By the time most of us learn the name George Washington in Lewis County, we’ve already heard the story: Centralia was founded by a formerly enslaved Black pioneer who traveled west to escape racial discrimination.
That fact alone is remarkable. In the mid-19th century, a Black pioneer securing land in the Pacific Northwest and establishing a town that still stands today is a story worthy of recognition during Black History Month, and beyond.
But if we stop at the headline, we miss something more instructive. The more interesting story is not simply that George Washington and his wife Mary founded Centralia; it’s how they did it.
Washington arrived in what was then Oregon Territory as a young man and with the California Gold Rush underway. His wife, Mary Jane Hays Washington, often described as being of Chehalis ancestry, was George’s partner in every meaningful sense.
Together, they navigated the realities of territorial Washington: shifting laws, growing settlement, Indigenous communities facing displacement and expanding railroad influence. Their marriage required navigating multiple cultural and political worlds at a time when such alliances were neither simple nor universally accepted.
They had plenty of opportunities to chase quick fortunes, but after watching the boom/collapse cycle of other frontier towns and the rampant speculation that led to the downfall of fellow pioneers, George eventually took a quieter route and filed a Donation Land Claim in the early 1850s.
Instead of chasing rapid wealth, he and Mary went to work deliberately and intentionally.
They platted a town — first Centerville, later Centralia — in a strategic location that connected regional travel corridors between the Columbia River and Puget Sound. Eventually nicknamed “Hub City,” Centralia would serve as a uniquely positioned bridge to major regional centers during the stagecoach era, the railroad boom, and all the way into modern day where its “halfway” status between Portland and Seattle serves as an important go-between.
They priced land cheaply to encourage settlement rather than speculation and donated many plots for churches and public use. George Washington Park and Washington Lawn Cemetery are just two examples of his generosity, still functioning as public spaces today.
That was a much different approach at a time when many frontier communities were built around extraction of timber, gold, rail and land. Some flourished briefly and faded, but the Washingtons understood that a town survives when land is shared and invested in and not hoarded or exploited.
Their approach paid off. Centralia grew steadily, avoiding the spectacular rises and crashes experienced by other nearby settlements. By the 1880s, the Northern Pacific Railroad had established a station there, cementing the town’s role as a vital transportation and commercial hub in Lewis County.
When George died in 1905, his funeral drew a large crowd. Even today, his legacy is visible in our streets and neighborhoods through names of schools, public spaces, and a downtown statue. Our recently created Founders Day celebration continues to honor his enduring impact each August.
But statues and plaques can flatten complexity. They can turn a person into a symbol and smooth out the decisions that made their life consequential.
Black History Month often highlights national figures whose speeches shaped movements or whose courage altered the course of federal policy. Those stories matter deeply, but local history holds lessons that are felt beyond the newsbreaking flashpoints.
George did not seek spectacle or command armies or occupy high office. He practiced the enduring art of stewardship, and that choice would outlast him.
His decisions feel especially relevant today, in a time when development and growth are often measured in short-term returns or who would benefit financially. Across the country (and sometimes closer to home) land can be treated primarily as an asset class. Quarterly performance and short-term economic opportunity can eclipse good planning and generational thinking.
Washington understood that prosperity built slowly, with others in mind, tends to endure longer than prosperity built quickly for oneself. That meant that Centralia did not become a boomtown that vanished with a single industry. It became a community, not by accident, but by design.
In Lewis County, we benefit daily from that kind of thinking, whether we realize it or not. We drive streets that were once surveyed by intention. We gather in buildings placed on land that was deliberately set aside. We send children to schools that bear the name of someone who believed a town should be structured to serve people, not the other way around.
Reflecting on George Washington’s life invites us to consider what kind of growth we value. Do we measure success by spectacle and gains, or by stability?
As Black History Month comes to a close, remembering George means examining the model of steady, inclusive, and forward-looking leadership he used to craft a great city. He showed us that it’s more important for civic leaders to leave behind a functioning community than a rowdy manifesto.
Centralia is still thriving inside the results of George's and Mary’s choices. The question for us today, or those that follow, is whether we intend to leave something equally durable behind.
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Zac Eckstein is chair of the Lewis County Democrats. Learn more about the party at https://lewiscountydemocrats.org.
