Tono

Tono is a ghost town in southern Thurston County, Washington, roughly 20 miles south of Olympia and just 2 miles east of Bucoda. The town came into existence in 1907 as a company-owned mining settlement established by the Washington Union Coal Company, itself a subsidiary of the Union Pacific Railroad. The railroad's motivation was practical: coal was needed to fuel their steam locomotives, and Tono sat at the end of a dedicated railroad spur built to move that resource out of the area.

Today Tono exists in name only. The reference facts describe it plainly as a ghost town, which means visitors should expect little in the way of surviving structures or formal amenities. The surrounding rural landscape of southwest Washington — quiet, often overcast, and densely vegetated — is the primary draw for those who make the trip out of historical curiosity.