Centerville, Washington

Centerville, Washington

An unincorporated community located in Klickitat County, west of Goldendale.

Centerville P.T.C.
2315 Centerville Highway
Centerville, WA 98613
(509) 773-4893

History of Centerville

Situated in the richest section of the rich Klickitat valley and encompassed by picturesque scenes of grandeur is the little town of Centerville. It is located on a slight elevation alongside of what is known as the Swale, a tract of rich bottom land about five by ten miles in area, and for miles in every direction it is surrounded by the rolling farm lands of the Klickitat valley. The low-lying valley with its fields of golden grain, the rugged Columbia hills to the southward, the timber-covered Simcoe range to the north, away to the west the Cascades with their giant snow-capped peaks, all unite to form a picture of marvelous beauty.

Centerville School

Centerville is on the line of the Columbia River & Northern railroad, about thirty-two miles from the terminus at Lyle and seven miles from Goldendale. The site of the present town was taken as a pre-emption by Albert J. Brown in 1877. Two years later Charles Pomeroy built a blacksmith shop there, and in 1882 Mr. Brown secured the location of a postoffice at that point and named the place Centerville.

In August of 1890, an independent weekly newspaper, the Klickitat Leader, stated: "Centerville, in the central part of the county, is a prosperous, thriving little city, whose citizens are noted for their enterprise and push."