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is a city in Pacific County, Washington, United States. The population was 2,975 at the 2000 census. The city of Raymond is mainly supported by the logging industry. Raymond experiences a large amount of annual rainfall and the skies above the city are filled with dark clouds for a majority of the year. The people of the town typically enjoy outdoor recreational activities such as hunting, fishing, and riding off-road vehicles. Because of it's relative isolation (being more than two hours away from both Seattle, WA and Portland, OR) and its shortage of career and educational opportunities, a large percentage of people who grow up and go to school in Raymond eventually leave the town to attend college or find jobs in cities with more schools and a more diverse economy. Those who do stay in the town typically retain a strong sense of hometown pride and have an unbreakable sentimentality towards the city's rich forest environment and slow-paced lifestyle.
Raymond was officially incorporated on August 6, 1907. Raymond was named after L.V. Raymond, who was the first postmaster in Raymond. In the early years, Raymond's business section was built on stilts five or six feet above the tidelands and sloughs that crisscrossed the site. Elevated sidewalks and streets connected most of the buildings. Raymond claimed a population of 6,000 in the year 1913 and had a reputation as a wild and wooly lumber mill town. City fathers resisted the unwanted reputation with promotions of Raymond as "The Empire City of Willapa Harbor" and "The City That Does Things". Raymond was the city where the grunge band Nirvana played their first gig.