Onalaska is an unincorporated community in Lewis County, in southwest Washington, located along State Route 508 east of the Chehalis-Centralia area. The community was founded in the late 1880s and named after Onalaska, Wisconsin, by the Carlisle Lumber Company, which gave the same name to mill towns in several states. The name itself traces back to the poem "The Pleasures of Hope" by the Scottish poet Thomas Campbell and a place called Oonalaska in the Aleutian Islands. The community grew around the Carlisle Lumber Company's timber operations, which drew workers and their families to the area during the region's logging boom. At its peak, the mill economy supported a small but active settlement. The name Onalaska traveled with the company across Wisconsin, Arkansas, and Texas before reaching Washington, linking the community to a wider network of timber towns. By the mid-twentieth century, however, the timber industry had declined, and Onalaska settled into a quieter existence as a rural residential community. The 2020 census recorded a population of about 431. Public education is provided by the Onalaska School District, which serves local students and remains a focal point of community life. Surrounding the community, the landscape is a mix of farmland, pasture, and forest typical of the western Cascade foothills. Today Onalaska functions as a quiet, unincorporated community with a deep timber heritage. Its location along State Route 508 places it within a short drive of Chehalis and Centralia and the Interstate 5 corridor, offering residents a rural lifestyle with convenient access to the services and employment of the larger towns to the west.