This sign is just off U.S. Hwy. 12 near the library in Packwood.
Marker Name: Packwood
Marker Text: William Packwood and James Longmire traveled across Naches Pass during the 1840s exploring for an easier route east. The trail they blazed is known today as Cowlitz Pass. The explorers discovered this area in 1854 and called it Sulphur Springs; the name was changed to Lewis in 1911, but by the 1930s it was again renamed and called Packwood.
A Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp was built at Packwood in 1933 as part of President Roosevelts’s “New Deal.” The men planted trees, fought forest fires, and built roads and structures at the La Wis Wis Campground, Lewis and Clark State Park, and Rainbow Falls State Park. The CCC was dismantled in 1942, but many enrollees who remained found employment using skills learned while in the program.
Two of these CCC enrollees, Henry and Wes Kerr, established a sawmill that became the Packwood Lumber Company. The mill supplied the town with electricity from hydroelectric plants on Hager Creek until a Public Utility District was established in 1949.
The demand for lumber grew with the onset of WWII. Fortunately, new owners modernized the mill to accommodate the influx of work. Large timber sales went to companies in the Puget Sound region, but many smaller sales went to the Packwood Lumber Company. The company continues to produce lumber that is shipped world wide. Today, Packwood attracts visitors seeking year-round outdoor recreation activities.