Kelso #1: Kelso Commons Park

Southeast corner of Oak Street & South Pacific Avenue

This small park is located on the site of the first donation land claim in the area. Peter W. Crawford took the land claim on December 18, 1847. Crawford would become one of the signers of the petition to make Washington a state at the Monticello Convention in 1852.

Bust of Peter W. Crawford at the nearby Cowlitz County Historical Museum on May 1, 2012.

Crawford was born in Kelso, Scotland, in 1818 and was university-educated as a surveyor. He immigrated to the United States in 1843, and came west by wagon train in 1847. Crawford was the surveyor for the city of Vancouver as well as Clark and Cowlitz counties. He platted the city of Kelso in 1881. He also served as Justice of the Peace and was active in business ventures. He died in 1889.

Eventually a bank was built on this corner, and it became a branch of the Seattle-First National Bank. The land was donated by the bank to the city of Kelso on August 28, 1972 for use as a park. Kelso Commons Park was dedicated on September 17, 1975.

Veterans of Foreign Wars Memorial on September 5, 2005.

In 1993, Kelso Post #3017 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars installed a memorial to soldiers lost in World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam.

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