Centralia, WA 98531   

Centralia, Washington Prior Conviction Search

Centralia is a city in Lewis County, Washington, United States. The population was 14,742 at the 2000 census.

In pioneer days, Centralia was the halfway stopover point for stagecoaches operating between the Columbia River and Seattle. In 1850, J. G. Cochran, coming from Missouri with a young negro slave named George Washington, filed a donation land claim on the townsite. Later, Cochran freed his slave, adopted him as a son, and in 1852 sold him his claim for $6,000. The new owner built a home and filed a plat for the town of Centerville, offering lots for $10 each, with one lot free to buyers who built houses. Centralia was officially incorporated on February 3, 1886.

In 1891, the population, over 1,000, found its mail confused with that of another Centerville in the state, and the name of the town was changed to Centralia. (Washington - A guide to the Evergreen State, WPA American Guide Series, Washington State Historical Society, 1941). The city was the site of the infamous Centralia Massacre in 1919. The 1940 population of Centralia was 7,414.

Longtime NBA player Detlef Schrempf attended Centralia High School as an exchange student from the former West Germany (1980-1981), starring in basketball.

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