Editing Chehalis, Washington (section)

===Tourism===
Chehalis is home to the Veteran's Memorial Museum which was originally begun in 1995 and opened in Centralia in 1997.<ref>{{cite news |last1=MIttge |first1=Brian |title=New museum rising in Chehalis |url=https://www.chronline.com/stories/new-museum-rising-in-chehalis,245198? |work=The Chronicle |date=January 3, 2004}}</ref>  The museum contains a volumetric library of military history, and visitors can participate in direct interactions with visiting United States war veterans as well as browse thru a 9,000 square foot gallery.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Vander Stoep |first1=Isabel |title=Filling the Void: Amid Pandemic, Veterans Memorial Museum Asks 'What Can We Do?' |url=https://www.chronline.com/stories/filling-the-void-amid-pandemic-veterans-memorial-museum-asks-what-can-we-do,267613? |access-date=June 28, 2021 |work=The Chronicle |date=June 14, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Veteran's Memorial Museum - Mission of the Museum |url=http://veteransmuseum.org/about |website=veteransmuseum.org |access-date=June 28, 2021}}</ref> The site is home to the mast of the [[USS Nicholas (DD-449)]], and the grounds exhibit both a complete [[Bell AH-1 Cobra]] helicopter and a [[Republic F-105 Thunderchief]] fighter-bomber.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sexton |first1=Owen |title=Historic World War II destroyer's mast now standing outside of the Veterans Memorial Museum in Chehalis |url=https://www.chronline.com/stories/historic-world-war-ii-destroyers-mast-now-standing-outside-of-the-veterans-memorial-museum-in,325742 |access-date=September 26, 2023 |work=The Chronicle |date=September 18, 2023}}</ref> The museum has hosted an annual, late-summer "Rust or Shine Car Show and Music Festival" since 2015, becoming the biggest automobile show in the county.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sexton |first1=Owen |title=Rust or Shine: Veterans Memorial Museum in Chehalis prepares for its final and biggest car show of the year |url=https://www.chronline.com/stories/rust-or-shine-veterans-memorial-museum-in-chehalis-prepares-for-its-final-and-biggest-car-show-of,324583 |access-date=September 5, 2023 |work=The Chronicle |date=August 30, 2023}}</ref> In cooperation with other organizations, the museum sponsors an annual [[American Civil War reenactment]] in the city.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Tomtas |first1=Justyna |title=Civil War Re-enactment Returns to Chehalis |url=https://cdn6.creativecirclemedia.com/lafromboise/files/20201209-133545-2017-07-13.pdf |access-date=February 26, 2024 |work=The Chronicle |page=7|date=July 13, 2017}}</ref>

The Chehalis-Centralia Railroad Museum (CCRM) is located south of the veteran's museum and hosts the [[Chehalis–Centralia Railroad]] which offers an {{convert|18.0|mi|adj=on}} passenger train ride that traverses through the Twin City corridor and the Chehalis River Valley.<ref name="CCRTR">{{cite news |author1=The Chronicle staff |title=Chehalis-Centralia Railroad to resume weekend excursions beginning April 6 |url=https://www.chronline.com/stories/chehalis-centralia-railroad-to-resume-weekend-excursions-beginning-april-6,336932 |access-date=April 1, 2024 |work=The Chronicle |date=March 22, 2024}}</ref> The train, a 1916 [[Baldwin Locomotive]] Engine No. 15 from the Cowlitz, Chehalis & Cascade Railway, was once a display located at Recreation Park and was restored in the mid-1980s.<ref>{{cite news |last1=McDonald |first1=Julie |title=Highlighting Lewis County: Goodbye, Harold Borovec, Chehalis and Railroad Icon |url=https://www.chronline.com/stories/highlighting-lewis-county-goodbye-harold-borovec-chehalis-and-railroad-icon,321090#lndg2wrpxju6o2o4gn |access-date=November 9, 2023 |work=The Chronicle |date=June 19, 2023}}</ref>

A [[Indoor swap meet|swap meet]] mall, [[Pay 'n Save#Yard Birds|Yard Birds]], is a local landmark known for its large, metal and wood sculpture of a black bird.<ref>{{cite web |title=Yard Birds Mall |url=https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/yard-birds-mall |website=atlasobscura.com |publisher=Atlas Obscura |access-date=July 19, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Broadt |first1=Lisa |title=The Resurgence of Yard Birds: How a New Focus and a Renewed Effort Brought a Lewis County Landmark Back to Relevance |url=https://www.chronline.com/stories/the-resurgence-of-yard-birds-how-a-new-focus-and-a-renewed-effort-brought-a-lewis-county-landmark,86522 |access-date=July 19, 2021 |work=The Chronicle |date=March 6, 2014}}</ref> The mall was permanently closed in 2022 and threatened to be condemned due to code compliance and safety issues but the order was lifted at the end of the year.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sexton |first1=Owen |title=Yard Birds Tenants Evicted, Building's Future Uncertain |url=https://www.chronline.com/stories/yard-birds-tenants-evicted-buildings-future-uncertain,302960 |access-date=August 21, 2023 |work=The Chronicle |date=November 2, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author1=The Chronicle staff |title=City of Chehalis Removes Condemnation Notices From Yard Birds |url=https://www.chronline.com/stories/city-of-chehalis-removes-condemnation-notices-from-yard-birds,304873 |access-date=August 21, 2023 |work=The Chronicle |date=December 7, 2022}}</ref> {{As of|2023}}, the attraction still remains.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Vander Stoep |first1=Isabel |title=Applicant Eyes Demolishing Yard Birds Shopping Center for New 622,167-Square-Foot Warehouse |url=https://www.chronline.com/stories/applicant-eyes-demolishing-yard-birds-shopping-center-for-new-622167-square-foot-warehouse,320387? |access-date=August 21, 2023 |work=The Chronicle |date=June 5, 2023}}</ref>

[[File:McKinley Stump - Ezra Meeker 01.jpg|thumb|200px|The Chehalis McKinley Stump, with Ezra Meeker]]
Located at the Lewis County Historical Museum is the McKinley Stump, a replica of a {{convert|6|foot|abbr=off}} tall remnant of a Douglas fir cut down in 1901 near [[Pe Ell, Washington|Pe Ell]]. Dated between 360 and 700 years old, it was meant to be used as a speech pedestal for [[President William McKinley]], but the event was cancelled. [[Theodore Roosevelt]] used it two years later and [[William H. Taft]] employed the stump as a podium in 1907. The artifact was originally placed in downtown under a pagoda, but was moved to the railroad depot and then to Recreation Park after damages due to arson in the late 1940s. After an infestation of carpenter ants and subsequent rot, the stump was removed from the park in 2007 and a replica stump, cut from [[Tenino, Washington|Tenino]], was installed at the museum in 2008 with a restored pagoda and a display of an undamaged slab of the original stump.<ref>{{cite news |title=Different stump, same memories |url=https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2008/jan/19/different-stump-same-memories/ |access-date=February 22, 2024 |work=[[The Spokesman-Review]] (Spokane, Washington) |publisher=Associated Press |date=January 19, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Stein |first1=Alan J. |title=The McKinley Stump in Chehalis is removed on October 23, 2007 |url=https://www.historylink.org/File/8374 |access-date=February 22, 2024 |work=HistoryLink |date=October 17, 2013}}</ref>