History of the City

The City of McCleary was founded as a logging camp in late 1898 and was incorporated on January 6, 1943. McCleary currently has a population of 2037.

After coming to the area to log cedar, Henry McCleary built his first mill in 1906. In 1923 the plant broke all records by producing over 300,000 doors in sixty days, an average of six boxcars a day.

On December 31, 1941, McCleary sold the mill and the town to Simpson Logging. Simpson upgraded the utilities and sold the light and water plants to the new City for $6,000 the following year. The door plant currently employs just over 200 workers and manufactures high-quality wood doors.

McCleary is just 25 minutes from I-5 at Olympia and is now experiencing growth because of expanding job opportunities in the Thurston County area. The City is governed by a Mayor and five Council Members.

All utilities, including electricity are provided by the City.