Editing Bucoda, Washington (section)

==History==
The first American settler at what is now Bucoda was Aaron Webster (1828–1911) who arrived in 1854.<ref name=majors>{{Cite book| last = Majors | first = Harry M. | title = Exploring Washington | publisher = Van Winkle Publishing Co | year = 1975 | page = 120 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CoWrPQAACAAJ| isbn = 978-0-918664-00-6}}</ref>  In the 1860s Webster sold his claim and sawmill to Oliver Shead.  The [[Northern Pacific Railroad]] located a station at Seatco in 1872.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.co.thurston.wa.us/permitting/historic/docs/Place-Names.pdf | title=Thurston County Place Names: A Heritage Guide | publisher=Thurston County Historical Commission | date=1992 | access-date=March 28, 2018 | pages=10}}</ref> A major flood affecting communities in the [[Skookumchuck River|Skookumchuck]] and [[Chehalis River (Washington)|Chehalis]] river watersheds occurred in December 1887; two Chehalis residents lost their lives while near the town.<ref>{{cite news |title=Men Drown in High Water in 1887 |url=https://www.chronline.com/stories/men-drown-in-high-water-in-1887,204780 |access-date=December 2, 2024 |work=The Chronicle |date=December 22, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author1=Julie McDonald |author2=Edna Fund |title=From Native American Legends to 2007: A History of Flooding in the Chehalis River Basin |url=https://www.chronline.com/stories/from-native-american-legends-to-2007-a-history-of-flooding-in-the-chehalis-river-basin,21216 |access-date=December 2, 2024 |work=The Chronicle |date=December 6, 2017 |quote=Article a copy from the book "The Flood of 2007: Disaster and Survival on the Chehalis River"}}</ref>

[[File:Bucoda, Washington, United States Post Office, September 2020.jpg|thumb|left|Mayor Rob Gordon Post Office]]
In the 1880s, investors began operations to mine coal in the area, but the coal was of poor quality and operations were sporadic. Beginning in 1874 or 1878, Bucoda was the site of Washington's first territorial prison. A wooden, three-story structure, 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. The prison was supposed to close in 1888 but was last used for inmates in 1890 and officially discontinued when the state opened the [[Washington State Penitentiary]] in [[Walla Walla, Washington]].<ref name="William Prosser 1903">William Prosser, ''A History of the Puget Sound Country'' vol. 1. New York, Lewis Publishing Co., 1903, 249</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Territorial Prison Was At Bucoda 75 Years Ago |url=https://www.newspaperarchive.com/us/washington/centralia/centralia-daily-chronicle/1953/06-06/page-88 |access-date=October 7, 2024 |work=The Daily Chronicle |date=June 6, 1953 |page=28C}}</ref>

Bucoda was officially incorporated on June 7, 1910 and the first mayor was Emil Krupp.<ref name="FBSWO"/> The town had a water tower that was scrapped in the early 1980s. The Mutual Lumber Mill was so productive the town was once billed as the "Town with the Million Dollar Payroll". The mill burned down and was rebuilt only to have demand wane and once again it was consumed by flames.

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.<ref>{{cite news |author1=The Chronicle staff |title=Bill to rename Bucoda's post office for late mayor signed into law by President Joe Biden |url=https://www.chronline.com/stories/bill-to-rename-bucodas-post-office-for-late-mayor-signed-into-law-by-president-joe-biden,373188 |access-date=January 8, 2025 |work=The Chronicle |date=January 7, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author1=[[Marie Gluesenkamp Perez|U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez]] |title=H.R.9421 - To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 108 North Main Street in Bucoda, Washington, as the "Mayor Rob Gordon Post Office" |url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/9421 |publisher=[[Congress.gov]] |access-date=January 8, 2025 |date=January 4, 2025}}</ref>