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Rainier, Washington

Population: 1,492
Located in Thurston County

Thurston County, Washington, is located at the southern end of Puget Sound in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. Majestic Mount Rainier and the rugged Cascade Mountains are nearby to the east, while Washington's Pacific Ocean coast is just an hour's drive to the west. Thurston County is 60 miles south of Seattle, Washington and is 100 miles north of Portland, Oregon.

Thurston County is home to more than 200,000 residents. Nearly 100,000 residents live in the more urban north county areas in and around the cities of Lacey, Olympia, and Tumwater. The rest live in and around the smaller towns of Bucoda, Tenino, Rainier, and Yelm and in the more rural areas of Thurston County.

Thurston County is the eighth most populated county among Washington State's 39 counties and is among the fastest growing counties in the Pacific Northwest.

Named for its view of Mt. Rainier, Rainier is situated amidst the ‘ten al quelth’ prairies which is the Indian word meaning “the best yet.” The area was first settled by Albert and Maria Gehrke who homesteaded there in 1890. Six years later, Albert and his two brothers, Theodore and Paul, built the community’s first school and church, which today is a state historic landmark. A post office followed in 1890 when residents grew tired of mail being delivered by “toss off and catch” since the trains did not stop in Rainier.

Lumbering brought prosperity to the town and its first lumber company, the Bob White Lumber Company, opened in 1906. Other lumber companies followed, including companies such as Deschutes, Gruber and Docherty, and Fir Tree. A series of fires in the Rainier area in the late 1920s and early 1930s destroyed several of these mill operations (in addition to many of its town buildings), and town residents sought work at Weyerhaeuser Lumber at Vail.

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