| 1883
LaCamas Colony
Company selected townsite of LaCamas for their new
paper mill. Mr. Henry L. Pittock, the owner of the
Oregonian newspaper of Portland needed plenty of
water to power paper-making machines for his newspaper
and found it in the lakes behind the LaCamas region. |
| The
name "LaCamas" originated from the "camas roots
used by the Indians for food" as written in a letter
dated April 1909 by Mr. H. MacMaster, Councilman. |
| 1883 Aeneas
MacMaster opens the first store in LaCamas. |
| 1884
First school and
post office was established in LaCamas. |
| 1889
Washington becomes a State of the Union. |
| 1904
Telephone service
to Vancouver was established. |
| 1906
Camas was incorporated as a town. |
| 1907 Northbank
Highway opened from Vancouver, through Camas and
Washougal, to Stevenson. |
| 1908
The LaCamas Post, forerunner of the Post-Record
newspaper, was created. |
| 1928
The Crown Willamette Paper Company merged with the
San Francisco-based Zellerbach Paper Mill Company
forming Crown-Zellerbach Corporation.
In
WWII the Camas plant produced ship rudders in
the machine shop. The rudders were being installed
on the Liberty ships under construction in Vancouver
and Portland.
After
the war, the plant's management became more interested
in technical and research problems. |
| 1946
the Central Research
and Technical Department was formed to focus on
projects with longer range benefits for the company
and surrounding community. |
| 1960
The name was changed to Central Research. |
| In
later years, Crown Zellerbach Corporations changes
ownership and name several times - currently being
merged, but known as James River Corporation, it
is now known as Georgia Pacific..
Today's
downtown theme consists of flower baskets, trees
and landscape flower beds. New lighting
was installed in 2001 and has been a welcomed
enhancement.
The
industrial base has changed dramatically from
a small "mill town" base to a thriving
industrial park which benefits for its close proximity
to the Portland International Airport, Columbia
River, and surrounding large Metro area.
For information about the City's business and
industrial community, go to the Business
section. |
Another
site for historical information:
Columbia
Communities
(Sponsored by the Center for Columbia River
History)
The
Downtown Vision Coalition has a website which
helps you find out about the many benefits of downtown
Camas! Click
here to go to www.downtowncamas.com
|
|
|
How
Camas was named
Blossoming
with clusters of showy deep blue flowers, something
like a hyacinth in habit, the Camas Lily was eagerly
sought by Columbia river valley Indians, since
its bulb was an important part of their diet.
Grown in meadows and marshes, it was harvested
in mid-summer and prepared for eating, cooking
in primitive baking pits, first being wrapped
in swamp grass before contact with hot stones.
When the cooked bulbs were dry, they were reduced
to a flour from which bread could be made.
When boiled in water, the bulbs yielded a molasses
that was treasured for use on important festival
occasions. Indians called the flower the
KAMASS.
|
downtown mall area |
