History of Tenino
By Curt Cunningham

Tenino and the Pacific Highway

Tenino is located 15 miles south of Olympia and about 15 miles north of Centralia. By the 1900's, Tenino had grown into a prosperous town of 370 souls. Its many industries had made it one of the largest commercial centers in Thurston county. Plus being situated on the main route between Portland and Seattle, it was a busy place.  

At Centralia, the road north forked. Both of the roads led to Tenino with the left fork going by way of Grand Mound and the right fork would take you to Tenino via Bucoda. At Tenino the road forked again with the left fork taking you to Olympia and the right fork taking you to Tacoma.

The wet season in Western Washington could last for up to 9 months a year. This made the roads a sea of mud making travel very difficult. After the railroad came through the Cowlitz Corridor in 1874, people could now stay out of the muck on their journey between Portland and Seattle. During the early 1900's when the automobile was coming into existence, many adventurous souls would jump back into the mud and make the difficult journey between Portland and Seattle. It could take up to 2 or 3 days to travel the 175 miles during the rainy season if they were able to get through.

Before the Pacific Highway

On October 5, 1910, the Oregon Sunday Journal ran an article about the proposed North-South Trunk Highway. They said; "the national highway if it were built from north to south, the work should begin at once. The Clarke, Lewis and Cowlitz county commissioners, are woefully backward in road improvement. From Portland to Centralia particularly, the roads are hardly fit for travel. Yet last summer many scores of motorists endured the multitudes of bumps for the beauty of the scenery. The commissioners of Cowlitz county are especially blameworthy, for in that county, the roads can not be traveled with either comfort or speed. Clarke and Lewis County roads are bad enough."

"Motorists interested in the Portland-Seattle highway have suggested other means of having the work, done cheaply. Many of them contend, that, in spite of the route laid down as best by the guide books, the roads following the Northern Pacific tracks from Vancouver to Tenino, are better. At the present time the Northern Pacific is expending millions of dollars on track improvements between those two points, and road enthusiasts have asked why it would not be possible to make some arrangement with the company whereby it would build a road following its tracks."

"Residents of the three counties, who own automobiles, have been interviewed by many tourists, and almost invariably have given the information that the roads following the Northern Pacific tracks were the best of the lot. They were not good, they said, but were better than the corrugated stretches of dirt hacked out of the forests, over which the travelers had guide-book instructions to bump along with." 

"If this is the case and Portland motorists have announced they will find out. The automobile association will be asked to consider the question of improving the highways in the neighborhood of the tracks. With good roads, the trip from Portland to Seattle would be an ideal drive for 12 hours or so. Now it can not be made with comfort in 2 days. From Portland to Tenino it is one series of jogs, over roads in which 15 miles an hour would be record time. Motorists of Chehalis and Centralia are interested in the scheme, and have offered help. Tacoma car-owners should be interested in the project, and may, come through with aid. Motorists say that all that is necessary is that pressure be brought to bear upon the county commissioners of the three counties and that the work could easily be done in time for the roads to settle for the summer of next year."

Northern Pacific Lays Double Tracks

In 1911, the Northern Pacific was in the process of laying double tracks between Vancouver and Tacoma. Between Kalama and Tenino, a distance of 66 miles, the old line was relocated for practically the entire distance, reducing both grades and curvature. On account of the narrow valleys of Olequa creek and the Cowlitz river, only about a mile and a half was saved in the 66 miles between Tenino and Kalama. The curvature of the old line, however, was reduced by about 45%, or nearly one-half. On the old line the maximum curvature was eight degrees and 30 minutes, while on the new line the maximum is 3 degrees.

On November 1, 1910, about 600 men, 2 steam shovels and 10 work trains were busy laying track and ballasting. The double track was now in operation between Tenino and Chehalis, Newaukum and Winlock and between Kalama and Vancouver. During construction, trains continued to use the old line. This required the trains to cross over the new line 52 times in the 66 miles between Tenino and Kalama, and the necessity of crossing and re-crossing the operated main line with grading outfits at work on the line should give the reader some idea as to the difficulties encountered.

The Meeker Marker

In 1906, pioneer Ezra Meeker embarked on a return trip over the Oregon Trail. He wanted to bring awareness to the trail for its historical significance as by then the trail was fast fading under the wheels of progress. He traversed the trail in a covered wagon pulled by his trusted oxen. Along the way he placed sandstone markers on the old road in certain towns along the route. Tenino was one of these towns and the marker is located on Sussex Street.

