Editing Longview, Washington (section)

==History==
[[File:LOOKING ACROSS THE COLUMBIA RIVER TOWARD LONGVIEW, WHERE THE KAISER ALUMINUM PLANT AND THE WEYERHAUSER PULP MILL... - NARA - 545020.jpg|thumb|220px|left| [[Reynolds Aluminum]] and [[Weyerhaeuser]] plants in 1972]]
Longview was the location of [[Mount Coffin]], an ancestral burial ground for the local indigenous people.

The first Euro-American settlers were led by Harry and Rebecca Jane Huntington, in 1849. The area was named '''''Monticello''''' in honor of [[Monticello|Thomas Jefferson's home]] in Virginia. In 1852 a group assembled in what would be called the "Monticello Convention" to petition [[United States Congress|Congress]] for statehood to be called "Columbia". Congress agreed to statehood but as Washington, after [[George Washington|President Washington]], to avoid confusion with the [[Washington, D.C.|District of Columbia]]. A monument to the convention is located near the Longview Civic Center.<ref name="longviewhist">{{cite web|title=Our Community: History|url=https://www.mylongview.com/364/History|publisher=City of Longview|access-date=March 18, 2020}}</ref> From 1854 to 1865 the town of Monticello was the seat of [[Cowlitz County]], before being destroyed by the flooding of the Cowlitz River in December 1867. In 1865 Nathaniel Stone founded the town of Freeport (a mile upriver from Monticello) which became the seat of Cowlitz County until 1872. The area of the towns of Monticello and Freeport is now part of the city of Longview.<ref name="A History of Cowlitz County">{{cite web|title=A History of Cowlitz County|url=https://www.sos.wa.gov/legacy/cities_detail.aspx?i=40|publisher=Cowlitz County|access-date=August 25, 2020}}</ref>

The area remained sparsely populated for nearly 60 years, consisting mostly of farmland and wilderness. In 1918, [[Missouri]] timber baron [[Robert A. Long]] (1850–1934) decided to move his operation out to the west coast, owing to the [[Long-Bell Lumber Company]]'s dwindling supplies in the south. By 1921, [[Wesley Vandercook]] had decided to build a mill near the small town of [[Kelso, Washington]]. It was apparent that Kelso, with a population of barely 2,000, would not be able to support the approximately 14,000 men that would be required to run the mill.

The Long-Bell company contracted with [[George Kessler]], a city planner based in [[St. Louis]], to build the city that would support the two mills that were now planned. Kessler designed the town based on the nation's capital, with elements of Roman City planning. Its theme is rooted in the [[City Beautiful movement]], which influenced urban design in the early 20th century. Longview was officially incorporated on February 14, 1924. At the time of its conception, Longview was the only planned city of its magnitude to have ever been conceived of and built entirely with private funds. A number of prominent buildings in Longview were purchased with R. A. Long's personal funds, including [[R. A. Long High School]], the Longview Public Library, the [[YMCA]] building and the [[Monticello Hotel (Longview, Washington)|Monticello Hotel]].

[[File:Scrap metal recycling facility in Longview, Washington's industrial zone.jpg|thumb|[[Scrap metal]] [[recycling]] facility in Longview's industrial zone]]
The initial growth period, lasting from 1923 to 1934, was very rapid. The city grew from a few thousand people to being the fourth largest city in the state by the 1930s. However, the effects of the [[Great Depression]] hampered further development of the planned city until the booming [[World War II]] economy, when the Port of Longview became a strategic location for loading cargo going into the [[Pacific War|Pacific Theater]].

The [[Allen Street Bridge disaster]], which involved a wooden drawbridge connecting Longview and Kelso, occurred on January 3, 1923. {{As of|2024}}, the event is recognized as the deadliest bridge disaster in the state. The span collapsed under a combination of high, rushing waters of the Cowlitz River, a [[log jam]], and the poor condition of the overpass. The disaster happened during the end of work day, and 17 people were formally listed as having died due to the event.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Eals |first1=Clay |title=Kelso bridge collapse 101 years ago still ranks as Washington's deadliest |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/pacific-nw-magazine/kelso-bridge-collapse-101-years-ago-still-ranks-as-washingtons-deadliest/ |access-date=May 20, 2024 |work=[[The Seattle Times]] |date=May 9, 2024}}</ref>

Suburban developments created neighborhoods in the western valley in the 1960s. The local economy has been in decline since lumber companies mechanized production in the 1970s and 1980s, reducing the availability of jobs. No major development occurred until a brief boom in the early 2000s, ended by the [[Great Recession|recession of the late 2000s]].

Recently, an initiative from local activists has pushed to implement a new strategic plan to increase development in the city, in an effort to expand affordable housing.