Naselle Pacific County, Washington

Name: Naselle
Address: Washington

NASELLE: A rural community on Highway 4 and 401 in the heart of the Naselle River Valley. The word "Naselle" is a derivation of a word used by the small band of Chinook Indians who lived there before the arrival of white settlers. In their language Na-sil", or "Ni-sal" means protected, sheltered or hidden. Harry K. Stevens settled on the river in 1853, ignored the Indian name, and called the river "Kennebec" in honor of the river in his home state of Maine. The name did not survive his land tenancy and does not appear on any known maps of the period. Swan labeled the river "Nasal" on the map he made for his book Northwest Coast in 1857. "Nasel" is the spelling which most often appears on early county maps and in narratives and documents prior to 1920. A post office was established at "Naselle" on November 16, 1877, but was discontinued June 6, 1879. On January 26, 1881, the post office department reestablished an office at "Nasel" and kept the spelling until a community petition convinced them to adopt the more poetic spelling / pronunciation "Naselle" on May 19, 1920. The town has a large ethnic community of Finnish settlers and holds a folk festival every two years to celebrate their heritage.

Mapped Location

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

Information

General information on Naselle

Feature Type: Place

Official, historical, colloquial and alternative toponyms for Naselle

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

Name	Description
Naselle	Official

Origin Notes and History of Naselle

References to Naselle that document the origin of its place name

NASEL, a river flowing into Willapa Bay in the south central part of Pacific County, and a town by the same name near the mouth of the river. George Gibbs called it "Nasal River." (Pacific Railroad Reports, Volume I., page 465.) James G. Swan refers to the Nasal Indians and also says: "Among others who came to settle was an old friend, Col. H. K. Stevens, who, with a friend named Hinckley, had taken a claim on the Nasal River, which he had named the Kenebec." (Northwest Coast, page 135.) The Bureau of American Ethnology says that Nisal was a division of the Chinook tribe formerly residing on Nasal River. (Handbook of American Indians, Volume II., page 75.) The United States Postal Guide, for November, 1920, says the name of the postoffice is changed to Naselle.

Edmond S. Meany in Origin of Washington Geographic Names

Meany, Edmond S., Origin of Washington Geographic Names, 1923 University of Washington, pp 183 | Origin of Washington Geographic Names

A Selected Bibliography of Naselle, Pacific County, Washington

A compilation of essential readings detailing the history, geography, and culture of the region.

Glimpses of the past oral histories from Naselle by Ruth Busse Allingham, Pacific County Historical Society (Wash)

A collection of forty oral history interviews conducted by Ruth Busse Allingham with residents of the rural Naselle Valley in Washington State. Between 1890 to 1990, this largely immigrant community was mainly comprised of Finnish and other Scandinavian immigrants

216 pages : illustrations, maps ; 28 cm

Non-circulating [ 1 ]

oral histories (literary genre) · 1st Edition · Pacific County Historical Society, South Bend, WA, 1998
Related Catalog Items: Naselle · Pacific County

Pacific County

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Last updated: 2026-09-27