J. M. Weatherwax Memorial Scholarship

A native of New York who came to Washington by way of Michigan, John M. Weatherwax arrived on the shores of the Chehalis river in April 1884 at the age of 56. 

He promptly set men to work building Aberdeen’s third sawmill using equipment from a Michigan sawmill he had disassembled and shipped around the Horn. 

He brought with him three brothers, several longtime associates, and the families of each of these men.  

From those early days until his death in 1896, J. M. Weatherwax worked in countless ways to help establish the new city, from serving as mayor and helping Sam Benn plot out land for dozens of homes he would later help build, to erecting several churches, building St. Joseph Hospital, and bringing the railroad to Aberdeen.