Toledo, Washington facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Toledo, Washington
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Shops on Cowlitz Street, Toledo, Washington (2019)
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Location of Toledo, Washington
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| Country | United States |
| State | Washington |
| County | Lewis |
| Area | |
| • Total | 0.40 sq mi (1.03 km2) |
| • Land | 0.39 sq mi (1.02 km2) |
| • Water | 0.00 sq mi (0.01 km2) |
| Elevation | 121 ft (37 m) |
| Population
(2020)
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| • Total | 631 |
| • Density | 1,956.85/sq mi (755.55/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC-8 (Pacific (PST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-7 (PDT) |
| ZIP code |
98591
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| Area code(s) | 360 |
| FIPS code | 53-71785 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1512731 |
Toledo is a small city in Lewis County, Washington, United States. In 2020, about 631 people lived there.
Toledo is famous for its yearly Cheese Days festival. This event celebrates the city's history of dairy farming. Residents also have a "Big Meeting" each year. They discuss city issues and plan for the future.
Contents
What's in a Name?
Toledo had a few different names when it was first settled. These included Plomondon's Landing and Cowlitz Landing. The name changed almost every ten years in the mid-1800s.
In the 1870s, the name Toledo was chosen. Celeste Rochon named it after a paddle steamer boat. This boat was run by Captain Oren Kellogg and traveled on the Cowlitz River.
Toledo's Past
Simon Plomondon, who worked for the Hudson Bay Company, settled here in 1820. He married Thas-e-muth (Veronica), a daughter of a Cowlitz Indian chief. Their first child was born in Toledo in 1821. This made Plomondon the first white settler in this part of Washington.
Another early settlement was the Cowlitz Farm. It was opened by the Pugets Sound Agricultural Company in 1839. During the Puget Sound War in the 1850s, volunteers built a blockhouse here. They were worried about attacks, but no fighting happened at the fort.
By the 1850s, a community called Cowlitz Landing grew. River passengers would get off their boats there. The original landing was about 1.25 miles southwest of today's Toledo. The Cowlitz River later changed its path, washing away the old community. A new landing was then set up.
Edward D. Warbass started a port nearby in 1850. He opened a post office called Warbassport the next year. In 1879, Captain Kellogg decided to build a town in the area. He started buying land for this purpose.
Toledo officially became a city on October 10, 1892.
Where is Toledo?
Toledo is a small city. It covers about 0.40 square miles (1.03 square kilometers) of land.
Toledo's Weather
Toledo has a "warm-summer Mediterranean climate." This means it has warm, dry summers and mild, wet winters.
| Climate data for Toledo | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 62 (17) |
72 (22) |
80 (27) |
89 (32) |
93 (34) |
97 (36) |
102 (39) |
104 (40) |
100 (38) |
96 (36) |
71 (22) |
62 (17) |
104 (40) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 45.3 (7.4) |
50.8 (10.4) |
55.5 (13.1) |
60.4 (15.8) |
67 (19) |
72.4 (22.4) |
78 (26) |
78.8 (26.0) |
74.1 (23.4) |
62.9 (17.2) |
51.1 (10.6) |
44.9 (7.2) |
61.8 (16.6) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 33.2 (0.7) |
34.1 (1.2) |
36.3 (2.4) |
39 (4) |
43.7 (6.5) |
48.2 (9.0) |
50.4 (10.2) |
50 (10) |
46 (8) |
41.1 (5.1) |
37.7 (3.2) |
34.2 (1.2) |
41.2 (5.1) |
| Record low °F (°C) | 0 (−18) |
3 (−16) |
12 (−11) |
23 (−5) |
26 (−3) |
31 (−1) |
31 (−1) |
31 (−1) |
25 (−4) |
16 (−9) |
3 (−16) |
−2 (−19) |
−2 (−19) |
| Average precipitation inches (mm) | 6.93 (176) |
5.04 (128) |
4.8 (120) |
3.16 (80) |
2.29 (58) |
2 (51) |
0.74 (19) |
1.43 (36) |
2.31 (59) |
3.73 (95) |
6.33 (161) |
6.91 (176) |
45.66 (1,160) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 1.9 (4.8) |
0.4 (1.0) |
0.8 (2.0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0.5 (1.3) |
0.8 (2.0) |
4.4 (11) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 inch) | 20 | 17 | 19 | 15 | 12 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 14 | 19 | 21 | 169 |
People in Toledo
| Historical population | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1890 | 276 | — | |
| 1900 | 285 | 3.3% | |
| 1910 | 375 | 31.6% | |
| 1920 | 324 | −13.6% | |
| 1930 | 530 | 63.6% | |
| 1940 | 523 | −1.3% | |
| 1950 | 602 | 15.1% | |
| 1960 | 499 | −17.1% | |
| 1970 | 654 | 31.1% | |
| 1980 | 637 | −2.6% | |
| 1990 | 586 | −8.0% | |
| 2000 | 653 | 11.4% | |
| 2010 | 725 | 11.0% | |
| 2020 | 631 | −13.0% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census 2020 Census |
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In 2010, Toledo had 725 people living in 274 households. About 199 of these were families. The city had 304 housing units.
