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C+History
History · McCleary

McCleary’s post office opened in 1910, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 43% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listing is the McCleary Hotel, Old. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1943 on, and the census since 1950.

1910first post office
1on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From McCleary’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How McCleary began

When was McCleary founded?

1910

The McCleary post office opened in 1910, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 1,175 in 19502020 census: 1,997116 years

How historic is McCleary?

C+

More historic than 43% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first McCleary post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives McCleary’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, McCleary is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of McCleary’s overall grade.
Founding era1910, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 194016.7% of homes (±5.4) · typical WA town 4.3% · U.S. 8.4%BNational Register1 listing, 4.8 per 10,000 residents · typical WA town 0.1 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 43%
NewerOlder

Few Washington towns list much on the Register (a typical Washington town has 0.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so McCleary’s 4.8 sits above most of its state (76% of Washington towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.4 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about McCleary’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 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start McCleary’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how McCleary’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 viewMcCleary Trading Co. store interior, Mc…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How McCleary came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of McCleary.

Read it all →

Henry McCleary came to the land in 1897, building two sawmills and a door manufacturing company. He sold the land and the companies to Simpson Logging Company, December 31, 1941. On January 9, 1943 the land became an incorporated city named after its founder. The Henry McCleary House, designed by Joseph Wohleb, still stands in Olympia, Washington and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Since 1959, McCleary has held the annual Bear Festival with live performances and a parade. It originally began as a celebration of the spring bear hunt to control the local population, which endangered timber harvests, and included a serving of bear stew to the community.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

McCleary, 1910 to 1980

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1910Post officeThe McCleary post office opens
  3. 1912BuiltMcCleary Hotel, Old is built
  4. 1915In the archiveMcCleary Trading Co. store interior, McCleary, Washington, ca. 1915
  5. 1943On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1980Born hereJamie Craighead is born here
By decade

McCleary, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s2 items
McCleary Trading Co. store interior, McCleary, Washington, ca. 1915c. 1915McCleary Trading Co. store interior, McCleary, Washin…McCleary Trading Co., McCleary, Washington, ca. 1915c. 1915McCleary Trading Co., McCleary, Washington, ca. 1915
1920s–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
Untitled photo2021Untitled photoSR 108 and SR 108 Business in2021SR 108 and SR 108 Business inOld McCleary Hotel NRHP 96000842 Grays Harbor County, WA2015Old McCleary Hotel NRHP 96000842 Grays Harbor County,…Early City of2010Early City of
On the map

McCleary on the map, 1943 to 1981

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

McCleary on the 1943 USGS mapMcCleary on the 1953 USGS mapMcCleary on the 1981 USGS map1943Nahwatzel 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 McCleary.

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.

McCleary Trading Co. store interior, McCleary, Washington, ca. 1915
Retake this viewMcCleary Trading Co. store interior, McCleary, Washington, ca. 1915, c. 1915

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in McCleary

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
1996
McCleary Hotel, Old
McCleary Hotel, Old, built 1912
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Craftsman1
McCleary Hotel, OldCraftsman · Built 1912

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

People over time

McCleary, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0001960198020002020Peak: 1,997

Between 1,115 and 1,997 people in every census since 1950.

8 censuses, 1950–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

McCleary’s post office has been open since 1910.

Hamlets and corners on the map
HillgroveMcCleary Junction
1cemetery inside McCleary
Mc Cleary Pythian

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

Questions about McCleary’s history

What year was McCleary founded?

The McCleary post office opened in 1910, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does McCleary rank for history?

McCleary is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in McCleary?

One place: the McCleary Hotel, Old (listed 1996).

How old are the homes in McCleary?

17% of McCleary’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.4 points), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 1978.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.