Skamokawa River Life Center

Skamokawa’s River Life Interpretive Center has a variety of historic photographs and displays featuring the local history. Housed in the historic Central Schoolhouse, the center also has a gift shop and bookstore.

The name Skamokawa means ‘smoke on the water’—so called after the fog which drifts down the three valleys opening onto the town and the Columbia River. Skamokawa was also the name of the last chief of the Wahkiakum Indians whose home was located in the area.
(https://wahport2.org/)

In 1976, Skamokawa was listed as a National Historic District. “The earliest pioneers settled in the Skamokawa area in the 1860s, drawn from all over the world by abundant natural resources, such as timber and salmon, as well as by the opportunity to establish farms. Early settlers took out donation land claims, fished, and worked in logging camps in order to provide incomes for their families. The Bayview Cannery, established in 1873 about a mile down river from the town, provided a market for commercially caught salmon from the Columbia River.”
(Wahkiakum Chamber of Commerce, https://wahkiakum.us/)

https://friendsofskamokawa.org/