Vancouver, Washington

Vancouver, Washington is a city on the north shore of the Columbia River, in the state of Washington, USA. It is the county seat of Clark County.

The city has a population of 143,000, making it the largest suburb of nearby Portland, Oregon.

In 1806 the Lewis and Clark expedition camped in the area. Lewis wrote that it was "the only desired situation for settlement west of the Rocky Mountains." The first permanent settlement did not occur until 1825 when Fort Vancouver was established as a fur trading post of the Hudson's Bay Company. From that time on, the area was settled by both the US and Britain under a "joint occupation" agreement. Joint occupation ended on June 15, 1846 with the signing of the Oregon Treaty, which gave the United States full control of the area.

The City of Vancouver was incorporated on January 23, 1857.

The much larger city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada is located 250 miles (400 km) north of Vancouver, Washington. Both cities were named for sea captain George Vancouver, but the Canadian city was not incorporated until 1886, nearly 30 years after Vancouver, Washington, and more than 60 years after the name Fort Vancouver was first used.

Colleges

• Clark College (2 year)
• Washington State University - Vancouver Campus (upper division and graduate programs)

Major Newspapers

• The Columbian
• The Oregonian (Portland, Oregon)

Nearby Cities

• Portland, Oregon
• Battle Ground, Washington
• Camas, Washington
• Washougal, Washington