Hoquiam ( ) is a city in Grays Harbor County, Washington, United States. It borders the city of Aberdeen at Myrtle Street, with Hoquiam to the west. The two cities share a common economic history in lumbering and exporting, but Hoquiam has maintained its independent identity. It shares a long rivalry with its more populated neighbor, especially in high school sports.
Hoquiam was incorporated on May 21, 1890. Its name comes from a Native-American word meaning "hungry for wood", from the great amount of driftwood at the mouth of the Hoquiam River. The population was 8,776 at the 2020 census.
History
One of the first logging operations in Hoquiam was established by Ed Campbell in 1872.
About 10 years later, Captain Asa M. Simpson, a Pacific Coast mariner and businessman in the lumber industry from San Francisco, provided the financing for the Northwestern Mill. In 1881, Simpson sent his manager, George Emerson, to Hoquiam to establish a mill there, and Emerson purchased 300 acres for the new mill and lumber operation. By September 1882, the Simpson mill was producing its first lumber products. The mill was later renamed the Simpson Lumber Company, and retained that name until 1906. In 1913, Frank J. Shields became the new manager at the mill at Hoquiam.
The extension of the railroad from Aberdeen to Hoquiam, beginning in 1898, contributed to the continued importance of logging and lumber in Hoquiam.
In 1907, Hoquiam was home to Industrial Workers of the World Industrial Union No. 276.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which, is land and is water.
Climate
Hoquiam experiences a Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification: Csb) that borders closely on an oceanic climate. Outside of the mild and dry summer season, rainfall is generally very high and monthly totals of over are not unknown. Snowfall is rare and indeed does not fall many years; however, in the winter of 1964/1965 as much as of snow fell in two storms.