The tour passes through pastures and prosperous farmlands, the fields bright in spring and summer with camas flowers and lupine, to Roy, a bustling market center near the convergence of the Muck and Nisqually valleys.

By the 1940s, three nurseries shipped quantities of pine, spruce, and fir seed; a large bulb farm and a dairy farm, with herds of prize-winning cattle, were adjacent to the town. Mink were bred successfully at two fur farms, and a hop ranch, located three miles east of the town, was noted for its long rows of hops. Another asset for the community was a lumber mill. Comfortable homes clustered around a large red-brick school. A branch line of the Northern Pacific bisected the business district, and the buildings were built about an open area surrounding the depot.

Roy was named for the son of James McNaught, who platted the town site in 1884.

When a railway station was established in 1884, Northern Pacific Railway officials called the town Media. In 1889, it was changed to the present name, for the son of James McNaught, an early settler.