Felida Clark County, Washington

Mapped Location

Felida: The mapped location is an approximation and should not be used for navigation or wayfinding.

 

Information

General information on Felida

  • Feature Type: Place

 

Official, historical, colloquial and alternative toponyms for Felida

A brief list of names that this geographic feature has been named

Name Description
Felida Official

 

Origin Notes and History of Felida

References to Felida that document the origin of its place name

Title Cover Image: Origin of Washington geographic names

FELIDA, a town north of Vancouver in Clarke County. The naming of the original postoffice passed through a curious evolution. Mr. Mclrvin, the first postmaster, wished to call it Lake View, but there was already a postoffice with that name in the state. John P. Geoghegan suggested the name of Powley in honor of an old settler. When the papers came from the Postoffice Department the name was spelled "Polly." There was already a postoffice named Sara in the same region, and the postmaster objected to "Polly." C. C. Lewis, who worked in the store and served as assistant postmaster, had a valuable cat, and at his suggestion the new office was to be called "Thomas." The settlers were ambitious and rebelled against such a name for their growing town. Lewis was persistent, but approached the problem from another angle. He suggested that they look up the Latin name for the cat's family. This was found to be Felidæ, and the name shortened to Felida was accepted. (Clipping from the Vancouver Columbian, November 20, 1915, in Names MSS., Letter 160.)

Edmond S. Meany in Origin of Washington Geographic Names
Meany, Edmond S., Origin of Washington Geographic Names, 1923 University of Washington, pp 84  |  Origin of Washington Geographic Names

 

Clark County

Political Boundaries

Last updated: 2017-07-02