church was built. Grace United Methodist Church of Vader is considered as possibly one of the last remaining buildings in Vader that was constructed at the dawn of the 20th century.

Napavine is a city in Lewis County, Washington, United States. It is also included in the Centralia, WA micropolitan area. The population was 1,766 at the 2020 census.

The Ben Olsen House is a private, historic residence located in Vader, Washington. The home has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) since 1976. Along with the Grace Evangelical Church of Vader, the home is one of two NRHP-listed sites in the city. The residence was built in the early 1900s for Ben Olsen, a prominent lumberman in the community. The 3,500-square-foot (330 m2) home is considered mostly unaltered and boasts a variety of architectural styles, such as Colonial Revival, Queen Anne, and Victorian. The most notable features are its roofline, large veranda, and a turret. The Ben Olsen House, known locally as "The Mansion", was a symbol of wealth and prosperity during the peak timber years of the town of Vader, then known as Little Falls. The house was the first residence in the community to use electricity. The Ben Olsen House remains the only Queen Anne style architecture home in Vader.

KITI-FM (95.1 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a hot adult contemporary format. Licensed to Winlock, Washington, United States, it serves the Centralia-Chehalis area in western Washington.

Toledo is a city in Lewis County, Washington, United States. The population was 631 at the 2020 census.

Jackson Prairie Underground Natural Gas Storage Facility is a natural gas storage facility in Southwest Washington, owned by Puget Sound Energy, Avista and Williams Companies's Northwest Pipeline GP. With 25 billion cubic feet working capacity (47 billion cubic feet total capacity), it is the largest natural gas-storage reservoir in the Pacific Northwest and the 14th largest in the United States.

The Saint Francis Xavier Mission, in Lewis County, Washington three miles north of present-day Toledo, Washington, was the first Catholic mission in what is now the U.S. state of Washington and is now (as of 2019) the oldest Catholic church in the state. The first Mass (liturgy) was offered there December 16, 1838, by François Norbert Blanchet, who co-founded the mission with Modeste Demers, Although that is considered the founding date, the mission cemetery predates the mission as such, having been started by the Hudson's Bay Company approximately in 1831. The mission, which originally occupied 640 acres of Cowlitz Prairie, is also known as the Cowlitz Mission and, especially by members of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe, as Saint Mary's after a girl's boarding school that operated there from 1911 to 1973.Here and elsewhere, Blanchet used a visual device known as the "Catholic Ladder" as a means of instruction about the history of Christianity and the Catholic Church. There is a wooden reproduction of the Catholic ladder as part of the present-day mission.There have been a series of buildings on the site. The first chapel was a log building erected no later than July 1839. It was replaced by a larger church in 1879. That was destroyed by fire in 1901, resulting in the loss of the parish records as well as the death of a priest, Father Van Holdebeke, who died of injuries sustained trying to salvage those records. A rebuilt church was destroyed by fire in 1916; a new brick church was built in 1917, but its interior burned in 1932; the present-day church is a rebuilt version of that brick church. There have also been several church halls, friaries, rectories etc. over the years.The Sisters of Providence operated a convent and the Providence of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School from November 13, 1876, through the school year of 1897–1898, teaching both boys and girls, separately from one another. Most of their students were French Canadian Catholics. The school failed financially owing in part to the Depression of 1893 and the increased availability of public schools in nearby towns. Later, Franciscan friars served at the mission from 1908 to 1996, and Franciscan Sisters (Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Charity) operated a boarding school for girls, St. Mary's Academy, 1911 to 1973; the buildings for this school are distinct from those of the old Sisters of Providence school. The former St. Mary's buildings are now owned by Cowlitz Tribal Housing, associated with the Cowlitz Indian Tribe. One of the largest changes that has impacted the Church of Saint Francis Xavier since the departure of the Franscscian Friars is the lack of clergy. The parish, once the hub of several other South West Washington missions has been reduced to one. Its former parishes included Sacred Heart, Winlock (closed 2016), Sacred Heart, Morton (closed 2018), Saint Agnes, Napavine (closed 1980), Our Lady of the Assumption, St. Urban (Closed 1965). The Church of Saint Yves, Mossyrock, and the church of Saint Mary, Keslo are all that remain from the once large mission. Since 2009 the former St. Mary's has served as senior housing for the tribe.

Olequa, also known as Olequah, is an unincorporated community in Cowlitz County, Washington. Olequa is located north of the city of Castle Rock on the west bank of the Cowlitz River. Olequa is accessed by traveling 7.5 miles (12.1 km) north on West Side Highway from Castle Rock. The Olequa community is part of the Castle Rock School District, a K-12 school district of about 1,300 students. A post office called Olequa was established in 1875, and remained in operation until 1912. Olequa is a name derived from an Indian language.