Littell, Washington

Littell is an unincorporated community in Lewis County, Washington, United States, located off Washington State Route 6 between the towns of Adna and Claquato.^[1]

Littell, Washington
Unincorporated community
Willapa Hills Trail pedestrian bridge, Littell, Washington 2023
Littell Show map of Washington (state) Littell Show map of the United States
Coordinates: 46°38′12″N 123°02′07″W
Country	United States
State	Washington
County	Lewis
Elevation	200 ft (61 m)
Time zone	UTC-8 (Pacific (PST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-7 (PDT)
zip code	98532
Area code	360

The Willapa Hills Trail passes through the area.^[2]

History

Downtown Littell, ca. 1911

There are two stories of the town's origin. A manager of the Hill Logging Company, Harry J. Syverson, asserted in 1912 to have founded the town.^[3] However, there are sourced claims that a local businessman, Curt Littell, agreed to call the post office by his name in 1902.^[4]

A post office was moved from the nearby town of Claquato in 1903, and an opera house was built in the town in 1904.^[5]

The community was known for its timber production, having two sawmills during its peak at the beginning of the 20th century. Littell grew large enough to contain a school and church, and had a large Japanese population, many of whom were employed by the mills. After a destructive fire to one mill in 1911, the second mill closed, and the town began to wane, leaving a few residents. Most of the original buildings and its downtown core are lost.^[6]

A pedestrian bridge in Littell was built starting in 2021. The span would allow users of the Willapa Hills Trail to pass over the highway to lessen vehicular accidents.^[7] The $3.3 million project^[8] was completed in June 2023 and the overpass was named in honor of the community.^[9]

Notable people

• Roy Huggins, producer, screenwriter, creator of television series The Rockford Files, The Fugitive and Maverick; born in Littell^[10]
• James A. Wright, Wisconsin state senator and lumberman; president of the Wisconsin Lumber Company located in Littell; organized the company in 1904^[11]