The St. John & Titus Ford Dealer

On December 20, 1919, the St. John and Titus Ford dealer opened a new garage. The St. John and Titus Ford was one of a half dozen auto dealers that operated in Tenino during the 1920's. The new garage had the most current equipment. The building had 84 feet fronting main street, and was 50 feet deep. During the day and all through the evening, the garage had a grand opening party, with over a hundred couples who danced to a jazz band that played until 1 in the morning. 

The big crowd voted that the opening was a complete success in every respect. Some of the guests had come from as far away as Seattle. The completion of this garage gave St. John & Titus, 3 of the finest service stations on the Pacific Highway. Their others shops were located at Centralia and Olympia. Will Davies was the manager of the Tenino garage.

The Pacific Highway is Born

When the Pacific Highway was created in 1913, the state only designated the main towns that the highway was to pass through. The route between these towns would be determined later. There were many conflicting routes that circulated between Portland and Seattle. One of the proposed routes between Chehalis and Olympia was through Grand Mound and using the "Middle Road" to Olympia. This route bypasses Tenino. Another route would have been from Chehalis, Grand Mound, Little Rock and Olympia, which would also have eliminated Tenino.

The next proposed route was from Chehalis, Bucoda, Tenino and Olympia and still another route was from Chehalis, Bucoda, Tenino, Roy and Tacoma, bypassing Olympia. The route that was chosen was from Chehalis, Grand Mound, Tenino and Olympia. During the construction of the Pacific Highway from 1914 to 1922, All of these proposed routes were used as detours.

Tenino gets its First Concrete Pavement

During the summer of 1914, was an active time in Tenino. Sussex Street was paved with concrete for 3 blocks and the rest of the road between the north and south limits of town was improved. Many new buildings made of local sandstone were being erected. S. W. Fenton built a stone building 60x100 feet with 2 store rooms below and M. C. Cole built her first store. The new depot was completed and the foundation for the Russell stone building was laid.

Grand Mound or Bucoda?

On September 3, 1914, at a meeting held in Tenino that was attended by 25 members of the North End Improvement Club of Centralia, and a similar number of Tenino business people. The meeting was held to change the course of the Pacific Highway between Centralia and Tenino so that it will go through through Bucoda instead of Grand Mound. The following committee was appointed to employ a competent engineer and to prepare an estimate of the cost of the change and to circulate petitions for presentation to Governor Lister and the State Legislature. 

The committee members were; A. W. Jones, Victor Jackson and Frank Graves, of Centralia; William McArthur, J. F. Cannon and S. W. Fenton of Tenino; P. F. Knight, Gus Bannse and Rudolph Morsbach of Bucoda and Richard Ober, Charles Friend and E. S. Brooks of Tono. T. F. Mentzer, of Tenino acted as chair of the meeting. It was reported that residents of Mendota, Tono and the Hanaford Valley were also anxious for the change. It is argued that the Bucoda route is the more direct of the two and that more people would be benefited by it.

The majority of the Tenino citizens were in favor of the Bucoda route and on September 15, 1914, Gus Bannse of Tenino called another meeting of business people from Centralia, Tenino, Bucoda and Tono that was held in Centralia. The purpose of the meeting was to continue the fight for a change in the route of the Pacific Highway between Centralia and Tenino so that the road travels through Bucoda instead of Grand Mound.

Tenino Almost Loses Highway

During the ongoing fight for the route of the highway, Tenino came very close to losing the battle. On October 31, 1914, it was reported that numerous motorists were being arrested for speeding through Tenino. The speed limit in town was 12 miles per hour and arrests were made for exceeding that speed by only one or two miles an hour. The Centralia Automobile Club quickly passed a resolution to change the route of the Pacific Highway between Olympia and Centralia to eliminate Tenino.

The following is a paragraph from their resolution; "This association, by a unanimous vote at its meeting held in the Commercial Club rooms on October 29th, goes on record that they will make an earnest endeavor at the next session of the State Legislature to get the route of the Pacific Highway changed so as to extend through Maytown and over the so called Middle Road on the Grand Mound Prairie, thereby eliminating the City of Tenino and the seemingly unwarranted arrests by the police authorities of the city."

The struggle for the Pacific Highway route continued on for 2 more years. The Bucoda people were naturally in favor of the Tenino route and were actively fighting for that change. On March 11, 1916, Bucoda residents who were advocating for the route through their town, had the state highway department agree to make a survey of the route.

The Pacific Highway had already been located by law from Olympia to Tenino. The old stage route over what was known as the "Middle Road" strikes the Grand Mound Prairie Road at the old Tilley place, and was originally routed as the shortest and having the best grades. However, between Tenino and Centralia the Pacific highway had not been definitely fixed, according to the claims of some.

