The 82 year old proprietor of the Tenino Depot Museum was quite surprised when he saw George and I walk into his little museum out in rural Thurston County on the weekend. It is 'out in the middle of nowhere', and when we walked inside he said it was the first day of the season for the museum.
We smiled, signed our names in the guest register, and told him we were just exploring, driving through the valley, and the museum looked interesting. So, we checked it out.
The sandstone building housing the museum was built in 1914 as a Northern Pacific depot and was active until after WW II. On the main line betwen Seattle and Portland, eight or nine trains daily stopped here at the height of train travel. In 1965, NP sold it to the town and with the help of a Federal grant, it was moved ten blocks to a city park and converted to a museum. The building was kept the same as much as possible and now houses the original press used to make the original wood money, along with old logging tools, old quarry tools, railroad memorabilia and many local artifacts, including a 1920s doctor's office.
While I explored rock samples, petrified dinosaur droppings, barbed wire, and old typewriters, George got acquainted with our host, the last living lumbermill operator of Bucoda, Washington.He was eager to share the history of Tenino, starting with the stage coaches that carried passengers over to Olympia. They were always getting stuck in the mud, and when the railroad crews came to build the tracks, the area became a trading center for the southern part of the county.
By 1887, the town had a population of 75, two general merchadise stores, a hotel, two blacksmiths, and a telegraph and freight office. In 1888 sandstone quarrying became a valuable part of Tenino's economy.
Skilled quarrymen, stone cutters, and stone masons helped to create an increase in population. By 1910, rock for government breakwater projects at Grays Harbor brought the number to 1,000.
Contracts to supply granite from a quarry in the Skookumchuck River gorge necessitated building a railroad line from Tenino to the gorge. The project ended when the government cut off funds for harbor improvements in World War I. When the Great Depression hit this area, the sandstone quarrywork halted, and the little town of Tenino began to fade away.
I'm not sure what this large machine on the railroad tracks is used for - it was nearby. Perhaps it does some sort of track repair. An active railroad runs through the area, and the Museum helps to keep the history of railroading in Tenino alive. I'll post some photos below.....
