Frances Pacific County, Washington
FRANCES: A farming community on Highway 6. The name was bestowed by E. H. McHenry, chief engineer of the Northern Pacific Railroad survey crew, who passed through the area in 1892. Frances was his wifes middle name. The Wallace Campbell family homesteaded Elk Prairie, south of the townsite, in the early 1880s. Several Swiss/German families followed in 1886 and have been a dominant group in the community for over 100 years. Descendants hold a variety of ethnic celebrations at the Swiss Picnic Grounds on Elk Prairie Road each year. A post office was established May 26, 1894, and continued in operation until Nov. 23, 1973.
“A Name for Every Place Around Pacific County, from A to Z.” Chinook Observer, 13 May 2013, https://chinookobserver.com/2013/05/13/a-name-for-every-place-around-pacific-county-from-a-to-z/.
Mapped Location
Frances: The mapped location is an approximation and should not be used for navigation or wayfinding.
Information
General information on Frances
- Feature Type: Place
Official, historical, colloquial and alternative toponyms for Frances
A brief list of names that this geographic feature has been named
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Frances | Official |
Pacific County
- Balevile (historical)
- Bay Center
- Bay Center Junction
- Bedford
- Breakers
- Brigham City (historical)
- Brooklyn
- Bruceport
- Burt
- Camp Brix (historical)
- Chinook
- Davis
- Dexter by the Sea
- East Raymond
- Elk Creek
- Firdale
- Fort Canby
- Frances
- Frankfort
- Globe
- Heather
- Hilda
- Hines
- Holcomb
- Holman
- City of Ilwaco
- Klipsan Beach
- Knappton
- Lebam
- City of Long Beach
- Loomis
- McGowan
- Megler
- Menlo
- Middle Nemah
- Moores Corner
- Nahcotta
- Nallpee
- Naselle
- Nemah
- Nemah Junction
- North Cove
- North Nemah
- Ocean Park
- Oceanside
- Oceanview
- Oysterville
- Pacific City (historical)
- Pluvius
- City of Raymond
- Rhodesia Beach
- Seahaven (historical)
- Seaport (historical)
- Seaview
- City of South Bend
- Stringtown
- Sutico
- Swem
- Tokeland
- Upper Salmon Junction
- Venice
- Willapa
Political Boundaries
Last updated: 2026-09-27