Camas is located in Clark County, Washington, with a population of 19,355 at the 2010 census. Officially incorporated on June 18, 1906, the city is named after the camas lily, a plant with an onion-like bulb prized by Native Americans. At the west end of downtown Camas is a large Georgia-Pacific paper-mill from which the high school teams get their name “the Papermakers”. Accordingly, the city is about 20 miles east (downwind) from Portland, Oregon. Historically, the commercial base of the city was based almost solely on the paper mill; however, the diversity of industries has been enhanced considerably in recent years by the influx of several white-collar, high-tech companies including Hewlett-Packard, Sharp Microelectronics, Linear Technology and WaferTech among others. Annual events include the summer “Camas Days”, as well as other festivals and celebrations.
The east side of town borders the city of Washougal, Washington, Camas high school’s arch rival, and the west side of town borders Vancouver, Washington. Camas lies along the Washington side of the Columbia River, across from Troutdale, Oregon, and is part of the Portland, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area as defined by the United States Census Bureau. At this juncture the Columbia River is nearly a mile wide; vehicular traffic flows across the Columbia via the Interstate Bridge on I-5 and the Glenn Jackson Bridge on I-205. The main road through town is the limited-access SR 14 expressway.
One of the major geographical features of the city is Prune Hill, upon which a great portion of the residential area of the city is located. Prune Hill is an extinct volcanic vent and is part of the Boring Lava Field of northwest Oregon and southwest Washington.
The median income for a household in the city was $60,187, and the median income for a family was $64,885. Males had a median income of $51,470 versus $31,985 for females. The per capita income for the city was $27,267. About 4.4% of families and 5.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.4% of those under age 18 and 4.7% of those age 65 or over. Based on per capita income, Camas ranks 59th of 522 areas in the state of Washington.
For more local information, visit…
City of Camas Official web site for the city of Camas, Washington.
Camas Washougal Chamber of Commerce The CW Chamber’s Mission is to be the areas business advocate and the primary organization marketing Camas, Washougal and East Clark County.