Editing Ridgefield, Washington (section)

==History==
The area has important ties to the [[Lewis and Clark Expedition]] of 1804–1806, being close to the [[Chinookan peoples|Chinookan]] town of Cathlapotle, then a settlement of 700–800 people, with at least 14 substantial [[plank house]]s.<ref>{{cite web|title=Cathlapotle|url=https://oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/cathlapotle/#.WfwHQ3ZryM8|website=The Oregon Encyclopedia|publisher=The Oregon Historical Society|access-date=November 3, 2017|last1=Ames|first1=Kenneth}}</ref> The community's ties to the Chinookan people was commemorated by the construction of a replica of a Cathlapotle [[plank house]] at the nearby [[Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge]], which was dedicated March 29, 2005.<ref name="Caldbick">{{cite web|last=Caldbick|first=John|date=January 24, 2010|url=http://www.historylink.org/File/9281|title=Ridgefield — Thumbnail History|work=History Link}}</ref>

The town was formerly known as Union Ridge, named by the many Union veterans among the first large wave of settlers after the Civil War<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kirk|first1=Ruth|last2=Alexander|first2=Carmela|title=Exploring Washington's Past: A Road Guide to History|date=995|publisher=University of Washington Press|page=405|isbn=9780295974439|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BNAYPXb22sYC&pg=PA405|access-date=November 20, 2017}}</ref> and was renamed Ridgefield in 1890.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0LARAAAAYAAJ|title=The Coast|first=Honor L.|last=Wilhelm|date=January 1, 1908|publisher=Coast Publishing Company|access-date=July 5, 2016|via=Google Books}}</ref> The town's original name is preserved in the name of Union Ridge Elementary School.<ref name="Caldbick"/>{{citation needed|reason=This looks arbitrary. Are there no other facilities that preserve the old name? Is there some particular reason the school does? A reliable secondary source covering this would probably clarify why this is relevant, if it is.|date=May 2018}}

Ridgefield was an important trading center as early as the 1860s with its key location near the mouth of the [[Columbia River]], and the city was officially incorporated on August 26, 1909.