Columbia County staff to coordinate name-change submissions to state geographic names board

Columbia County commissioners heard detailed recommendations on Sept. 17 to prepare coordinated responses to a state solicitation for renaming certain local geographic features, and directed staff to work with local historians, tribes and community groups to finalize submissions.

The discussion matters because the state board will collect local input and forward recommendations to the federal authority that ultimately decides official place names; county staff noted the process is a solicitation rather than a formal county hearing and that the state deadline is Aug. 1, 2026.

Staff member Lehi Waters presented preliminary research on three county features identified by the state list and described proposed replacement names and supporting archival references. Waters said some entries appear to reflect transcription errors or oral-history shifts and urged a coordinated county packet rather than multiple, separate submissions from individual entities.

Museum staff and volunteers had already checked historic maps and obituaries; Fred Burnett’s notes and a 1942 map were discussed as supporting evidence for one island name. Toby Finzel reported limited documentary evidence for another creek entry in the Vernonia area and suggested additional local research could strengthen the county’s recommendation.

Staff and several commissioners noted the board is not the deciding authority — the Oregon Geographic Names Board and then the federal naming authority make the final determination — but recommended the county offer a single, well-documented submission and to route the final packet to the board on a future consent agenda for formal approval. Carrie Timchuk, identified in the presentation as the executive secretary for the Oregon Geographic Names Board, and county staff will be consulted as the packet is completed.

The board requested staff continue outreach to federally recognized tribes, local historical societies and affected landowners, gather letters of support and archival references, and return with a completed submission for placement on a consent agenda prior to the state deadline.

Details the county will include in the packet — such as the historical citations, maps and letters of recommendation — were discussed but not finalized at the meeting.