Little Falls came into existence in the early 1880s with a post office, one-room school, general store, hotel and several houses. When the Northern Pacific Railroad came its way, it stopped not at the town but at a point about a mile south. The railroad named the stop "Sopenah” offering no reason for naming the stop Sopenah. Shipments tagged Little Falls, Washington were sent to Little Falls, Minnesota, there being no railroad stop named Little Falls, Washington. Confusion reigned until a committee from the town met with a committee from the railroad to resolve the problem. The railroad refused to change the name of the stop to Little Falls. The town committee huddled at city hall and agreed to change the name of the town from Little Falls to Vader, the name of a long time resident. The railroad agreed to go along and Little Falls was no more. Vader is today a ghost town. Gone are the hotels, saloons and other businesses. Submitted by Henry Chenoweth.

My grandfather, Walter Toy, was born in 1893 very near Winlock, Lewis County, Washington. He always said that Little Falls, Lewis County, Washington, that later was named Vader, was named so because of the falls in Olequa Creek. Jeanne Ostnes

Vader (S.9;T.10N;R.2W) - Vader is a community on Olequa Creek twenty miles south of Chehalis in southwest Lewis County. The first name, Little Falls, was changed to Sopenah by Northern Pacific Railway officials, as they had another Little Falls on their line. The local people who disliked the name petitioned the legislature to change the name to Toronto. A dispute resulted, with a compromise agreement to name the town for a German resident named Vader. After that name was adopted Mr. Vader moved to Florida. (Meany, p. 323). (Washington Place Names) Vader: (1994 population: 493) Located 20 miles southwest of Chehalis on SR 506, on Olequa Creek. The town was originally called Sopenah, but the first post office was established as Little Falls on June 24, 1874, by Paul C. Craft. The town was renamed for a German settler by the name of Vader in April, 1913 (Ramsey, p. 44). Vader: Just west of I-5, semi-ghost. What remains are a few original buildings. Little Falls came into existence in the early 1880s with a post office, one-room school, general store, hotel and several houses. When the Northern Pacific Railroad came its way, it stopped not at the town but at a point about a mile south. The railroad named the stop "Sopenah" offering no reason for naming the stop Sopenah. Shipments tagged Little Falls, Washington were sent to Little Falls, Minnesota, there being no railroad stop named Little Falls, Washington. Confusion reigned until a committee from the town met with a committee from the railroad to resolve the problem. The railroad refused to change the name of the stop to Little Falls. The town committee huddled at city hall and agreed to change the name of the town from Little Falls to Vader, the name of a long time resident. The railroad agreed to go along and Little Falls was no more. Vader is today a ghost town. Gone are the hotels, saloons and other businesses. Submitted by Washington Place Names was written by Gary Fuller Reese, Managing Librarian for the Tacoma Public Library's Northwest Room and Special Collections. Mr. Reese spent more than 25 years reviewing the literature, searching documents and maps, and visiting everyplace below 6,000 feet to insure the accuracy of this database, updating the work of such pioneer writers as Edmund S. Meany and Robert Hitchman.