Some new civic touches represent part of the progress as Yacolt moves further into its second century.
Clark County’s northernmost municipality has moved its administrative staff into a new — well, newer — town hall.
• Population: 1,470
• Must see: Mount St. Helens views; living Christmas tree; nearby Pomeroy Living History Farm; Chelatchie Prairie Railroad; Yacolt Burn State Forest; nearby Moulton Falls Regional Park.
• On the Web: http://townofyacolt.com/
It’s a significant upgrade from the former seat of town government. Built in 1908, when Yacolt officially was incorporated, the former town hall also doubled as the Yacolt jail.
The new town hall is in a remodeled two-story building that once was Yacolt’s Masonic Lodge, at 202 W. Cushman St.
The mid-December move gave Yacolt a lot more room for town operations, as well as events.
“We have space, and it’s easier to assist the public,” said Crystal Bielec, the town’s customer service clerk.
“The meeting room is bigger than at the other place, so hopefully it can bring more people in to town hall meetings,” Bielec said.
There’s more room for storage in the new place, too.
“We had stored town records in the old jail cells,” Bielec said.
Yacolt plans to turn the former town hall into a museum, which would also expand the community’s menu of attractions.
The town has added a Web site — http://townofyacolt.com/ — during the past year.
The Web site still is a work in progress, but “We put up events and minutes of the town council meetings,” Bielec said. The site also has a history link, which offers some background on the town’s name. (“Yacolt translates to ‘valley of the demons’ or ‘haunted place.’ It was named for a Native American legend about several children camping in Yacolt, many years ago, who wandered away from camp never to be seen again. It was believed that evil spirits had taken them.”)
And the town now has a veterans memorial at 105 E. Yacolt Road. The memorial, which includes a flagpole, brick paving and landscaping, was created by Josiah Woltersdorf for his Eagle Scout community service project.
While the town has added some amenities in the past year, state-level budgeting apparently will cost Yacolt another resource. Larch Corrections Center was scheduled for closure by the state. Inmate crews have provided some manpower for community projects.
“They’ve helped a lot here. We had Larch inmates help with the move” into the new town hall, Bielec said.
Yacolt is the county’s smallest town. But Yacolt Primary School has an enrollment of more than 850 students. They represent an attendance area of 197 square miles: the entire northeast quarter of Clark County.
