0411, 2019

Say WA! Part II: How to Pronounce Washington’s City Names

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There are 281 official cities and towns in the State of Washington, according to the Washington State Association of Cities, and every one of them has a unique story to tell. Some of them have hundreds of stories…others, perhaps just one major story. All of them have their own character, vibe, ambiance, and backstory, and many of them have weird, interesting or unusual ways they got their names. Why is

0209, 2019

Say WA! Part I: How to Pronounce Washington’s County Names

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Today, we’re beginning the creation of THE definitive pronunciation guide for Washington State. This will be part one of a three-part series looking at Washington’s notoriously difficult county, city and geographic names, so you’d better favorite these episodes if you want to sound like you’re from here. For this episode, we’ll stick to the tricky county names. Of course, we’ll also have our monthly trivia quiz, and we’ll pepper in

1004, 2012

What’s in a name? As it turns out, a lot

Washington Our Home
April 10, 2012
Central Washington, History, Legislature, Puget Sound, Western Washington
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As I tweeted last week, the Washington State Department of Natural Resources’ Committee on Geographic Names is meeting to consider changing the names of a number of Washington State locations, the most prominent being Soap Lake in Grant County. Someone had the bright idea of renaming it “Lake Smokiam” despite the local community having spent th0usands of dollars marketing the lake’s alleged medicinal properties. Needless to say, Soap Lake residents

1905, 2010

Remembering St. Helens 30 years later

Washington Our Home
May 19, 2010
Family, History, Mt. Saint Helens, Western Washington
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These were my comments printed in the Vancouver Columbian for their 30-year anniversary special on the eruption of Mt. St. Helens. You can read them on the website here: http://www.columbian.com/news/2010/apr/14/lifelong-interest-started-boom/ I’ll be the first to admit that my memory as described below is slightly inaccurate, as I found out from my father after discussing this article with him, however it is still worth posting due to the special occasion. Enjoy!