Hoquiam is a city in Grays Harbor County, Washington, United States. It borders the city of Aberdeen at Myrtle Street, with Hoquiam to the west. Take a look below for 20 amazing and fun facts about Hoquiam, Washington, United States.

1. The two cities share a common economic history in lumbering and exporting, but Hoquiam has maintained its independent identity.

2. It shares a long rivalry with its more populated neighbor, especially in high school sports.

3. Hoquiam (Ho’-kwee-um, or Ho-kwim, to natives) was incorporated on May 21, 1890.

4. Its name comes from a Native-American word meaning “hungry for wood”, from the great amount of driftwood at the mouth of the Hoquiam River.

5. The population was 8,726 at the 2010 Census.

6. One of the first logging operations in Hoquiam was established by Ed Campbell in 1872.

7. About 10 years later, Captain Asa M. Simpson, a Pacific Coast mariner and businessman in the lumber industry from San Francisco, provided the financing for the Northwestern Mill.

8. In 1881, Simpson sent his manager, George Emerson, to Hoquiam to establish a mill there, and Emerson purchased 300 acres for the new mill and lumber operation. By September 1882, the Simpson mill was producing its first lumber products.

9. In 1886, Captain Simpson merged his mill with the Miller Brothers mill, also located in Hoquiam, and named it the Northwest Lumber Company.

10. The mill was later renamed the Simpson Lumber Company, and retained that name until 1906. 

11. In 1913, Frank J. Shields became the new manager at the mill at Hoquiam.

12. The extension of the railroad from Aberdeen to Hoquiam, beginning in 1898, contributed to the continued importance of logging and lumber in Hoquiam.

13. The importance of logging and related products continued to be relevant to Hoquiam’s economy, and in 1927, a pulp mill was established under the name of Grays Harbor Pulp Company.

14. A year later, a Pennsylvania company- the Hammermill Paper Company- became interested in Grays Harbor Pulp Company.

15. When the Pennsylvania company bought stock in the Grays Harbor Pulp Company, the Grays Harbor pulp Company built a paper mill and became the Grays Harbor Pulp & Paper Company. 

16. In 1936, the Grays Harbor Pulp and Paper Company merged with Rayonier Incorporated, a company which used a certain kind of pulp to produce rayon.

17. In 1907, Hoquiam was home to Industrial Workers of the World Industrial Union No. 276.

18. Hoquiam is the home of the Logger’s Playday, celebrated with a parade and logging competition every September, in which loggers from around the world come to participate.

19. Hoquiam sponsors the Shorebird Festival, the Logger’s Playday, the Hoquiam’s Riverfest, and the On Track Arts Festival.

20. The main sports team in the town is the Hoquiam High School Grizzlies, the Crimson and Gray. In 2004, the boys basketball team completed a perfect 28–0 season and won the state 2A championship. Victories included non-league wins over Lincoln High of Tacoma, Bellevue High, two over archrival Aberdeen High, and a win over a touring team from Australia. It was the only game the Australians lost during their tour.