Others believed that having been routed to Tenino, the highway would naturally follow down the railroad through Bucoda and enter Centralia from the north of that city, instead of the Grand Mound route into Centralia from the northwest over the hard surface pavement that Lewis County had built at a cost of thousands of dollars. The Bucoda residents were prepared for a hard fight to get their route chosen. The Bucoda route is about 4 miles shorter than the Grand Mound route.

On April 21, 1916, State Highway Commissioner James Allen who was in favor of the Bucoda route, because it is shorter, lost out as the state highway board had already established the road from Tenino through Grand Mound as the official route of the Pacific Highway. This ended the 2 year controversy.

The main reason that the Grand Mound route was selected was that the Bucoda route had 2 dangerous railroad crossings that would have to be eliminated. The Grand Mound route was cheaper, because Lewis county had already paved the highway up to the Thurston county line, and the entire road was practically completed. The designation of the Grand Mound route was made at the request of the local county commissioners, so that they could proceed with the construction work. Although the issue had been settled, this would not be the end of the controversy.

The 1916 D. A. R. Oregon Trail Marker

During 1916, the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution placed 11 markers in Western Washington between Puget Sound and the Columbia river. this was done to commemorate the pioneers who settled the Pacific Northwest.

On September 6, 1916, the second and third markers were placed in Thurston county. The first one is at Bush prairie, and the other is at Tenino. The markers were unveiled with the appropriate exercises under the auspices of the local chapters of the Daughters and Sons of the American Revolution. The Tenino marker, was located near the old Hodgdon Station on the Pacific highway, and was dedicated at 2 o'clock that afternoon. The marker on Bush Prairie, was placed near the site of George Bush's cabin at 4pm. 

Governor Ernest Lister, Mrs. Edmund Bowden; state regent of the D. A. R., O. J. C. Dutton; state president of the S. A. R., George A. Virtue; T. F. Mentzer, Rev. D. E. Ells, Miss Jessie Louise Campbell of Tenino, and Annie Gaston, granddaughter of George Bush, were the speakers.

Bucoda Route Continues to be Used.

By 1918, the Pacific Highway between Centralia and Tacoma had been routed through Olympia via Grand Mound and Tenino. Although it was the official route, many motorists continued to use the Bucoda road.

The Prairie Road

The paving work on the Pacific Highway between Olympia and Tenino began in 1918 and lasted until 1920. The road was closed so the cement could set and the motorists were diverted onto detours. One of the detours was from Tenino eastward through the towns of; Rainier, Yelm, McKenna, Roy, Hillhurst and South Tacoma. This route follows the railroad and parts of the old Military Road. It was known as the "Prairie Road."

During the summer of 1918, a large group of real estate agents from Portland took a trip to Seattle for the second annual convention of the Interstate Reality Association. The drivers reported that there were some choice stretches in the neighborhood of Castle Rock, but the prize winner of poor roads was between Tenino and Olympia. One agent said; "This road had been macadamized most of the way and would have been ideal for automobile traffic had it been built differently instead of indifferently."

Without exception, drivers of Dodges, Cadillac's, Packard's, Empire's, Buick's, Daniel's, Overland's, Oldsmoblle's, Hupmoblle's, Ford's and all the rest of them, referred to this particular stretch as the most abominable of the trip. The road from Tenino to Tacoma by way of Roy was much better and was used by most of the real estate agents on their return trip.

Newspaper's Plan to Punish Tenino Does Not Go Well

On March 29, 1918, Sam Perkins, the CEO of the Perkins Press, which was a newspaper conglomerate that owned the Tacoma Daily Ledger, Tacoma Daily News, Bellingham Daily Herald, Olympia Daily Recorder and the Everett Daily Herald. Perkins proposed an idea to punish Tenino for its failure to vote for the $600,000 road bond issue, by having the route of the Pacific Highway changed so that it would follow the "Middle Road" direct to Grand Mound from Olympia instead of going through Tenino. 

Strong exceptions were taken by the leading Olympia business and professional interests and the plan was met with severe criticism from the public. The sponsors of the proposal then had to "back track" and eat "humble pie." 

"It's the most ridiculous thing I ever heard of," was the comment of Senator Carlyon, who was chief promoter of the bond issue and organizer for the Good Roads Association upon which the Perkins dailies attempted to hang the proposal on. The senator then said, "The route was fixed through Tenino and it will stay through Tenino, if I have anything to say about it, and I'll be in the next legislature."

