Tenino, Washington

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Tenino is a city in Thurston County, Washington, United States. The population was 1,447 at the 2000 census.

1 History
2 Geography
3 Demographics
4 External links

[edit] History

Tenino was officially incorporated on July 24, 1906, though it existed as a rural community since the mid-1800s. Originally, American settlers were attracted to the area by the open prairies, which were the result of local natives conducting controlled burns to promote the proliferation of camas root, one of their staple foods.

Records indicate the initial settlers community centered on the prairie approximately 1/2 mile south of the present town. Early residents named their first post office and school "Coal Bank," a reference to a nearby coal outcropping.

Tenino was named after the Indian group who lived there before the settlers. The late Art Dwelley, former editor of the Tenino Independent and avid local historian, found no such locomotive designation or survey markers but discovered references to the area as "the tenino" in regional newspapers predating the arrival of the railroad. The name Tenino may be a Chinook Indian word, which means "fork in the trail." It refers to the site where the Cowlitz Trail between The Cowlitz River and Puget Sound split, branching to Budd Inlet at Olympia, Washington and Commencement Bay respectively. When the Northern Pacific Railway arrived in 1872 they established a depot and adopted Tenino as the name of the new station. The present townsite grew up around this depot.

In the late 1800s a number of sandstone quarrying companies began shipping building stone, used in many regional buildings including the old Capitol building in Olympia, as well as the old Thurston County Courthouse, Denny Hall at the University of Washington, Seattle, and several post office buildings, including at The Dalles, Oregon. The US Government also used stone from these quarries to construct coastal jetties at Westport, WA and elsewhere. The quarries declined in the early 1900s when many builders switched to concrete, though it is still used decoratively.

Logging, sawmilling, and coal mining were also well established industries in the area. However, as the timber played out and railroads switched to diesel in the mid 1900s, these industries also declined.

Tenino garnered national attention during the 1930s Great Depression. When the local banks closed, the mayor and other community leaders issued wooden money "scrip" backed by the city for use locally as legal tender. Eventually, coin collectors bought much of the scrip in circulation and never redeemed them for cash.

Tenino retains its historic business core, the buildings constructed of local sandstone after fire destroyed the original downtown. The buildings were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004. The town now serves largely as a "bedroom community," many of its citizens commuting by car to larger cities such as Olympia and Tacoma for work.

[edit] Geography

Tenino is located at 46°51′24″N, 122°51′1″W (46.856745, -122.850290)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.2 km² (0.8 mi²), all land.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 1,447 people, 575 households, and 396 families residing in the city. The population density was 665.1/km² (1,720.3/mi²). There were 615 housing units at an average density of 282.7/km² (731.1/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 90.53% White, 0.83% African American, 1.17% Native American, 3.11% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 1.94% from other races, and 2.35% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.80% of the population.

There were 575 households out of which 37.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.7% were married couples living together, 15.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.0% were non-families. 27.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 3.01.

In the city the population was spread out with 29.8% under the age of 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 29.4% from 25 to 44, 18.9% from 45 to 64, and 14.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 91.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $34,526, and the median income for a family was $41,208. Males had a median income of $31,058 versus $25,972 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,244. About 5.0% of families and 9.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.4% of those under age 18 and 9.9% of those age 65 or over.