Editing Westport, Washington (section)

==History==
Westport was officially incorporated on June 26, 1914.  Names for the area in the past include [[Peterson's Point]], [[Chehalis City]], and [[Camp Chehalis|Fort Chehalis]].  The latter name is for a [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] fort established in 1860 before the town was founded, '''"ts-a-lis"''' is the [[Lower Chehalis language|Lower Chehalis]] word for Westport, meaning "place of sand". Early explorers pronounced the word "Chehalis" and gave this name to the river and the people living up river who later became the [[Lower Chehalis people|Chehalis people]] or "People of the Sands". The area was used regularly during the summer by local Native American tribes (most likely the [[Shoalwater Bay Tribe]], comprising Willapa Chinook and Lower Chehalis people) before [[Thomas Barker Speake]] and his family arrived early in the summer of 1857. Westport is also the home to a station for the US Coast Guard. 

===Tsunami shelters===
In 2016, the [[Ocosta School District]] became the first in North America to build a publicly funded vertical tsunami shelter, located at [[Ocosta Elementary School]]. Measuring {{convert|53|ft|m|1}}, the structure is joined with the school, can hold 1,000 people, and is built to withstand a [[Cascadia subduction zone]] earthquake.<ref name="WSMFT">{{cite news |last1=Franke |first1=Clayton |title=Westport secures $16.7M for tsunami evacuation structure |url=https://www.chronline.com/stories/westport-secures-167m-for-tsunami-evacuation-structure,329478 |work=The Chronicle |publisher=The Daily World |date=November 17, 2023}}</ref> The $13.8&nbsp;million project was funded by a local bond.<ref name="TPIWA">{{cite news |title=Tsunami preparedness in WA |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/pacific-nw-magazine/how-westport-and-its-neighbors-are-leading-the-way-on-tsunami-preparedness/ |access-date=February 6, 2024 |work=[[The Seattle Times]] |date=January 19, 2024}}</ref>

A $15.2&nbsp;million grant, with a 10% match by Westport,<ref name="TPIWA"/> was awarded from the [[Federal Emergency Management Agency]] (FEMA) to the city in 2023 for the construction of a community tsunami evacuation tower that is scheduled to be ready in 2026. Capable of also holding 1,000 people, the tower is planned to be part of a larger park complex near the town's marina and will stand around {{convert|50|ft|m|1}} tall.<ref name="WSMFT"/><ref>{{cite news |last1=Mikkelsen |first1=Drew |title=FEMA grants $16 million to Westport for tsunami evacuation tower |url=https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/fema-grant-westport-for-tsunami-evacuation-tower/281-11a56c3c-d44a-4f61-b6f1-119188e6d94a |access-date=November 21, 2023 |work=KING 5 News (Seattle) |date=November 17, 2023}}</ref> With plans to add an additional three towers in the future, Westport also received a $2.0&nbsp;million grant to complete a communications network that would continue to operate during a catastrophic event.<ref name="TPIWA"/>