The Pe Ell post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 838 in 19102020 census: 642140 years
How did Pe Ell get its name?
The community was almost named Mauermanna, named after one of the first non-indigenous settlers in the area, Joe Mauermann, who objected to the honor.
More on the name
The name Pe Ell was chosen and there are several versions of the backstory of the moniker, none of which can be authenticated. The more accepted version is that the name comes from the attempts of the local Indians to pronounce the first name of an early French-Canadian settler, Pierre Charles, who was an ex-Hudson's Bay employee.
In 1897, the North Pacific Railway built a railroad depot in the town. In 1907, Pe Ell's population was around 1,000—larger than it is today. The rich agricultural and timber resources of the region attracted farmers, millworkers, and loggers. By 1909, the town had a bank, three dry goods stores, two general stores, three grocery stores, two barber shops, five saloons, four hotels, a newspaper, a blacksmith, and even an opera house.
The community was once home to the Rock Creek sanitorium in the 1930s. Owned by both Lewis and Pacific counties, it was overseen by Dr. Angus MacMillan who also managed a similar tuberculosis hospital in Forest, Washington during the 1940s.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Pe Ell. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1941Walville sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Pe Ell.
Every building
Pe Ell, building by building, 1909–1930
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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