Friday, March 16, 2012

Highlights of McKenna, Washington

No this is not about that guy that promises to increase education spending but then praised cuts to education spending. 

I drove through the small town of McKenna, Washington. McKenna is in Pierce County on the northeast side of the Nisqually River. It is a former logging company town. While the unincorporated town is small, the surrounding area consists of miles of rural lots and stand alone subdivisions with Yelm, another small town that is now no longer small, located across the Nisqually River. Overall the area has evolved from a rural forestry with pastures into a large suburban area in the last 20 years. But the town of McKenna remains a small town. 

I was driving through the area from one project site in Pierce County to one in Thurston County. A good excuse to explore the non Interstate 5 corridor. A couple features caught my attention passing through McKenna.    

Old church converted into a gun shop

Walt's with a log carving of not of the usual bear but of what I believe to be Ken Griffey Junior (Griffey is left handed)

I very much would have liked to have had a beer at Walt's but work was calling, I did not want to run out of light, and I wanted to make a short stop at a geology feature between projects. Another day perhaps.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great post! But, you missed one of the most important places in McKenna! Stewart's Meats: http://www.stewartsmeatmarket.com/

Check it out next time!

Dan McShane said...

I did see Stewarts just past Walt's. Didn't take a picture, but I suspect it is the town's main attraction.

Anonymous said...

Stewart's is across the river in Yelm, Thurston Co. Technically not McKenna, but its so darn close everyone just refers to it as part of McKenna.
Walt's was originally the company store for the McKenna Logging Co.
When I moved here in the late 1970's it still had a little grocery store in the back, with a tiny tavern in the front.