Caples, Washington

{{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}} {{Infobox settlement |name = Caples, Washington |settlement_type = Unincorporated community |image_skyline = |imagesize = |image_caption = |pushpin_map = Washington#USA |pushpin_label = Caples |pushpin_map_caption = Location in the state of Washington  |subdivision_type = Country |subdivision_name = {{nowrap|United States}} |subdivision_type1 = State |subdivision_name1 = Washington |subdivision_type2 = County |subdivision_name2 = Cowlitz  | unit_pref = Imperial | area_footnotes = | area_total_sq_mi = | area_land_sq_mi = | area_water_sq_mi = | area_total_km2 = | area_land_km2 = | area_water_km2 =  |population_as_of = |population_note = |population_total = |population_footnotes =  |timezone = PST |utc_offset = −8 |timezone_DST = PDT |utc_offset_DST = −7 |coordinates = {{coord|45|54|20|N|122|48|03|W|region:US-WA|display=inline,title}} |elevation_footnotes = <ref name=gnis/> |elevation_ft = 20  |postal_code_type = ZIP code |postal_code = 98674 |area_code = 360 |blank_name = FIPS code |blank_info = |blank1_name = GNIS feature ID |blank1_info = 1513509<ref name=gnis>{{GNIS|1513509}}</ref> |footnotes = }}

'''Caples''' is an unincorporated community in Cowlitz County, Washington. The Caples community is located {{convert|2.5|mi|km}} west of Woodland along Caples Road, on the east shore of Columbia River and across the river from Columbia City, Oregon. The Caples community is part of the Woodland School District, a K-12 school district of about 2,200 students.

==Caples Landing== '''Caples Landing''' ({{coord|45|54|18|N|122|48|10|W|type:city}})<ref name=gnis2>{{GNIS|1510857|Caples Landing}}</ref> was an embarkation point for steamboat passengers on the Columbia River. On 25 February 1901 a passenger on the ''Lurline'', Gordon Smith, fell overboard and drowned after boarding at Caples Landing.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=sVYpAAAAYAAJ ''Annual Report of the Supervising Inspector General, Steamboat Inspection Service to the Secretary of Commerce''], p. 26, Washington: Government Printing Office, 1902</ref>

In 1860, Charles Caples, a doctor in Columbia City, his brother Hezekiah Caples, and others planned to build a railroad along the Columbia River.<ref name=register>[https://catalog.archives.gov/id/77849025 "Caples. Dr. Charles G. & Lucinda McBride, Farmstead"], ''National Register of Historic Places'', ref. no. 5001060, retrieved 20 February 2022.</ref> The Columbia River and Hillsboro Railroad was incorporated in 1868. The railroad was intended to run from Hillsboro, Oregon to Caples Landing or else to Columbia City.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=PvFOAQAAIAAJ ''General Laws of the State of Oregon''], Fifth Regular Session of the Legislative Assembly, p. 140, Salem, Oregon: W. A. McPherson, 1868.</ref> The venture was a failure, but in 1883 Charles Caples was involved with the Northern Pacific Railway extension to Columbia City. Caples' farmhouse is now a registered historic place.<ref name=register/>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *[http://www.woodlandschools.org/ Woodland Public Schools website]

Category:Unincorporated communities in Cowlitz County, Washington Category:Unincorporated communities in Washington (state)