People of the Plateau:
Photo Series
This project is a collaboration between the Buckley Downtown Association, local business owners, and the Foothills Historical Society. The purpose is to make the history and culture of the area accessible to more people, to incorporate art into the downtown area, and to build community.
The city of Buckley, located in east Pierce County, began to develop soon after the discovery of coal in nearby Wilkeson in 1875. Shortly thereafter, in 1877 the Northern Pacific Railroad built a spur track from Cascade Junction to “Perkins’ Prairie” or “Perkins’ Landing,” the future site of the community of Buckley. The area was renamed “White River Siding” in 1884 once the Northern Pacific pushed through the settlement for logging purposes. Located in the center of a small prairie, the town provided open space for a central business district to begin. With large tracts of cedar and spruce along the eastern slope of the Cascade Mountain range, shingle mills were built in the late 1880s. Drawing from the largest untouched timber belts east of the Olympic Mountains, the town was initially built to support the lumber industry. The timber gave way to rich agricultural land and dairy country, along with reasonable real estate costs. This encouraged many workmen to secure lots in and around the town. Buckley grew naturally and spontaneously. The city rippled out in grids of shingle mills, commercial dairies, hops fields, residential neighborhoods, and other farmlands as the region was logged further. The city was platted in 1888 by Alexander and Mary Wickersham and given the final name of “Buckley,” after the Northern Pacific Railroad district superintendent, James M. Buckley, who pounded in the last spike of the NPR line to Tacoma. At the time, the businesses along Main Street were constructed of timber, an easy material to come by in a town raised largely by the logging industry.
The town incorporated in 1890. However, a tragic fire on May 5, 1892, left the business section flattened on East Main Street in only two hours. While hundreds of men moved goods from the businesses, and the efforts were viewed as heroic, many citizens wore scorched faces. Like many other communities which suffered similar loses, following the fire, Buckley became a brick city. A brickyard on the edge of town produced most of the brick that went into all the business blocks.
The Kempinsky Drug Store located at 691 Main Street
“Old Timer's Days” circa 1973-74. You can see window of what was Stanley’s Tavern in the background.
Read more about the history of the Kempinsky Building below.
The Kempinsky Drug Store is historically significant for its direct connection to the growth and development of the city of Buckley, Washington.
Among the early pioneers who built structures in Buckley was William Oscar Kempinsky. He built the first drug store (in the same location as the building is today) in 1888. The town incorporated in 1890. However, a tragic fire on May 5, 1892, left the business section flattened on East Main Street in only two hours. While hundreds of men moved goods from the businesses, and the efforts were viewed as heroic, many citizens wore scorched faces. Kempinsky suffered $5K in losses, with insurance covering $2K.
Like many other communities which suffered similar loses, following the fire, Buckley became a brick city. A brickyard on the edge of town produced most of the brick that went into all the business blocks. The Kempinsky family were one of the first to rebuild after the fire. Their new two-story, modern building was built of fire-retardant brick. The architect and builder are unknown. Others followed and the city quickly became a busy hub of building activity. In fact, another two-story building with slightly different brick design details was erected next door. The two buildings shared a party wall (the building to the west has been demolished). Around this time, Kempinksy also sold the lot across the street that he owned to the International Order of Odd Fellows. In 1892, they also built a two-story brick building.
Reportedly for years Kempinsky had suffered poor health, and in 1892 he attempted to sell his business. With no buyers, he and his wife continued operating the business even through extended periods of severe illness. The community valued the Kempinsky’s as important leaders of the town and often local newspapers recorded the family’s well-being. As time went on, they became increasingly involved in the civic development of early Buckley.
William Oscar Kempinsky served a three-year term as mayor beginning February 1896. Over the years he continued his druggist’s education, never ceasing to provide the community with the most knowledgeable aid he could offer. His wife, Katherine “Kate,” was a founding member of the Woman’s Musical & Literary Club, the oldest continuous charter women’s organization in Washington, formed in 1897. Often, the Club would choose a specific cultural subject to study for the year. As an example, in 1903 the focus would be the “ten great religions of the world” and at times Kate would be selected to read a paper for the Woman’s Club.
