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 1653.

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.

As much as we talk about all of the trouble it’s causing our municipal infrastructure, we’ve found the best success when we look at the impact to the customer, the most attention-grabbing impact is cost. This is a municipal problem, but it’s also a household risk. When pipes in the home become clogged with non-flushable items, the expense is eventually passed down to the homeowner. Almost every wastewater treatment plant in North America is dealing with similar issues. Because of that, the lessons we are trying to get out there are universal and very adaptable regardless where you are.