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Buckley, Washington

city in Pierce County, Washington, USA

Architectural plans, a scale model, maps and brass measuring instruments
Places and architectureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 22, 2026
Entity authorityQ1363158 ↗
Source-derived summary

Buckley is a city in Pierce County, Washington, United States, founded in 1882. The population was 5,114 at the 2020 census. Buckley lies on the White River below Mount Rainier and is known for hosting an annual festival named the Log Show.

History

1856 Decisive battle of the Puget Sound War fought at Connell's Prairie, 6 miles (10 km) west of Buckley. It was significant because it boosted the morale of the settlers because it was such a great victory with no casualties to the regulars or volunteers.

1875

Coal discovered at Wilkeson

Jeremiah 'Jerry' Stilley, first permanent non-Indian resident, settled West of town.

1877 Railroad built from Tacoma to Wilkeson to transport coal.

1882 Town named "Perkin's Prairie"

1884 Northern Pacific built railroad spur track from Cascade Junction (between South Prairie and Buckley) to Perkin's Prairie. Town given name "White River Siding" by railroad men.

1885 Town's first store erected by "Dad" Chamberlain.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Buckley, Washington” as city in Pierce County, Washington, USA. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Buckley, Washington and city.

Editorial reviewA valuable geographic starting point for tracing changing names, boundaries, uses and administrative responsibility. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1882, 2020, 1856, 1875—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1889. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Buckley, Washington and city providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Buckley, Washington”, the useful work is to connect “city in Pierce County, Washington, USA” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1363158. VIAF identifies the subject as 158307976. The Library of Congress control number is n82251337. Authority coordinates are 47.162, -122.028. 4 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1882, 2020, 1856 and 1875.

Critical limits

Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.

Best used for
  • Historic place names
  • Jurisdictional context
  • Routes into maps and plans
Verify next

Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Buckley, Washington”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Buckley, Washington primary sources, Buckley, Washington archive and Buckley research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Buckley, Washington”?
  2. Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
  3. What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Buckley, Washington” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.