Rainier

History

Rainier is situated in an area known as the Tenalquot Prairie. Known also as "Te-nal-cut", "Ta-nal-cuth", or "Ten-al-quelth" to indigenous people in the area, the word most likely means "the best yet" or "happy land" in the Lushootseed language. Another possible meaning is that of a mink in search of home in a human settlement. By the 1840s, the prairie was used for sheep farming station under the Puget Sound Agricultural Company. Rainier began in the 1870s as a "Prairie Line" stop on the Northern Pacific Railroad track between Kalama, Washington, Tenino and Tacoma. In 1884, the town was named for its view of Mount Rainier. German immigrants Albert and Maria Gehrke were the first non-indigenous settlers to homestead in Rainier, arriving in 1890. Later that year a store and post office were established by Henry Harmer, who homesteaded with his wife Jessie and children on the Deschutes River near Rainier. Rainier was officially platted by George H. Ellsbury in 1891. Ellsbury modeled the new town after a settlement he began in the Dakota Territory. The "Rainier Colony" initially began under Ellsbury's idea as a cooperative settlement though it remains uncertain how much of the development was completed or followed. By 1891, Rainier grew to include additional families, buildings, and a hotel. In 1896, the community's first full-time school as well as a Lutheran church were built by Albert Gehrke and his two brothers, Theodore and Paul; the buildings are state historic landmarks. The original school was converted into the Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church after a new schoolhouse was built in the early 1900s; the church had been founded by German settlers the prior decade. The church was used once again for educational purposes after a fire at the schoolhouse in 1915. In…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land. In terms of land cover, 18% (179 acres) of the city is urban, 27% () is forested, and 55% () is covered with non-forest vegetation and soils. The climate of Rainier tends to be relatively mild. Although the temperature reached a record high of in 1981, the average temperature of the hottest month, August, is . Similarly, while the record low temperature was in 1979, the average temperature of January, the coldest month, is . With an average of of precipitation, November is the wettest month. Rainier averages approximately of precipitation a year.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  6,857
• Song Sparrow

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  6,761
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  6,377
• Dark-eyed Junco

  Junco hyemalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  5,988
• Spotted Towhee

  Pipilo maculatus Swainson, 1827 · Aves
  5,880
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  5,441
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  4,725
• Northern Flicker

  Colaptes auratus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  4,510

Most recent

• M 3.75 — 2026-09-05
  20 km E of Castle Rock, Washington
• M 2.84 — 2026-05-27
  4 km W of Wauna, Washington
• M 2.52 — 2026-03-17
  7 km SE of Mineral, Washington
• M 2.86 — 2026-03-11
  2 km W of Home, Washington
• M 2.6 — 2026-01-25
  1 km ENE of Enetai, Washington
• M 3.0100000000000002 — 2026-01-22
  2 km NNW of Ames Lake, Washington