Boistfort (/ˈbɔɪstfɔːrt/) is an unincorporated community in the northwest United States, in Lewis County, Washington, about twenty miles (30 km) southwest of Chehalis. The original one-room school in Boistfort was established in 1853 and was the first school district in Lewis County and the Territory of Washington.

History

A post office in the area was established in 1857. Originally named Baw Faw Prairie, it would be changed to Boisfort, then to an official spelling Boistfort, meaning "strong wood or heavy forest" or "small valley surrounded by green hills". The community took its name from nearby Boistfort Prairie (Valley).

In 1900 Boistfort had a store, a barber, church, a blacksmith shop, and a meeting hall. Boistfort High School was built in 1912 and closed in 1976.

Boistfort was home to hop fields owned by Herman Klaber, who had a small mansion now known as the Boistfort Mansion. He died on the Titanic in 1912 and his hop yards shut down soon afterwards.

Notable test pilot Scott Crossfield (1921–2006) moved to the area in his teens and graduated from Boistfort High School in 1939. He was the first to travel at twice the speed of sound (1953), and piloted the first flights of the North American X-15 (1959).

Government and politics

Politics

Presidential Elections Results

Year	Republican	Democratic	Third parties
2020	71.54% 181	25.69% 65	2.77% 7

Boistfort has historically voted Republican and conservative. As this is an unincorporated community, there are no defined bounds, and the precinct may be incongruous with the census boundaries.

The 2020 election included 4 votes for candidates of the Libertarian Party and 2 votes for write-in candidates.

Infrastructure

Stillman Creek, which courses west of the town center and eventually joins the South Fork Chehalis River, was part of the Chehalis Basin Strategy plan to improve aquatic habitats and flood control throughout the watershed. The creek had lost salmon and plant habitats due to a combination of warming waters and erosion brought on by consequences of flooding and human activities. Severe flooding, particularly the 2007 floods, had shifted the outflow and floodplain of the creek. An $8.5 million, four-year project, known as the Stillman Creek Restoration Project, began in 2018 and was to restore the creek through a partnership of various government agencies and local landowners. The work culminated in slowing down the flow of the creek to prevent erosion and restoring the floodplain and course of the waters. The plan also restored 2.0 miles (3.2 km) of the creek habitat for a total of 38 acres (15 ha), and included the planting of native vegetation over 45 acres (18 ha).

Sites near the community were proposed as use for a potential dam. Coming after flooding in the Chehalis River basin after the Great Coastal Gale of 2007, the plan was offered by a group of citizens but the Boistfort dam did not materialize. The Chehalis River Basin Strategy program continued to use an additional proposed dam by the group for Pe Ell.