Named by the early settlers in 1852 for the crag which rises 200 feet above Klickitat Prairie. In 1855-6 when the Klickitats made their way through the mountain passes to the east, the few settlers temporarily abandoned their homes. By the 1940s the town was a supply point and distribution center for the area. Today, Mossyrock maintains a small business district and the community is served by a high school (1931), junior high and elementary school (1938), and the Mossyrock Community Church.