Brown Bros. Garage on the road to Rainier, Washington.

Brown Bros. Garage on Yelm Ave.

Introduction:  The Yelm PTA maintained scrapbooks for a number of years of their existence.  The 1949-50 scrapbook was also maintained by Mrs. Alice Prescott and chronicles the PTA organization for that school year. 
Yelm PTA Hears Prominent Educator Tuesday Evening
Nisqually Valley News October 6, 1949
The Yelm Parent Teachers Association meeting was held in the high school [...]

This is the first of a series of entertaining and informative articles about the prosperous and progressive city of Yelm, located on a fertile prairie 22 miles from Olympia. The stories were written by an Olympian reporter who visited Yelm several times to obtain pertinent information about the steadily growing community.

By Bill Fox The Olympian. [...]

This is the second article of an interesting series concerning Yelm which is being printed in The Daily Olympian. The articles, written by a Daily Olympian reporter who visited Yelm several times, are being printed for the purpose of acquainting the residents of Olympia with some of the activities of a city which is a [...]

As World War II broke out, traffic increased on the line. It was used as an alternate route for troop trains to and from Tacoma. The telegraph office was manned 24 hours a day with three shifts or “tricks.” In the post-war years, traffic dwindled to secondary or branch status with logs the main commodity [...]

Yelm in 1944

Introduction: Edgar Prescott recalled first coming to Yelm in this section of his memoir. This manuscript may be found at the Washington State Historical Society.
At last we were in Washington, land of big trees. They stood sky-high along the road between the towns—Vancouver, Kalama, Kelso. The highway ran right down the main streets, [...]

  A Short History of Yelm
The history of Yelm’s post office capsulizes the creation of the community. With the exception of a period of time between November 1880 and May 1881 (when mail was delivered to Tenino), Yelm Prairie has had a post office. It was first named Yelm on August 18, 1858, nice months [...]

Yelm and McKenna Businesses from Annuals
1947 Annual
  
Schorno’s Dairy
Yelm Meat Market
Trimble’s Hardware
D & H Mobile Service
Yelm’s Thriftway
Wolf’s Department Store
Colson & Medley
Stewart’s McKenna Meat Market
Ed’s Kennels
Earl Johnson Jeweler
Yelm’s Marshall-Wells Store
Green lantern
McKenna Spaniel Kennels
McKenna Grocery
Loney’s Electric
Lord’s Dairy
Dr. B. L. Phillips, Physician
Yelm Theatre
Porsch’s Grocery
Gallagher & Son Standard Oil Products
Bungalow Grocery
Dr. W. H. Frisbie D. D. S.
Nisqually Valley News
Whited Lumber [...]

History of the Yelm Irrigation District
by Georgia Justman
 Introduction:  The following was given to the city of Yelm by the Justman family.  In this account, written after World War II, Georgia Justman examines the history of the Yelm Irrigation District, including its relationship to the McKenna Lumber Company.
 
The Yelm Irrigation system was originally built by the [...]

The Daily Olympian January 12, 1949
This is the final article of a series about Yelm and its residents which was prepared by a Daily Olympian reporter. The articles are designed to acquaint residents of Southwest Washington with the activities of a progressive community.
By Bill Fox
This is the story about a self-styled “one-legged cop.” His name [...]