Longview, Washington
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Longview is a city in Cowlitz County, Washington, United States. It is the principal city of the 'Longview, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area' which encompasses all of Cowlitz County. The population was 34,660 at the 2000 census. Longview is located in southwestern Washington, at the junction of the Cowlitz and Columbia rivers.
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[edit] History
Longview was officially incorporated on February 14, 1924. The city was the brain-child of Missouri timber baron Robert A. Long, for whom one of the two high schools in Longview is named. At the time of its conception, Longview was the only planned city of its magnitude to have ever been conceived of and built entirely with private funds.
[edit] Education
Longview is served by eight public elementary schools (Columbia Heights, Columbia Valley Gardens, Kessler, Mint Valley, Northlake, Olympic, Robert Gray, and Saint Helens), three public middle schools (Cascade, Monticello, and Mount Solo), and two public high schools (Robert Alexander Long aka R. A. Long and Mark Morris).
Longview is also served by three religious based schools. The Catholic Saint Rose school serves kindergarten through eighth grade. Three Rivers Christian School serves kindergarten through twelfth grade. Longview Christian School serves preschool through sixth grade.
An intense rivalry exists not only between R. A. Long High School and crosstown Mark Morris High School, but also Kelso High across the Cowlitz River in Kelso, WA. The R. A. Long/Mark Morris rivalry culminates every year in so-called "Civil War" basketball games, the first held at R. A. Long's gymnasium (known locally as the "Lumberdome"), and the second on Mark Morris's Ted M. Natt court.
Lower Columbia College (LCC), based in Longview, is Washington state's oldest junior college.
Longview's primary newspaper is The Daily News, which won a 1981 Pulitzer Prize for its coverage of the Mount St. Helens eruption.
The Columbia River Reader newspaper celebrates the community, its entertainment, arts and travel opportunities of the Lower Columbia River region through stories and photos by local writers and photographers including Robert Benchley Society Award for Humor winning author Horace J. Digby, Emmy Award winning photographer Dale Dimmick, and others.
[edit] Economy
[edit] Manufacturing
With access to the Columbia River, Interstate 5 and the west coast railways, Longview supports a large and rapidly diversifying manufacturing base. The abundance of timber around Longview provides the city's two largest employers, Weyerhaeuser and Longview Fibre with logs. Other major manufacturers in Longview include NORPAC (newsprint), Pacific Lamination (liquid packaging), Solvay Chemicals (Peroxide), EquaChlor (Chlorine, Caustic Soda). Smaller operations include Epson Toyocom , Northwest Hardwoods , Caffall Brothers, Peterson Manufacturing, JM Huber, Specialty Minerals, and the soon to be in operation Simpson Timber Company.
[edit] Marine Transportation
The Port of Longview, established in 1921, has eight marine terminals handling a wide range of cargo from windmills, pencil pitch, calcined coke, pulp bales, lumber, logs and steel. The Port is 66 miles from the Pacific Ocean.
[edit] Geography
Longview is located at (46.142733, -122.955636)GR1.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 36.5 km² (14.1 mi²). 35.5 km² (13.7 mi²) of it is land and 1.0 km² (0.4 mi²) of it (2.84%) is water.
[edit] Climate
Being situated in something of a mini-gorge, Longview's climate varies from its close neighbor, Portland. Summers are warm, averaging about 76 °F with little or no rain. Located about 80 miles inland across a stretch of relatively flat ground, the Longview skies can be overcast due to moisture from the Pacific Coast marine layer. Due to the gorge-like effect, marine pushes on summer evenings can frequently reach gusts up to 30-40 mph. Fall is usually cooler but foggy; on some days the fog never clears. By the early-to-mid November, rainfall begins in typical Northwest fashion. Winter tends to be chilly and rainy, but with occasional violent windstorms or spates of unusually-warm (65-70 degree) weather. This is due to extremely warm air coming from the Pineapple Express which can drop 3-6 inches of rain in a matter of days. One or two snowfalls (typically less than six inches—but up to a metre in the surrounding foothills) happen each year. Spring is warmer, but still a little wet; this is the most common time for the occasional thunderstorms.
[edit] Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 34,660 people, 14,066 households, and 8,931 families residing in the city. The population density was 976.8/km² (2,530.0/mi²). There were 15,225 housing units at an average density of 429.1/km² (1,111.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 89.35% White, 0.72% African American, 1.76% Native American, 2.17% Asian, 0.13% Pacific Islander, 2.96% from other races, and 2.92% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.82% of the population.
There were 14,066 households out of which 30.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.5% were married couples living together, 12.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.5% were non-families. 30.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 2.96.
In the city the population was spread out with 26.0% under the age of 18, 8.9% from 18 to 24, 27.1% from 25 to 44, 22.6% from 45 to 64, and 15.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 93.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $35,171, and the median income for a family was $43,869. Males had a median income of $38,972 versus $26,625 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,559. About 12.3% of families and 16.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.0% of those under age 18 and 6.8% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] Interesting facts
The song "Longview", by American rock band Green Day is named after the town of Longview, Washington. The band first played this song in Longview and decided to name it after the town. The band denies the name had anything to do with the Washington city but their press agent Jim Baltutis states, "They played it and went home and said let's name that thing Longview."[citation needed] but later on the band relocated in Everett Washington and renamed their home town to that of Everett.
[edit] Sister City
Longview has the following sister cities:
[edit] External links
- City of Longview, Washington (Official Website)
- The Daily News (Longview's local newspaper)
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
