Bucoda, Washington
Town in the United States in Thurston County
About Bucoda
Bucoda () is a town in Thurston County, Washington, United States. The population was 600 at the 2020 census. The community refers to itself as the "World's Tiniest Town with the Biggest Halloween Spirit".
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
How Bucoda is governed
Form of government not yet listed.
0 of 14 positions listed. Gray dashed boxes are placeholders waiting for a name.
Residents of Bucoda
Registered voters elect the officials below.
-
Mayor
Executive
Not yet listed. Log in to add who holds this
The city's chief elected official. Presides over the executive branch, proposes the budget and represents the city.
-
City Manager / Administrator
Executive
Not yet listed. Log in to add who holds this
The professional administrator who runs day-to-day operations (in some cities appointed by the council instead of the mayor).
-
Police Chief
Administration & departments
Not yet listed. Log in to add who holds this
Leads the police department.
-
Fire Chief
Administration & departments
Not yet listed. Log in to add who holds this
Leads the fire and emergency services department.
-
Public Works Director
Administration & departments
Not yet listed. Log in to add who holds this
Streets, water, sewer, and city buildings.
-
Finance Director
Administration & departments
Not yet listed. Log in to add who holds this
The budget, taxes, and city accounts.
-
Planning & Zoning Director
Administration & departments
Not yet listed. Log in to add who holds this
Land use, zoning, building permits.
-
Parks & Recreation Director
Administration & departments
Not yet listed. Log in to add who holds this
Parks, programs, and public facilities.
-
-
-
City Council
Legislative
Not yet listed. Log in to add who holds this
The elected body that passes ordinances, sets the tax rate and approves the budget.
-
City Clerk
Administration & departments
Not yet listed. Log in to add who holds this
Keeps the official records, runs meeting agendas and, often, local elections.
-
City Attorney
Administration & departments
Not yet listed. Log in to add who holds this
The city's lawyer; advises officials and prosecutes ordinance violations.
-
Boards & Commissions
Legislative
Not yet listed. Log in to add who holds this
Citizen advisory bodies, such as planning, zoning appeals and library boards.
-
-
Municipal Court
Judicial
Not yet listed. Log in to add who holds this
Hears traffic, ordinance and other minor cases.
-
Municipal Judge
Judicial
Not yet listed. Log in to add who holds this
Presides over the municipal court.
-
- Website
- bucoda.us
Looking for your county, state and federal representatives too? See who represents 98530 or everyone in Washington.
Population over time
From 562 in 2010 to 600 in 2020 (+6.8%).
Show the numbers
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 600 |
| 2010 | 562 |
History
19th century
The first American settler at what is now Bucoda was Aaron Webster who arrived in 1854 or 1856. Webster purchased or obtained acres of land in the area, beginning a sawmill on the Skookumchuck River in 1857. In the 1860s, Webster and his wife, Sarah (Yantis), sold his land claim to Oliver and Celphraur Shead, homesteaders from Grand Mound; Oliver later purchased the Webster sawmill. Shead opened the Seatco post office in 1870; the office closed in 1873 but was re-established in 1883.
The Northern Pacific Railroad located a station at Seatco in 1872. On the Kalama-Tacoma line, several businesses were quickly established. In the 1880s, investors began operations to mine coal in the area, but the coal was of poor quality and operations were sporadic.
A major flood affecting communities in the Skookumchuck and Chehalis river watersheds occurred in December 1887; two Chehalis residents lost their lives while near the town.
Bucoda was recorded to have a population of 945 in the 1890 United States census and several manufacturing companies were established. Two major fires to the downtown core occurred in 1890 and 1898.
Seatco prison
In the late 1870s, Oliver Shead and sheriffs of Pierce and Thurston counties proposed Seatco to be a site of a Washington Territory prison. The institution was to be privately operated and constructed by prisoners; sheriffs at the time received additional wages if prisoners under their watch were engaged in labor. Accepted by the territorial legislature in 1877, the facility was Washington's first prison. The jail opened in mid-1878 and was a wooden, two-story structure with a basement, measuring 40 ft × 100 ft (12 m × 30 m). Cells were located on the first floor and female prisoners were kept separately from the general population; solitary confinement was located in the basement.
The jail garnered a reputation as a harsh institution as the inmates, some shackled for years, were used for dangerous and brutal manual labor in local industry. After the Washington State Penitentiary prison was built in Walla Walla, prisoners began to be transferred out of Seatco Prison in 1887. The jail was supposed to close in 1888 but was last used for inmates in 1890. Over 300 prisoners are recorded to have been incarcerated at Seatco prison.
The structure burned down in 1907; a dock was built on the site by a lumber company. The grounds burned again in the 1940s and remnants of the prison were rediscovered in 1974. The Seatco Prison Site was listed to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
20th century
After two prior attempts were unsuccessful, Bucoda was officially incorporated on June 7, 1910. The first mayor was Emil Krupp. Boundary and signature concerns led to the failed efforts, but the issue of Thurston County becoming a dry county in 1909 is considered to be a reason for the early failures. Bucoda at the time had four saloon establishments and residents were more inclined to a "controlled approach to prohibition". Lumber production in the town, led by the Mutual Lumber Mill, was so productive that Bucoda was once billed as "The Little Town with the Million Dollar Payroll".
The Mutual Mill burned down in 1912 and was rebuilt in 1919; demand waned and production ceased in the 1930s, with a brief reopening into the 1940s. Another mill was begun and lasted into the mid-1950s when it was lost to another fire. The Mutual Mill water tower remained until the early 1980s.
21st century
A federal bill signed in January 2025 authorized the renaming of the town's post office to the Mayor Rob Gordon Post Office. Gordon, who died of cancer the prior summer, had long been a resident and public servant in Bucoda, working in the fire department and on the town council. A dedication ceremony, and the unveiling of a plaque, was held in August 2025, attended by U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.