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History · Lake McMurray

16% of Lake McMurray’s homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1944 on, and the census since 2000.

0on the National Register
16%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Lake McMurray’s archive · credits on each photo

What stands out about Lake McMurray’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.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lake McMurray’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewTeam of oxen hauling fir log on skid ro…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Lake McMurray came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lake McMurray.

Read it all →

McMurray was platted in 1890 when the railroad was extended to that point. A post office called McMurray was established in 1890, and remained in operation until 1945. The nearby lake of the same name perpetuates the name of an early settler. In the native Lushootseed language, the lake is called qəbúʔlaɬ.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Lake McMurray, 1890 to 1945

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1890Post officeThe McMurray post office opens
  3. 1896In the archiveTeam of oxen hauling fir log on skid road, Berggen's Logging camp, Lake McMurray, Washing…
  4. 20th century
  5. 1944On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1945Post officeThe McMurray post office closes
By decade

Lake McMurray, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s1 item
Team of oxen hauling fir log on skid road, Berggen's Logging camp, Lake McMurray, Washington, 18961896Team of oxen hauling fir log on skid road, Berggen's …
1900s–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
Today4 recent
Lake McMurray, WA 022009Lake McMurray, WA 02Lake McMurray, WA 012009Lake McMurray, WA 01Lake McMurray, WA - store2009Lake McMurray, WA - storeLake McMurray, WA - pano 012009Lake McMurray, WA - pano 01
On the map

Lake McMurray on the map, 1944 to 1985

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

Lake McMurray on the 1944 USGS mapLake McMurray on the 1956 USGS mapLake McMurray on the 1985 USGS map1944Clear Lake 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 Lake McMurray.

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.

Team of oxen hauling fir log on skid road, Berggen's Logging camp, Lake McMurray, Washington, 1896
Retake this viewTeam of oxen hauling fir log on skid road, Berggen's Logging camp, Lake McMurray, Washington, 1896, 1896

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Lake McMurray, census by census

010020030040020002020Peak: 382

Between 192 and 382 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Lake McMurray

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

See all →
Jim CaviezelAmerican actor · b. 1968
C
Chad LindbergAmerican actor · b. 1976
Patricia McPhersonAmerican actress · b. 1954
M
Marti MalloyAmerican judoka · b. 1986
T. J. OshieAmerican ice hockey player · b. 1986
Eugene H. PetersonAmerican translator · b. 1932
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Another post office, McMurray, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
McMurray

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Lake McMurray’s history

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 (5), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.