Oak Point, Washington facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Oak Point, Washington
|
|
|---|---|
 Oak Point, Washington
Location in Washington (state)
Oak Point, Washington
Location in the United States
|
|
| Country | United States |
| State | Washington |
| County | Cowlitz |
| Elevation | 97 m (318 ft) |
| Time zone | UTC−8 (PST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−7 (PDT) |
| ZIP code |
98632
|
| Area code(s) | 360 |
| FIPS code | 53-50410 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1512521 |
Oak Point, also known as Oakpoint, is a small community in Cowlitz County, Washington. It is not a city, but an unincorporated community. This means it does not have its own local government. Oak Point is located northwest of the city of Longview. You can reach it by traveling west from Longview along Washington State Route 4, also called Ocean Beach Highway. Then, you turn north onto Mill Creek Road. Students living in Oak Point attend schools in the Longview School District. This district serves about 6,600 students from kindergarten through 12th grade.
The Story Behind the Name
Oak Point got its name from a famous explorer. Back in the day, George Vancouver and his crew explored this area. They discovered a large group of oak trees right where the community is now. That's how "Oak Point" came to be!
Life in Old Oak Point
Local stories tell us that Oak Point was a busy place in the late 1800s. It had several places to eat and drink, a general store for supplies, and even a post office.
A lumber mill once stood on Mill Creek, close to where Mill Creek Road meets Ocean Beach Highway. This mill used water power to cut logs into lumber. A "one-room" school house served the community until about 1964. This school actually had at least two large rooms. It was also a community center, hosting women's club meetings and Christmas parties.
There was a lumber camp at the end of Hunter Road in the 1800s. People say a special log flume, like a water slide for logs, carried logs about three miles to the mill. You can still see huge tree stumps in the area from those days. Some of these stumps are up to six feet wide!
Exploring Oak Point's Geography
Oak Point is located at 46°11′27″N 123°11′19″W / 46.19083°N 123.18861°W. The area is known for its thick forests covering many hills. There are also steep canyons with small creeks flowing through them. The soil is usually a thin layer of dark dirt in the forests. Underneath that, and in other areas, you'll find thick red clay. A few feet below the clay, there is often hard basalt rock.
The southern edge of Oak Point is next to a very tall cliff along the Columbia River. This cliff is hundreds of feet high. In the 1960s, a large section of this cliff, about a mile long, suddenly moved. This event caused some concern for homes in the community.