William also dabbled in real estate development. In August 1906, he platted the Kempinsky Subdivision in Buckley. His notary, lawyer James McNeely, had an office in Kempinksy’s building and was a personal friend of the family. He acted as the attorney for the Woman’s Musical & Literary Club and lived in a large mansion in the city.
William was an early adopter of automobile technology, having purchased his first automobile in 1911. Post retirement, newspaper accounts note that he brought the first six-cylinder Willy-Knight automobile to be delivered to Tacoma on April 12, 1925. Around 1920, the family business was turned over to Harold Aubry Kempinsky, one of William’s two sons. Harold, a University of Washington graduate, also upheld a family passion for civic duty, and served as vice president of the Buckley Commercial Club, where he voiced community concerns over newer technology franchises such as the telephone line. He also had a deep appreciation for automobiles and was noted for purchasing a new Essex Coach sedan in 1923.
In 1926, it was finally time for the family to sell the business. Harold sold the store and building to Otto W. Anderson, who had been in the pharmacy business in Montana. Reportedly, Anderson continued to operate the drug store until 1945 when he sold out and moved to Seattle. However, he repurchased the store in 1947 and continued operating it until his death on December 31, 1949.
During Anderson’s ownership he rented the upstairs space to Michael Andrew Twardoski, a Polish immigrant. Twardoski had moved to Buckley in 1920 and married Mary Agnes Gustoski in 1922. He and his wife ran a tailoring business in the 2nd floor space formerly occupied by James McNeely. The business maintained the clothing and footwear of local miners who worked at the Wilkeson Coal & Coke Company and railroad.
Family history notes that the Twardowski’s actually bought the building in 1939 and lived in an apartment above the drug store with their children Leo, Helen, and Richard (Dick). For several years they leased the downstairs space back to Anderson who continued operating the drug store until at least 1949.
After Michael Twardoski’s death in 1956, Mary Twardoski remarried and she took on the surname of Walter Irons. She remained a Buckley-area resident for more than 50 years. She was a charter member of the Veteran of Foreign Wars Auxiliary, a 50-year member of the Eagles Lodge, a member of the Women’s Benefit Association, and a member of the Rainier School Foster Grandparents Association.
After the Twardoski’s son Richard “Dick” had married Janice Kennedy from Enumclaw in 1949, the family moved out of the apartment in the nominated building to a house in Buckley on A Street. They lived there for two years until Michael contracted tuberculosis. The family struggled to afford the A Street home and moved to another residence on Cottage Street. When Michael passed away, Mary moved back into the Kempinsky building’s upper apartment once again.
Reportedly during the years when the Twardoski’s were not living in the building, Helen Venzke, daughter of W.O. and Kate Kempinsky, rented the upper story apartment. She worked as a clerk at the Rainier State Custodial School. Helen attended the Annie Wright Seminary in Tacoma and later became a member of the Mt. Rainier Chapter, Order of Eastern Star, in Buckley, and remained in the community for over 50 years. Her husband, Edward James Venzke, was also a druggist. Mary Twardoski eventually deeded the Kempinsky Building to her children in the 1960s. By then her son, Richard, had been using a majority of the main floor of the building as a cleaning and pressing business.
In the late 1990s, the Twardoski children sold the building to Diane Stegal, who ran it as a liquor store. She had been the agency manager of the Buckley State Liquor Store since 1982. With special permits for organizations such as I.O.O.F., Stegal would sell beer off-premises. She supported keeping Buckley’s small-town identity and being able to say hello to people she knew on the street not as strangers, but friends.
At an unknown date, the building was sold again, this time to Steve Jones. Jones, a building manager, sold the building to the current owners, Bradley and Kelsey Kaelin (Hahto) in June of 2019. The Kaelin’s moved their salon, The Vanity, from Enumclaw into the main floor of the Kempinksy Building. As of March 2024, there are 3.5 suites rented out to small local merchants which include a therapist, a masseuse, and aesthetician. After the Kaelin’s had purchased the Kempinsky Building, Bradley learned he was related to former owners of the building. Michael and Mary Twardoski are his great grandparents!