J. C. Conine was part of the American rural tradition.  In Ohio, Iowa, and Washington he lived in the countryside on a farm.  That scene in America was becoming less prominent during his lifetime, but his was never an urban life.  In Yelm, farming would be the major source of employment during Conine’s life there.  [...]

Roads are an unbelievably exciting part of the history of Washington and Yelm. All aspects of these means of transportation, commerce, and recreation are incredible. The conditions, road tax, petitions, building, and supervisors are all individual spectrums of how these roads were special to the area. Here are how each of those limbs contributed to [...]

 By the early 1870s, the future townsite of Yelm was owned by George Edwards and John McKenzie. Edwards, a former Hudson’s Bay Company employee, acquired most of the western part of the future town through purchase from the United States. John McKenzie owned all of the land in the eastern portion of what would become [...]

(Rainier and later Yelm, WA)
In 1917 Martin J. Gruber (1877-1956) and Benjamin J. Docherty (1885-1942) built a lumber mill just south of the present (1999) town of Rainier WA.
Gruber, born in Oshkosh, WI had come west with his family in 1890. His father had built a store in Winlock WA and after some college, Gruber [...]

*Estimated

Year
Area in Berries Acres
Production in Pounds
Price per Lb. Cents
Returns

1927
280
300,000
8.5
$25,500

1928
339
500,000
7
$35,000

1929
458
800,000
8
$64,000

1930
650
700,000
8.5 (5)
$59,500
($35,000)

1931
870
1,000,000*
7* (3)
$70,000*
($30,000)

Introduction: Yelm incorporated in 1924 and the town council soon began passing ordinances. Here are some summarized selections from Yelm’s long list of ordinances.
1925 – Regulation of pool halls and card rooms – A license is required to own or regulate a pool hall or card room. License fee is $25 a year.
Punishment: $10-100 fine [...]