Menlo Pacific County, Washington
MENLO: A farming community on the Willapa River and Highway 6. Around 1851, Captain Heman Croker had a claim on the Willapa River near the future site of Menlo. For several years after he left, the boat landing on his property was called "Crocker's Landing". The Bullard brothers (Job, Mark, and Seth) arrived around 1853 and filed Donation Land Claims in the vicinity. In November 1855, members of the Keil Colony arrived in the valley and filed Donation Land Claims throughout the valley. Van Marion Bullard (son of Job) and John Brophy (of Menlo Park, California) subdivided their properties around 1893 into lots and blocks. Both men anticipated the arrival of the Northern Pacific Railroad which had surveyed a grade near their properties and planned to establish a railroad station. The railroad intended to call the station "Preston" in honor of Lindley Preston who lived in a farmhouse near the tracks and distributed mail to neighbors. The name was rejected by the post office department because there was already a station using the name. When the post office was established on September 5, 1894, the department decided on the name "Menlo". The name was taken from the sign John Brophy had erected to advertise his real estate development. The sign originally read "Menlo Park" but had been moved around the valley so much only "Menlo" remained when the post office adopted the name. The community is in the heart of the Willapa Valley agricultural district and has been the home of the Pacific County Fair each August since 1938 (the first county fair was held in South Bend in 1896, the first community fair in Menlo was held in 1919).
Mapped Location
Menlo: The mapped location is an approximation and should not be used for navigation or wayfinding.
Information
General information on Menlo
- Feature Type: Place
Official, historical, colloquial and alternative toponyms for Menlo
A brief list of names that this geographic feature has been named
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Menlo | Official |
Origin Notes and History of Menlo
References to Menlo that document the origin of its place name
MENLO, a town in the central part of Pacific County. When the Northern Pacific Railway Company was building the branch line to Willapa Harbor, option real estate dealers were active. A flag station was located on the property of Lindley Preston to be known as "Preston." John Brophy, of California, had an option on the homestead of Horace Hastings, three quarters of a mile south. To boom his place he called it Menlo Park, after the Bidwell estate in California. The construction crew of the railroad, finding that "Preston" had already been used as a railroad station name and needing a name for their new station, took Brophy's big sign. They cut off the word "Park" and in that way Menlo was placed on the railroad and later on the maps. (E. W. Lilly, in Names MSS., Letter 574.)
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