Tenino Residents Irate.

The same sentiment was expressed by all the local residents who attended the special meeting of the Good Roads Association, when plans were laid for the big mass meeting in Tenino. The most frequent comment was that the proposal of the "Middle Road" was merely "child's play" and the residents of Tenino, who visited Olympia expressed their opinion of it very vigorously and pointedly, until convinced that the published articles in the Perkins Press were not indicative of the sentiment of Olympians.

The Mayor of Olympia, George Mottman, gave a statement to the press calling the proposal to punish Tenino "un-democratic and un-American," and also expressed the opinion that a mistake had been made by the state highway board when it fixed the route from Tenino to Centralia through Grand Mound instead of via Bucoda. His letter said; "I, for one, regret exceedingly this talk in the newspapers and on the streets of Olympia, wanting to punish Tenino, Bucoda, etc., for not voting for the bonds and by diverting the highway some other way, and leave Tenino on the side track.

Time To Stand Together

Mayor Mottman continued to say that; "Two wrongs never make one right and all the people who voted against the bonds had a legal and constitutional right to do so, and it is undemocratic and un-American to want to take revenge on those who may differ with us. If ever there was a time for the people of Thurston county and Olympia to stand together and stick together, that time is now."

"Do not forget that all the taxpayers will have to pay for these paved roads and that the highways should be located and built to serve the greatest number of resident taxpayers along the route. Do not forget that highways are not built solely for the transients, tourists or joy riders. The resident taxpayers who have to build and maintain these roads should at least have a say in the matter."

"Do not forget that it is more important to the material interest of Thurston county that our highways should be constructed with a view of diverting the trade of the farms and mills to our trade centers, big and little, than to have it said that the highway was built like a railroad, to serve outsiders and that the only interest Thurston county people have in them is to pay for them." 

Favors Bucoda Route

The mayor also said that; "Do not forget that a serious mistake was made when the highway was diverted from Tenino to Grand Mound instead of leaving it by way of Bucoda to Centralia. The Bucoda route is shorter to the county line and would save the Thurston county taxpayers $75,000 in construction and would serve 100 times more people. Do not forget that Olympia can obtain no route from Rocky prairie or Grand Mound, but that the people of Tenino. Bucoda, Tono and the Skookumchuck valley will come to Olympia to trade with just treatment and good roads to encourage them." 

"Do not forget that paved highways will do more to develop the county and encourage trade with the trade centers than any other agency and we should have a paved highway from Olympia to Yelm and Rainier and one to Littlerock and beyond. Pulling together will mean prosperity for all the people, whereas selfishness will get us nowhere."

The humble pie eaten by the Perkin's dailies appeared in a first page editorial printed in the Washington Standard on March 28, 1918, in which, after a few vague pleasantries, appeared the following paragraph: "It is not probable that the idea of diverting the Pacific highway from Tenino was ever given much serious thought and at present the advocates of such a move are few if any."

Road to Olympia is in Bad Shape

The summer of 1919, the Pacific Highway had not yet been paved and the road was in terrible shape. On August 10, 1919, a motorist wrote in and gave his view of the road between Tenino and Olympia. "There has been a great deal said, most of it unprintable, about the road from something like 5 miles beyond Tenino to Olympia (around 14 miles) and up until the past few weeks it certainly deserved all the cussing it got. 

"It was so badly cut up with ruts and chucks that even though it is almost as level as a floor, no one who had any respect for his car would care to drive it at a speed exceeding 10 or 12 miles per hour. Lately a drag has been run over it and while one could wish it were better, it is now in a somewhat improved condition."

Paving Begins Tenino to Olympia

On July 6, 1920, paving began on the 5 mile section of the Pacific Highway between Chaenn hill near Tenino and Plumb. The highway was closed in this section and there was no warning of the closed road. Many motorists found the highway closed when they attempted to reach Offutt lake and Olympia by the regular route. There were 3 detours a traveler could take from Centralia northward. 

1) the prairie road via Bucoda, Tenino and Roy. 2) the Little Rock Road to Olympia, and then to Tacoma over the Pacific Highway, and 3) the Middle Road through Maytown to Olympia. The Middle Road was the best choice as it was in better condition than the other routes. The Pacific Highway from Tenino to Olympia was closed until late in the fall so the concrete could set up.

On April 17, 1921, H. W. Lyman took a trip north from Portland to Seattle on the Pacific Highway. The following is his story of the part of his trip from Chehalis to Olympia; "This pavement, which is of the of concrete variety now being universally laid in Washington, carried us to Chehalis, where we stopped to take noon-day nourishment, and then on through Centralia to a point 10 miles south of Tenino, where we again jogged off the hard surface and onto macadam. This 10 miles of road into Tenino is rough, but solid, and is considerably better than the Kelso-Toledo section."

