Lewis County /

Lewis County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of 2010, the population was 75,455. The county seat is at Chehalis, and its largest city is Centralia. The county is named after Meriwether Lewis. Lewis County is known for sharing many characteristics with eastern Washington instead of western Washington, where it is located, especially politically. Lewis County was created on December 19, 1845, by the provisional government of Oregon Territory. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 2,436 square miles (6,309.2 km), of which 2,408 square miles (6,236.7 km) is land and 29 square miles (75.1 km) (1.18%) is water. One of the world's tallest Douglas fir trees ever recorded was in the town of Mineral within Lewis County, attaining a height of 120 metres (390 ft). Lewis County is significantly more Republican than the counties it borders, with the possible exception of Yakima County. In 2000 George W. Bush received over 60% of the county's vote. It voted for him in 2004 by almost a 2-to-1 margin. In 2008 John McCain defeated Barack Obama by over 18 percent despite losing in all the neighboring counties except Yakima. The Republican