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History · South Cle Elum

South Cle Elum’s post office opened in 1909, and 37% of its homes were built before 1940

2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 8 buildings. Below: maps from 1958 on and the census since 1920.

1909first post office

2on the National Register

37%homes built before 1940

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Quick answers

How South Cle Elum began

When was South Cle Elum founded?

1909

The South Cle Elum post office opened in 1909, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 587 in 19202020 census: 559117 years

Founding year: the first South Cle Elum post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about South Cle Elum’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 South Cle Elum are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.

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Start South Cle Elum’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how South Cle Elum’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

How South Cle Elum came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of South Cle Elum.

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In 1909, the Chicago, Milwaukee & Puget Sound Railway chose Cle Elum as a division point between the Coast and Columbia divisions on its future transcontinental line. When it was determined that Milwaukee's mainline would end up running one mile south of the city, South Cle Elum was platted. Maintenance shops and workers' bunkers were built as well as a train station. South Cle Elum was officially incorporated on August 28, 1911.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

South Cle Elum, 1909 to 1958

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

20th century
1909BuiltMilwaukee Road Bunkhouse is built
1909BuiltChicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad: South Cle Elum Yard is built
1909Post officeThe South Cle Elum post office opens
1958On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

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On the map

South Cle Elum on the map, 1958 to 2003

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

1958Cle Elum 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 South Cle Elum.

On the National Register

2 listings protect 9 historic buildings

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

places listed

National Historic Landmarks

none yet

historic buildings protected

each building in a district counts

first listed

1989

Milwaukee Road Bunkhouse

BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Vernacular1

Late 19th and Early 20th Century1

Milwaukee Road BunkhouseVernacular · Built 1909

Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad: South Cle Elum YardLate 19th and Early 20th Century · Built 1909

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

People over time

South Cle Elum, census by census

Between 338 and 587 people in every census since 1920.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to South Cle Elum

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

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Dick ScobeeAmerican astronaut · b. 1939

Mark LaneganAmerican singer · b. 1964

Brian ThompsonAmerican actor · b. 1959

Tyler FarrarAmerican road bicycle racer · b. 1984

Pete RademacherAmerican boxer · b. 1928

Byron BeckAmerican basketball player · b. 1945

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Cle Elum1 historic placeB⁺

Questions about South Cle Elum’s history

What year was South Cle Elum founded?

The South Cle Elum post office opened in 1909, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in South Cle Elum?

Two places: the Milwaukee Road Bunkhouse (listed 1989) and the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad: South Cle Elum Yard (2003).

Memory lane

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

Town Square →

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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 Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.

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