"It is possible in going from Centralia to Tenino to take the Grand Mound route, and tourists have been doing that during the winter to take advantage of new pavement northward from Centralia towards Grand Mound. However, with preparations now under way for paving the remaining sections of this road, travel now is going mainly by the Bucoda way, and will continue to go this route during the spring and summer."

"Just north of Tenino we again struck unpaved road, negotiating a rough stretch of 2 miles with no great difficulty. This section was under contract for paving last year, but was not completed on account of wet weather, and the contractors are already making preparations for finishing it. Back on pavement again we followed the strip of concrete clear into Olympia and onward through Tacoma to Seattle."

The Pacific Highway is Completed

On July 7, 1921, at the request of the Tenino Citizens' club, Mayor S. W. Fenton proclaimed July 7 as a holiday, when citizens will turn out and put the Tenino park in shape for use by tourists. The installation of shower baths was among the improvements to the new auto park. On July 19, a celebration was held in Tenino marking the completion and opening of the last stretch of paving on the Pacific Highway north of Tenino.

The celebration was attended by Governor Hart and members of the state highway committee, state Senator Carlyon. Hundreds of motorists drove to Tenino, and a large delegation of Olympia people including members of the Automobile Club arrived in fully decorated cars. The 14 mile section of highway between Tenino and Olympia could now be traveled over in a little less than 30 minutes. There was a large barbecue provided by the citizens of Tenino that served the entire group. 

Lew Hubbard of the Tenino State Bank called a meeting at 11am and introduced Highway Commissioner James Allen. Allen then gave a speech where he spoke about the work of the commission and the effort it took the build and maintain the highway. Governor Hart and state senator Carlyon also gave speeches. After the conclusion of the speeches the dinner was served. The afternoon was then taken up with some sports contests and ended with a baseball game at 3pm.

On October 1, 1922, the 8 miles of new paving on the Pacific Highway between Grand Mound and Tenino, was opened to traffic. This completed the hard surface on the highway from Centralia to Olympia. Another stretch of 1,400 feet north of Tenino, which eliminated a bad turn under the Northern Pacific tracks was opened to traffic on October 15. The new paving, which follows almost a straight line across Grand Mound prairie, was 20 feet wide. The contract for its construction was let in 1921 by the state, but construction work was halted in the fall by the rainy season with the job less than half completed. The cost was in the neighborhood of $350,000.

Joint Celebration Held

The completion of the Pacific Highway was an occasion of joint celebration held by Centralia and Tenino. The party began in Tenino and a program was held in the afternoon and was attended by 250 visitors. That night the celebration shifted to Centralia. The business houses in both cities had closed for the afternoon. J. Grant Hinkle, secretary of state, extended his congratulations to the 2 cities on the completion of the paving, which he referred to as a "connecting link in the chain of progress." He predicted that by the end of 1923, they would see a continuous stretch of pavement from Vancouver, Washington, to Vancouver, B. C. The program that afternoon was arranged by a committee of the chamber of commerce, headed by D. B. Garrison, who presided as chairman of the day.

Mock Wedding is Held

One of the entertainment features of the celebration was a mock wedding between "Mr. Centralia" and "Miss Tenino." "Mr. Centralia" was impersonated by Karl Francis and "Miss Tenino" by Clarence Ekman, with H. H. Huss as "clergyman." A portion of the "marriage" ceremony read as follows: "Do you take this little lady, Miss Tenino, to be your lawfully wedded mate, to live near and transact business with in peace and harmony, with the spirit of square dealing and fair play at all times?"

"I do."

"Will you love her and assist her in any way whenever called upon in times of prosperity and adversity, so long as you both shall live?" 

"I will."

"Will you take this man to be your lawfully wedded mate, to live side by side, to extend to him your and assistance at all times in order that the growth of each shall be materially advanced and furthered?"

"I will."

"Will you extend to him such patronage as is possible without hurting your local merchants now and henceforth so long as his business dealings with you are patterned after the principles set forth in the Golden Rule?"

"I will."

"For as much as you have consented together and have witnessed the same before this assembly of witnesses and have declared the same by joining your hands, therefore, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the cities of Tenino and Centralia, in the counties of Thurston and Lewis, respectively, state of Washington, I now pronounce you joined together with the bonds of good fellowship, mutual helpfulness and Cooperation."