No matter the season

Dec. 8, 2010. The view from Cedar St. up on Rabbit Hill, no matter the season, reveals McCleary to be a town carved into the forest. We are independent from sprawl, out here in the twilight zone where the Aberdeen and Olympia spheres of influence do not touch. McCleary is a dangerous town to underestimate, as so many of our more urban neighbors have done.

Tony and ZZ

July 17, 2011

The crypt of Anthony (1908-1960) and Azizeh (1915-2001) Souda in Fern Hill Cemetery, Aberdeen.

The Soudas operated the Golden Rule Store, which was located in what is now a vacant lot just north of the second hand store on Maple and Main. They were a vital part of McCleary community life. The actual building was still standing as late as the 1960s. 

Al McKean, 1879-1926

July 17, 2011

The crypt of Al McKean, Fern Hill Cemetery, Aberdeen.

McKean was a popular figure in McCleary. He ran the Pastime Pool Hall, where the present Union Hall sits. The original Pastime building was torn down in the summer of 1986.

McKean was shot and killed when he surprised a burglar while returning to the Pool Hall after hours. Henry McCleary spared no expense in helping law enforcement track down the killer.  When they finally arrested the likely killer and threw him in the Grays Harbor County jail, he refused to talk.

The story goes that McKean's twin brother was made up to look like a ghost and would silently stare at the superstitious prisoner through the bars at night. This method extracted the needed confession.

The entire episode earned an article in a sensationalist crime story tabloid, Real Detective in Jan. 1937 entitled "The Jungle Buzzard and the Ghost of Al McKean."

Main Street

Looking north. Those hills belong to Mason County, the southernmost lower vestiges of the Olympic Peninsula. McCleary sits near where three counties meet, Grays Harbor, Mason, and Thurston. When you call 911 you never know which county is going to answer. I like to think McCleary sits in the twilight zone where the Aberdeen and Olympia spheres of influence don't quite touch. Mar. 10, 2013.