| Toutle and Silver Lake are two small communities a long SR-504 between Castle Rock and the Mount St. Helens Visitor Centers. The Spirit Lake & Toutle River Valley is the name this area has been known as since the earlier settlers arrived here in the late 1800s. In 1891 some minerals-bearing rock deposits were discover by a farmer name Andy Olson. This stirred a mass movement bringing thousands of people to the area looking to strike it big.
People from all over the U.S. came to the area looking for gold, silver and copper; over 400 mining claims were filed between 1892 and 1911. It was a really believed that this was the place to be. A 1895 article in a Chehalis New Paper reported that "it is settled fact that it is one of the richest districts that has been discover since the palmy days of 1849 when the great gold fields of California were first known to the civilized world"
After years of enduring hard work, cold bitter rain and not much luck the majority of miners got discouraged and left. Some stayed settled and eventually swished to the production of lumber (cedar shingles mostly witch was use to build from the little on-room original homestead cabin to stores and later shipped to eastern United States) that again gave the area U.S. recognition.
As the one time popular miner and lumber times faded the area was still known as a local gem for visiting, fishing and outdoor excursions. But the May 18 1980, explosion of the now Historic Mount St. Helens once again gave this area recognition this time hitting the worldwide maps. This single event changed the Spirit Lake / Toutle River Valley forever, giving these communities a new way of bringing people to the area from all over the world.
Today thousands of visitors come through the area each summer trying to personally experience the magnitude of the eruption. To help visitors better understand, the thorough destruction, devastation and the slow but amazing recovery of the explosion, national and regional leaders passed a legislation to preserve the area and constructed the following visitors centers Johnston Ridge Observatory, Coldwater Visitor Center, Mt. St. Helens Visitor Center, Forest Learning Center, and Hoffstadt Bluffs Visitor Center that offer from theater presentations, videos, books, and amazing views of the area.
These two small rural communities are very unique in their own way and fast becoming the place to move to if you want some acreage to have a horse, a cow or just have some privacy. Toutle/Silver Lake Real Estate offer mostly of 1 to 10 acres (many with great views of Silver Lake, Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Rainier) with manufactured or stick build home, price could vary from under $100,000 to up to $250,000 for manufactured homes depending on the condition and location or stick build (normally) not for less than $150,000 to up to over $500,000 for a custom build home. |