Most people (91%) were White. About 2.6% were Native American. About 7% of the population was Hispanic or Latino.
Many households (42%) had children under 18. The average household had 2.65 people. The average family had 3.04 people. The average age in Toledo was 35.2 years old.
Fun Things to Do
Toledo residents have an annual "Big Toledo Community Meeting." They talk about new ideas and plans for the town. They also get updates from local groups. This meeting started in 2011 after a big fire damaged a historic building downtown. Fun events like a Santa Quad Parade and a New Year's Eve Giant Cheese Ball Drop came from ideas at this meeting.
Festivals and Events
Toledo celebrates its dairy history with the annual Cheese Days festival. It usually happens in July. The festival started after a new cheese factory opened in 1919. Even after a fire destroyed the factory in 1945, the festival continued. In 2021, they celebrated the 100th Cheese Days! They still offer cheese sandwiches, just like at the very first festival. Since 1985, an older, respected resident is honored as the "Big Cheese" for their volunteer work.
The Mt. St. Helens Bluegrass Festival is also held every year. It features bluegrass musicians from all over the United States. This festival is also known for its bluegrass quilting room. It started in 1984 and usually takes place in August.
Places to Visit
Gospodor Monument Park is a roadside attraction near the city. You can see it from I-5. The park has sculptures on tall stands and smaller memorials. It is now closed to visitors.
Parks and Outdoor Fun
Kemp Olson Memorial Park is Toledo's main park. It's named after a fire chief who served the community for a long time. South of Toledo, across the Cowlitz River, is South County Park. This park lets people access the river for boating and other activities around Wallace Pond.
Schools in Toledo
The Toledo School District provides public education for students. It serves both the city and the areas around it. There are schools for elementary, middle, and high school students, all named after Toledo.
The first school in Toledo was called the OK School. It was a one-room schoolhouse. Many kids who lived outside of town had to ride a boat across the river to get to school. This continued until a bridge was built. In 1922, the school district combined 33 small one-room schools.
The middle school building used to be the high school. A new high school was built in 1974. In 1995, while the middle school was being fixed up, students went to St. Mary's Church and School for a year.
St. Mary's Academy was a private school for girls. It opened in 1920 on the site of the Saint Francis Xavier Mission. Even though it had many students and good funding in the 1960s, St. Mary's closed in 1973. This was because of economic problems in the area.
The Toledo High School Class of 1988 gave a totem pole to the school. It was made by a chainsaw artist and stands at the front entrance. For a long time, the school's mascot was the "Indian." The Cowlitz Indian Tribe officially supported this mascot in 2019. The high school has artwork honoring the Cowlitz Indian Tribe.
In 2018, the community voted to build a new high school. Construction started in 2020, and the new Toledo High School opened in the fall of 2021. It was built around the old gymnasium. The $25 million project was finished in 2022. There was a special ceremony with Native American artworks and a performance by the Cowlitz Indian Tribe Drum Group.
In 2021, a new Washington state law banned Native American mascots. So, the Toledo school district changed its nickname to the Riverhawks.
Sports in Toledo
The Toledo boys' baseball team won the state championship in 2016.
Getting Around
The South Lewis County Airport is about 4.0 miles (6.4 km) north of Toledo. It's also called Ed Carlson Memorial Field. The county owns it, but a local group manages it.
Famous People
- Ethan Siegel, a scientist who studies space and writes books about science.
See also
In Spanish: Toledo (Washington) para niños
