MONTESANO is the county seat, located at the head of navigation
on the Chehalis river, and on the Northern Pacific railway. It
has a population of about 3,500. It has sawmills, sash and door
factories, and is surrounded by a prosperous farming community,
dairying being very remunerative.
ABERDEEN is the commercial metropolis of the county. Nearly $15,000
is daily paid out to wage-earners. Much commerce from the ocean is
centering here, 736 vessels clearing from Grays Harbor in 1907. Seven
hundred and seventy-seven thousand dollars has been appropriated by
congress for the improvement of the harbor. The city has terminal
rail rates, and the Northern Pacific and Chicago, Milwaukee & St.
Paul railroads are hustling after its trade. The business portion
of the city is built of stone, brick or cement. It has eleven large
sawmills, many shingle mills and various other factories for utilizing
the products of its timber, besides fish and clam canneries and other
factories. Its population, now about 15,000, is rapidly growing.
HOQUIAM, Aberdeen's nearby neighbor, has a population crowding
11,000, and is a hustling manufacturing and commercial center, not
different in its general business from Aberdeen.
ELMA, twelve miles east of Montesano, is a town of 2,700.
COSMOPOLIS, south of the river from Aberdeen, has about 1,200, and
is a sawmill town.
OAKVILLE, MAKRHAM and SATSOP are small growing towns on the Northern
Pacific railway. Many other embryo towns will in time grow into
prosperous business centers.