Editing Aberdeen, Washington (section)

==History==
Samuel Benn, a [[New York City]] native, established a homestead on the [[Chehalis River (Washington)|Chehalis River]] in 1859 and later [[plat]]ted a town at the site named Aberdeen. According to accounts collected by historian [[Edmond S. Meany]], the name has two possible origins: from the [[Ilwaco, Washington|Ilwaco]]-based Aberdeen Packing Company, which opened a [[cannery]] on the homestead in 1873;<ref name="HistoryLink"/> or from the Scottish city of [[Aberdeen]], named by an early settler who had lived in Scotland.<ref>{{cite book |last=Meany |first=Edmond S. |author-link=Edmond S. Meany |year=1923 |title=Origin of Washington Geographic Names |page=1 |publisher=[[University of Washington Press]] |oclc=1963675 |url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001444300 |via=[[HathiTrust]] |accessdate=February 26, 2024}}</ref> Like the Scottish city, Aberdeen is a port settlement situated at the mouth of two rivers—the Chehalis and the [[Wishkah River|Wishkah]].<ref name="HistoryLink"/> An earlier name for the settlement was Heraville, which was recorded by Benn.<ref name="HistoryLink"/>

The city was founded by Samuel Benn in 1884 and incorporated on May 12, 1890. Although it became the largest and best-known city in [[Grays Harbor]], Aberdeen lagged behind nearby [[Hoquiam, Washington|Hoquiam]] and [[Cosmopolis, Washington|Cosmopolis]] in its early years. When A.J. West built the town's first sawmill in 1894, the other two municipalities had been in business for several years. Aberdeen and its neighbors vied to be the terminus for [[Northern Pacific Railroad]], but instead of ending at one of the established mill towns, the railroad skimmed through Cosmopolis and headed west for [[Ocosta, Washington|Ocosta]].<ref name="HistoryLink">{{cite web |last=Ott |first=Jennifer |date=November 2, 2009 |title=Aberdeen — Thumbnail History |url=https://www.historylink.org/File/7390 |work=[[HistoryLink]] |access-date=May 27, 2019}}</ref> Hoquiam and Aberdeen citizens together built a spur; in 1895, the line connected Northern Pacific tracks to Aberdeen.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Aberdeen, Washington, United States |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Aberdeen-Washington |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopaedia Britannica]] |access-date=May 27, 2019}}</ref>

[[File:Clam and salmon cannery of the Ellmore Packing Co, Aberdeen, Washington, 1915 (COBB 244).jpeg|thumb|Ellmore Packing Co. clam and salmon cannery in Aberdeen, 1915]]
By 1900, Aberdeen had become home to many [[Bar (establishment)|saloons]], [[brothel]]s, and gambling establishments. It was nicknamed "The Hellhole of the Pacific", as well as  "The Port of Missing Men" due to its high murder rate. One notable resident was [[Billy Gohl]], known locally as Billy "Ghoul", who was rumored to have killed at least 140 men, disposing of the bodies in the Wishkah River.<ref>{{Cite web|date=December 16, 2020|title=There's more to the Bill Gohl story than you know|url=https://www.thedailyworld.com/news/theres-more-to-the-bill-gohl-story-than-you-know/|access-date=November 2, 2021|website=The Daily World|language=en-US}}</ref> Gohl was ultimately convicted of two murders.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www2.tacomapubliclibrary.org/v2/nwroom/morgan/Gohl.htm|title=Billy Gohl of Grays Harbor|work=Tacoma Public Library|access-date=September 6, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081024225341/http://www2.tacomapubliclibrary.org/v2/nwroom/morgan/Gohl.htm|archive-date=October 24, 2008}}</ref>

Aberdeen was hit hard during the [[Great Depression]], with the number of major local sawmills reduced from 37 to 9. By the late 1970s, most of the area had been logged and the remaining mills closed during the next decade. By the early 1990s, the industry was decimated due to resource reduction. Local political and business leaders ignored this fact and did not pursue economic diversification.<ref>{{cite web |title=History of Aberdeen |url=https://aberdeenwa.gov/history-of-aberdeen/ |publisher=City of Aberdeen |access-date=May 27, 2019 |archive-date=May 27, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190527140202/https://aberdeenwa.gov/history-of-aberdeen/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> {{Better source needed|date=February 2025}}