Ryderwood, Washington

Ryderwood is a census-designated place (CDP) in Cowlitz County, Washington, west of the city of Vader. Known locally as the "Village in the Woods", the town began in 1923 as a logging settlement and considered itself the "World's Largest Logging Town". Ryderwood became a retirement community in the 1950s. The population as of the 2020 census was 383.

20th century
Ryderwood, originally named Cougar Flats, was established as a logging camp by the Long-Bell Lumber Company in 1923. The town was constructed at a cost of $1.5 million and was the largest community to be built by private funding. Simultaneously, the town of Longview was created to mill and ship the lumber coming out of Ryderwood. Ryderwood was named for W. F. ("Uncle Bill") Ryder, the logging operations manager for Long-Bell, who came to the northwest to locate a timber source. The community was envisioned beyond that of a temporary logging camp, as a permanent center that would contain a school, church and theater. Billed as a place for families to live rather than bachelor workers, Ryderwood was considered a "modern logging town", as an article in The Log of Long-Bell proclaimed.

By 1953, due to advances in timber harvesting technology and the loss of old growth timber, Long-Bell sold the town. It was purchased by Senior Estates, Inc. for $96,000 with the goal of creating a retirement community for pensioners. The town built Ryderwood Lake in 1956, encompassing 6 acres inside an existing gravel pit.

In the 1980s, Ryderwood was home to the beginning of the Winlock Pickersfest, originally a bluegrass festival. The event relocated to Winlock in 2000. , the festival continues to be held.

21st century
Ryderwood held a town-wide centennial celebration in 2023. Featuring a pioneer costumed parade, the event included the opening of a time capsule.

Limited water sources have led the town to experience water shortages and rationing during times of drought. The community created the Ryderwood Drought Resiliency project to help create a water storage system and in early 2024, it was granted $1.6 million from the federal government to begin operations for a reservoir.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 0.16 mi2, all (100.0%) land.

The town is bordered to the west by Becker Creek and to the east by Campbell Creek and Ryderwood Lake. Campbell Creek is the main water source for the community.

Demographics
At the town's peak, the population reached 2,000 people and had over 400 single-family homes. Ryderwood was large enough to have its own hospital.

2010 Census
At the 2010 census, there were 395 people, 221 households and 134 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 2,453.4 /mi2. There were 266 housing units at an average density of 1,652.2 /mi2. The racial make-up of the CDP was 97.5% White, 0.3% African American, 1.3% Native American, 0.0% Asian, 0.0% Pacific Islander, 0.3% from other races and 0.8% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.8% of the population.

There were 221 households, of which 5.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.9% were married couples living together, 2.7% had a female householder with no husband present and 39.4% were non-families. 33.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 26.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.79 and the average family size was 2.15.

2.5% of the population were under the age of 18, 0.8% from 18 to 24, 2.5% from 25 to 44, 24.3% from 45 to 64 and 69.9% were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 68.7 years. For every 100 females, there were 82.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.2 males.

Government
Ryderwood is considered a retirement community and is managed under the auspices of a homeowner's association, the Ryderwood Improvement and Service Association, a non-profit 501(c)4 organization staffed by resident volunteers.

Notable people

 * Arnold Riegger, sport shooter and Olympian
 * Orin C. Smith, former executive and CEO of Starbucks