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History · Bucoda

Bucoda’s post office opened in 1888, and 34% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Seatco Prison Site. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1890 on, and the census since 1890.

1888first post office
1on the National Register
34%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Bucoda’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Bucoda began

When was Bucoda founded?

1888

The Bucoda post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 945 in 18902020 census: 600138 years
Founding year: the first Bucoda post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Bucoda’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Mapped building by building4 fire insurance maps, 1890 to 1930, drew every building in Bucoda.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bucoda’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bucoda’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewFamily group, probably at Bucoda, ca. 1…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Every building

Bucoda, building by building, 1890–1930

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Bucoda fire insurance map, 1890, sheet 11890Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story

How Bucoda came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Bucoda.

Read it all →

The first American settler at what is now Bucoda was Aaron Webster who arrived in 1854 or 1856. Webster purchased or obtained acres of land in the area, beginning a sawmill on the Skookumchuck River in 1857. In the 1860s, Webster and his wife, Sarah (Yantis), sold his land claim to Oliver and Celphraur Shead, homesteaders from Grand Mound; Oliver later purchased the Webster sawmill. Shead opened the Seatco post office in 1870; the office closed in 1873 but was re-established in 1883.

Chapters19th century20th century21st century

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Bucoda, 1888 to 1940

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1888Post officeThe Bucoda post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1930In the archiveFamily group, probably at Bucoda, ca. 1930
  5. 1940On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Bucoda, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s1 item
Family group, probably at Bucoda, ca. 1930c. 1930Family group, probably at Bucoda, ca. 1930
1940s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today12 recent
South Main St 00442025South Main St 0044Liberty Market 00432025Liberty Market 0043Joes Place 00292025Joes Place 0029Canadian Pacific & Union Pac 00282025Canadian Pacific & Union Pac 0028Bucoda, Washington 022025Bucoda, Washington 02Bucoda, Washington 012025Bucoda, Washington 01Boo-Coda 00412025Boo-Coda 0041Across the tracks at 6th 00422025Across the tracks at 6th 0042Bucoda, Washington, United States Post Office, September 20202020Bucoda, Washington, United States Post Office, Septem…Bucoda Liberty Market, September 20202020Bucoda Liberty Market, September 2020SkookumchuckRiver2009SkookumchuckRiverWAMap-doton-Bucoda2004WAMap-doton-Bucoda
On the map

Bucoda on the map, 1940 to 1990

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bucoda. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Bucoda on the 1940 USGS mapBucoda on the 1959 USGS mapBucoda on the 1973 USGS mapBucoda on the 1990 USGS map1940Tenino sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Bucoda.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Family group, probably at Bucoda, ca. 1930
Retake this viewFamily group, probably at Bucoda, ca. 1930, c. 1930

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Bucoda’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Bucoda

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1975
Seatco Prison Site
Seatco Prison Site
Sites
All 1 listings
Seatco Prison SiteSite · listed 1975

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Bucoda, census by census

02004006008001,0001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 945

Between 390 and 945 people in every census since 1890.

12 censuses, 1890–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Bucoda’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Bucoda

Nobody well known was born in Bucoda itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
R
Rachel CorrieAmerican anti-war and human rights activist · b. 1979
Merce CunninghamAmerican dancer and choreographer · b. 1919
Kasey KellerAmerican soccer player · b. 1969
Eloise MumfordAmerican actress · b. 1986
Ralph TownerAmerican musician · b. 1940
Trevor StinesAmerican actor · b. 1996

Questions about Bucoda’s history

What year was Bucoda founded?

The Bucoda post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Bucoda?

One place: the Seatco Prison Site (listed 1975).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (13), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.