All New Publication in Process - January Release

Finns of the Grays River Area Wahkiakum County, Washington

Located in the southwest corner of the state, with 30 miles of scenic shoreline along the Columbia River, Wahkiakum County consists mainly of a rugged watershed and foothills which were heavily forested in early times. The county’s population was always small, and much of its 230 square miles have remained as state lands. State Highway No. 4 crosses the county from east to west, following the banks of the Columbia part of the way. This is the only major highway in the county, passing through or nearby the few towns and communities that populate it.

This material completes the story of immigrant Finns of the North Shore in southwest Washington State in that similar publications by the Finnish-American Historical Society of the West have previously been written on the Finns of Ilwaco, Naselle, Deep River and Salmon River.

Digital archives and publications

The Finnish-American Historical Society of the West has begun converting our publication archives to PDF and eBook formats. We hope this makes them more widely available and preserves them for future Finns and Americans. We've chosen The Pioneer Finnish Home, our publication of the original 1920s construction of the Erik Lindgren log home and the subsequent relocation, restoration and preservation, as our test conversion and we are releasing it for download.

This publication is now available in text searchable PDF format and two eBook formats for eBook readers including Kindle, Nook, iPad, Sony, and more. See our Research & Publications page to download these files.

We are excited to be able to preserve our archives and make them more accessible. This first conversion of The Pioneer Finnish Home will be used to estimate bandwidth and storage costs and help us determine how future conversions will be made available.

October 2012 and January 2013 editions of our quarterly newsletter, FINNAM NEWS are available for viewing and download. Newsletters and publications can all be found on our Research & Publications page. Please feel free to read and review the available items and comment on our digital conversion efforts and any ideas you think would be helpful.