Porter, Washington

Porter is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Grays Harbor County, Washington, United States. The population was 204 at the 2020 census, slightly down from 207 at the 2010 census. Prior to 2010 it was part of the Malone-Porter CDP; Malone and Porter are now separate CDPs. They are located just off U.S. Route 12, southeast of Elma and northwest of Oakville, and along a shortline that is part of the Puget Sound and Pacific Railroad.

History
Porter was named after Fairchild Porter, who settled in the area around 1860. The Sharon Grange, located in Oakville, began in the Porter community as the Porter Grange No. 800 in 1923.

Much of Porter was destroyed by fire on January 31, 1924. Porter Saloon was re-built later that same year. When it re-opened in 1933 following the repeal of Prohibition, it was one of the first establishments to receive a liquor license in the state of Washington.

Geography
Porter is located in southeastern Grays Harbor County, east of the Chehalis River valley near the mouth of Porter Creek. The CDP extends northeast up the Porter Creek valley and east to the first ridgecrest of the local Black Hills. It is bordered to the northwest by the Malone CDP and to the west by U.S. Route 12, which leads west 27 mi to Aberdeen and southeast 19 mi to Grand Mound and Interstate 5.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the Porter CDP has a total area of 23.0 sqkm, all of it land.