Tokeland, Washington

Tokeland is a census-designated place (CDP) in Pacific County, Washington, United States. The population was 158 at the 2020 census, a slight increase from 151 at the 2010 census. It is located on the north side of Willapa Bay near the Shoalwater Bay Indian Reservation.

The town was named after Chief Toke, an chief of the Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe during the 19th century.

History

Tokeland is named after Chief Toke of the Shoalwater Bay Tribe. Toke made the area a summer home for himself and his family, and his presence was first documented there by Lieutenant John Meares after Toke approached Meares' ship in his canoe at the mouth of Willapa Bay in 1788.

In 1854, J. F. Barrows settled on Toke Point, but left only a few years later. No other known settlers appeared in the area until the arrival of George Brown in 1858. When the town's first post office was established in 1894, the Kindreds operated it, and continued doing so for 17 years. Lizzie Kindred was also partial owner of the Tokeland Oyster Company when it opened in 1905.

Tsunami evacuation tower

The Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe built a tsunami evacuation tower in 2022. The freestanding structure was built at a cost $5 million, $1.2 million supplied by the tribal council and an additional $3.8 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The tower is considered the first of its type in the United States. In honor of tribal elder Lee Shipman who guided the project to completion, the council bestowed the tower the nickname, "Auntie Lee".

Construction on the tsunami evacuation tower, which is the first of its kind in the United States, was finished in 2022. It was nicknamed "Auntie Lee Tower" in honor of Tribal elder Lee Shipman who led the Tribe's effort to obtain funding and build the tower. The tower's design drew inspiration from nearby Ocosta Elementary School, which also doubles as a tsunami evacuation structure.

Climate

This region experiences warm (but not hot) and dry summers, with no average monthly temperatures above 71.6 °F. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Tokeland has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated "Csb" on climate maps.

Demographics

2000 census

As of the census

The ancestry of Tokeland was 15.1% Polish, 9.8% Norwegian, 5.9% Irish, and 3.9% German. Built in 1899 as an addition to an existing farmhouse, the hotel began as the Kindred Inn and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.