Communities of Clark County, Washington Trivia Game | Geography

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. The largest city in Clark County shares a name with a Canadian city (and both are named after the same explorer,) and the two are often confused. However, this city is just across the Columbia River from Portland, Oregon. It boasts miles of walking trails, and is the seat of county government.

Answer: Vancouver

Vancouver is a pleasant city, having many of the amenities of Portland but far fewer crowds. Like Portland, many of its houses are renovated Victorians.

Capt. George Vancouver actually never saw Vancouver, WA. His ship was too big to make it past sand bars in the Columbia, but his lieutenant, William Broughton, had a smaller ship that made it far enough up the river to enter Clark County.

2. This small town in northeastern Clark County lent its name to a huge forest fire that was one of the greatest disasters in early 20th-century Washington. Its name, fittingly, comes from the name of a Native American demon which was said to have spirited children away in the area.

Answer: Yacolt

The Yacolt Burn of 1902 devastated over than 40% of Clark County- as well as thousands of acres in neighboring Skamania and Cowlitz counties. Over 238,000 acres burned. Despite the fire's name, it did not start near Yacolt, but began near the town of Carson in Skamania County and burned westward. The town of Yacolt was actually spared from the fire.

3. The second-largest and fastest-growing city in Clark County is named after an event that never took place. What was the event that never happened?

Answer: A battle

The city is Battle Ground, where no battle ever occurred- what actually happened is that a battle may have been prevented!

In 1855, Yakima Indians in southern Washington, reacting to the large numbers of settlers pouring into their territories, staged an uprising. The soldiers of Fort Vancouver, fearing that the uprising would spread to the local non-hostile Klickitat tribe, rounded up the natives and took them into custody within the fort. Some of the Indians did not take kindly to this treatment, and packed their bags and left. The soldiers followed them to the area now known as Battle Ground and took them back into custody- without a battle.

4. Named after a wildflower, this city on the banks of the Columbia was once known primarily for its paper mill, belching sulfurous fumes into the sky. Now it is gaining a better reputation as the hub of high-tech industry in Clark County.

Answer: Camas

Although the paper mill still befouls the atmosphere, even after environmental controls, Camas is now just as well-known as the site of campuses for Hewlett-Packard, Sharp Microelectronics, Wafer Tech, Underwriters Laboratories, and others. And the blue camas still blooms in forest meadows there.

5. This city is best known as the gateway to the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area on the Washington side of the river, and its name was derived from an Indian phrase meaning "rushing waters." Only a small part of the city is actually in Clark County; the rest is in Skamania County.

Answer: Washougal

The forested hills of Washougal give spectacular views over the Columbia River and to the Oregon shore beyond.

6. This city was once the hub of steamboat trade on the Lewis River, receiving freight and passengers from the Columbia River.

Answer: La Center

Rather obviously given its position in northwestern Clark County, it was named because it was "the center" of county trade, not because it was in the center of the county!

7. On the northern border of Clark County, extending into Cowlitz County, this small community is known for its tulips and lilacs.

Answer: Woodland

Woodland is home to the Hulda Klager Lilac Gardens, where dozens of new varieties of these beautiful and fragrant spring flowers have been tested. It also hosts a Tulip Festival in April, when hundreds of acres of the bulbs are in bloom.

8. This tiny community in northern Clark County was possibly named for the initials of three of its founders.

Answer: Amboy

The possibly apocryphal story is that A.M. Ball, who petitioned the Postal Service for a post office for the area, was given the honor of choosing the name of the town. Thinking of his good friends A.M. Browning and A.M. Blaker, he chose the name Amboy for the "A. M. Boys."

9. What was the community of Felida named after?

Answer: The cat family

Felida is a suburb of Vancouver, near Vancouver Lake. It received its name in 1890, when postmaster Marian E. McIrvin was asked for suggestions of names for the town. He suggested "Lakeview," but that name was already taken. When the Postal Service suggested "Polly" as a name, he replied that that was a name for parrots- he might as well name it after his cat! So he suggested Tomcat, Thomas (the name of his cat) and Felidae, the Latin word for the cat family.

The Postal Service, misspelling Felidae as "Felida," chose the name.

10. This community boasts some of the priciest houses in Clark County, as well as a wildlife refuge, but is best known as "The Birthplace of U-Haul."

Answer: Ridgefield

Ridgefield is located just north of Vancouver, and is indeed the site of the founding of the U-Haul truck rental company. The Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge is located on the banks of the Columbia River.

Source: Author crisw

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor minch before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Communities of Clark County, Washington Quiz

Clark County lives in the shadow of its Oregon neighbor, Portland. But, no longer just a "bedroom community" for the metropolis, it is gaining a life and a cachet of its own.

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