April 23 — Hub City

 April 23, 2022

Centralia, WA

Centralia is about 30 minutes from Olympia, but it is halfway between Seattle and Portland. You can read about Centralia’s interesting history here. At one time five railroad lines crossed in Centralia, and the city is still served by Amtrak and another rail line.

So, naturally, our walk began at the historic railroad depot, built in 1912 and still in use. We saw an Amtrak train arrive while we were there!

As we walked through the downtown core, we noticed that it was chock full of antique shops, used book stores, and historic buildings.

This used book store had a Harry Potter-themed window display

A Carnegie Library peeks out from behind the cherry trees in Washington Park

We walked through the campus of Centralia College, which was strangely deserted. From there, we headed over to a small business district, passing La Tarasca Mexican Restaurant. Later in the day we ate lunch there. Their Michoacan-style food was delicious.

Next, we toured some residential neighborhoods, including the Edison Historic District.

Many houses had Northwest accents

The Birge House, 1894, is on the National Register of Historic Places

This house is also listed on the NRHP

Edison Elementary School was built in 1918

We soon found ourselves back downtown. We walked by City Hall and a small historical museum before arriving at the railroad depot.

After our walk we headed over to Centralia Outlets for a little shopping and then enjoyed a late lunch at La Tarasca before we drove back to Olympia.

Total distance covered: 5km