City of Tenino Thurston County, Washington
Mapped Location
City of Tenino: The mapped location is an approximation and should not be used for navigation or wayfinding.
Information
General information on City of Tenino
- Feature Type: Incorporated
Official, historical, colloquial and alternative toponyms for City of Tenino
A brief list of names that this geographic feature has been named
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| City of Tenino | Official |
| Tenino | Official |
Origin Notes and History of City of Tenino
References to City of Tenino that document the origin of its place name
TENINO, a town in the south central part of Thurston County. George T. Reid, of Tacoma, says: "Most railroad men claim that the town derived its name from the coincidence that, in numbering the survey stations, this point was numbered 1090, usually spoken of as 'ten-nine-o.' I have, however, heard this disputed, some persons claiming it to be an Indian word signifying a fork or crotch." (In Names MSS. Letter 94.) William Farrand Prosser says that when the Northern Pacific Railroad built its line from Kalama to Tacoma in 1872 this place was named Tenino from the Indian word meaning "junction" and adds: "The junction referred to was that of the old military roads. During the Indian war [1855-1856] a military road was constructed from Fort Vancouver up the Cowlitz valley, then over to Fort Steilacoom. Near the farms of Hodgson and Davenport it forked, and a branch ran into Olympia. In the Chinook Jargon the fork was called a tenino." (History of the Puget Sound Country, Volume I., page 248.) Another use of the name is recorded as early as April, 1862, when the Oregon Steam Navigation Company had a steamer so named on the Columbia River. (Illustrated History of Southeastern Washington, page 87.) J. A. Costello says that in the Nisqually Indian language the name of the particular site of Tenino was Kla-pe-ad-am. (The Siwash, Seattle, 1895.)
Related Catalog Titles
A Bibliography for City of Tenino, Thurston County, Washington
Tenino, Washington the decades of boom & bust by Scott McArthur
Published in local editions by Scott McArthur, Tenino, Washington: The Decades of Boom & Bust chronicles the colorful economic highs and lows of a historic south Sound community shaped by sandstone quarrying, timber, and coal mining. The book details the town's late 19th-century industrial peak, its struggles through the Great Depression, and its famous emergency response of printing wooden money during the banking crisis of 1933. Through archival photographs and engaging local history, the text captures the gritty resilience of a working-class town repeatedly forced to reinvent itself as its primary resource industries faded. A keen insight drawn from the work is how severe economic isolation can spark profound civic innovation; by turning local wood veneer into legal tender, Tenino transformed a debilitating banking failure into an ingenious piece of public theater and enduring numismatic history.
143 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm
CIRC [ 1 ]
Thurston County
- Beachcrest
- Belmore
- Bordeaux
- Boston Harbor
- Town of Bucoda
- Bush
- Carlyon Beach
- Chain Hill
- Delphi
- East Olympia
- Edgewater Beach
- Elizan Beach
- Essex
- Fir Tree
- Five Corners
- Four Corners
- Grand Mound
- Gravelly Beach
- Helsing Junction
- Independence
- Kellys Korner
- City of Lacey
- Lamberts Corner
- Littlerock
- Madrona Beach
- Marshville (historical)
- Maytown
- McIntosh
- Michigan Hill
- Mima
- Mushroom Corner
- Nisqually
- North Olympia
- North Yelm
- Offutt Lake
- City of Olympia
- Peterson Corner
- Plumb
- Puget
- City of Rainier
- Rignall
- Rochester
- Saint Clair
- Schneiders Prairie
- Skookumchuck
- South Bay
- South Union
- Sunnydale
- Sunrise Beach
- Sunset Beach
- Tanglewilde
- City of Tenino
- Thompson Place
- Tono
- City of Tumwater
- Union Mill
- Vail
- Western Junction
- City of Yelm
Political Boundaries
Last updated: 2017-06-29