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History · McKenna

Half of McKenna’s homes were built after 1997

Most of McKenna was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1997. Below: maps from 1944 on and old-book passages.

0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
1famous people
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Photo: Chris Light · CC BY-SA 4.0

What stands out about McKenna’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of McKenna are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start McKenna’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story so far

McKenna, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of McKenna yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

McKenna is an unincorporated community in Pierce County, Washington, United States, located on State Route 507 and the Nisqually River, east of Yelm. Founded around 1908, McKenna is a former timber company town.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 716 to 678 (-5%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

From the old history books

What they wrote about McKenna in 1927

Passages that mention McKenna, cut from the printed page as they were published.

Goodwin -went to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he was employed in a mill for three years. In the fall of 1907 he came to McKenna, Pierce county, and went to work for the Salsich Lumber Company, whose plant was located at the end of the Tacoma & Eastern Railroad. In 1915 the mill became the propert…
History of Pierce County Washington1927 · page 553Read the page →
Read the text

Goodwin -went to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he was employed in a mill for three years. In the fall of 1907 he came to McKenna, Pierce county, and went to work for the Salsich Lumber Company, whose plant was located at the end of the Tacoma & Eastern Railroad. In 1915 the mill became the property of the McKenna Lumber Company, of which R. B. Tweedy, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is the principal stockholder. Since the reorganization the plant has been greatly enlarged and Mr.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Columbia, operating a hotel at Greenwood about nine months, after which he was otherwise engaged, remaining in that province about three years. In 1900 he again came to Roy and, in partnership with Lee Hammersmith, leased a sawmill near McKenna. They operated the mill together for about seven years…
History of Pierce County Washington1927 · page 608Read the page →
Read the text

Columbia, operating a hotel at Greenwood about nine months, after which he was otherwise engaged, remaining in that province about three years. In 1900 he again came to Roy and, in partnership with Lee Hammersmith, leased a sawmill near McKenna. They operated the mill together for about seven years, and then Mr. Betchard bought his partner’s interest. In 1910 he built a mill on the Milwaukee Railroad, east of Roy. In 1912 this was destroyed by fire but was immediately rebuilt and was operated continuously until 1921, when it was moved to its present location near Roy. Mr. Betchard makes a specialty of heavy timber and dimension

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

By decade

McKenna, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Lodging 15912024Lodging 1591Church 15982024Church 1598Roy 41962023Roy 4196McKenna 41932023McKenna 4193McKenna 41902023McKenna 4190McKenna 41892023McKenna 4189
On the map

McKenna on the map, 1944 to 1990

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

McKenna on the 1944 USGS mapMcKenna on the 1959 USGS mapMcKenna on the 1968 USGS mapMcKenna on the 1973 USGS mapMcKenna on the 1990 USGS map1944Yelm 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 McKenna.

Questions about McKenna’s history

Memory lane

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

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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 (6), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.