History · Washington

Washington has 654 places on the National Register, 74 of them National Historic Landmarks

More historic than 93% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Dated to 1790 (Wikidata), with 32% of its homes built before 1940 and 68 historic districts holding 28,278 contributing buildings. Below: 10 old photos and papers, maps from 1900 on, the census since 1800, and every listing on the Register.

1790founded

654on the National Register

32%homes built before 1940

10old photos & papers

23famous people

Add an old photo Share a memory

From Washington’s archive · credits on each photo

Quick answers

How Washington began

When was Washington founded?

1790

Washington dates its founding to 1790 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1800.

First census: 8,144 in 18002020 census: 689,545236 years

How historic is Washington?

More historic than 93% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1788.The full story ↓

History grade

What drives Washington’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Washington is more historic than 93% of U.S. towns. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its age lowest.

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Washington’s overall grade.

Founding era1790, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA⁻Homes built before 194031.5% of homes (±0.7) · typical DC town 31.5% · U.S. 8.4%A National Register654 listings, 28,278 historic buildings, 415 per 10,000 residents · typical DC town 415 · U.S. 2.4–

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 93%

NewerOlder

Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Washington ranks #57 on History.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1790.

How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±0.7 points) is firm at this size.

Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Washington’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A National Historic Landmark654 places on the National Register, 74 of them National Historic Landmarks.A historic districtThe Capitol Hill Historic District takes in 8,370 historic buildings.Lost villages25 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Washington, and 174 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 19006 editions of the USGS map, 1900 to 1980. Watch Washington change.

★ What stands out · On the National Register

654 listings protect 28,278 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. 74 are National Historic Landmarks, the highest tier. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.

places listed

654

National Historic Landmarks

National Archives Building

historic buildings protected

28,278

each building in a district counts

first listed

1966

Administration Building, Carnegie Institute of …

BuildingsDistrictsSitesStructuresObjects★ landmark

Architectural styles listings

Colonial Revival43

Classical Revival37

Late Victorian35

Beaux Arts31

Italianate30

Federal27

★ Landmark

National Archives BuildingBuilt 1931

★ Landmark

Pan American Union HeadquartersBuilt 1910

★ Landmark

The Furies CollectiveBuilt 1913

★ Landmark

Administration Building, Carnegie Institute of WashingtonBeaux Arts · Built 1910

★ Landmark

American National Red CrossBeaux Arts · Built 1915

★ Landmark

Army Medical MuseumBuilt 1887

★ Landmark

Blair HouseBuilt 1824

★ Landmark

City HallBuilding

All 677 listings

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Washington’s post office has been open since 1799. 25 other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Georgetown

1788–1877

Washington

1799–today

Tennallytown

1846–1894

Good Hope

1847–1900

Anacostia

1849–1900

Oak Grove

1856–1861

Brightwood

1861–1901

Union Town

1865–1869

Montrose

1872–1873

Mount Pleasant

1872–1880

17801900today

Hamlets and corners on the map

Adams MorganAmerican University ParkAnacostiaArmsleigh ParkBarnaby TerraceBarnaby WoodsBarry FarmsBellevueBenningBenning HeightsBloodfieldBloomingdaleBrentwood VillageBrightwoodBrightwood ParkBrinetownBrooklandBuena VistaBurleithBuzzard PointCapitol HillCapitol ViewCarrollsburgCathedral Heights

Gone or out of use

Academy of Music BuildingbuildingAdams MilllocaleAfrican First Baptist ChurchchurchAfrican Union Bethel ChurchchurchAgassiz StationlocaleAirlie EstatebuildingAlbaughs Opera HousebuildingALBB ParkparkAlexander Crummell SchoolschoolAlexander Graham Bell Vocational High SchoolschoolAmerican Colonization Society HallbuildingAmerican TheatrebuildingAnacostia AnnexmilitaryAnacostia Methodist Episcopal ChurchchurchAnalostan Boat ClubbuildingAnchor Tavern and Oyster HousebuildingAnthony Reintzel BuildingbuildingApex Theaterbuilding

37family graveyards and cemeteries inside Washington

Arsenal MonumentBattleground NationalBeallCongressionalEasternEastern MethodistFemale Union Band SocietyGracelandHarmonyHolmeadsHoly RoodMethodistMount OlivetMount ZionNational Capitol HebrewOak HillOld MethodistPaynePresbyterianProspect HillRock CreekRosemontRosewoodSaint Elizabeths Hospital EastSaint Francis DeSalesSaint JohnsSaint Mary'sSaint Matthews CatholicSaint Patricks CatholicSaint PatricksSaint Peters CatholicSaint Peters CatholicThe GlenwoodUnited States Soldiers' and Airmen's Home NationalWashington Hebrew CongregationWoodlawnYoung Mens Baptist

See all 37

Arsenal Monument · Battleground National Cemetery · Beall Burying Ground · Congressional Cemetery · Eastern Cemetery · Eastern Methodist Cemetery · Female Union Band Society Burying Ground · Graceland Cemetery · Harmony Cemetery · Holmeads Cemetery · Holy Rood Cemetery · Methodist Cemetery · Mount Olivet Cemetery · Mount Zion Cemetery · National Capitol Hebrew Cemetery · Oak Hill Cemetery · Old Methodist Burying Ground · Payne Cemetery · Presbyterian Graveyard · Prospect Hill Cemetery · Rock Creek Cemetery · Rosemont Cemetery · Rosewood Cemetery · Saint Elizabeths Hospital East Cemetery · Saint Francis DeSales Cemetery · Saint Johns Cemetery · Saint Mary's Cemetery · Saint Matthews Catholic Cemetery · Saint Patricks Catholic Cemetery · Saint Patricks Cemetery · Saint Peters Catholic Burial Ground · Saint Peters Catholic Cemetery · The Glenwood Cemetery · United States Soldiers' and Airmen's Home National Cemetery · Washington Hebrew Congregation Cemetery · Woodlawn Cemetery · Young Mens Baptist Cemetery

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story

How Washington came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Washington.

Read it all →

The Algonquian-speaking Piscataway people inhabited present-day Washington, D.C. and lands around the Potomac River when Europeans first arrived and colonized the region in the early 17th century. The Nacotchtank, also called the Nacostines by Catholic missionaries, maintained settlements around the Anacostia River in present-day Washington, D.C. Conflicts with European colonists and neighboring tribes ultimately displaced the Piscataway people, some of whom established a new settlement in 1699 near Point of Rocks, Maryland.

ChaptersPre-founding Founding Burning during War of 1812 Retrocession and the Civil War Growth and redevelopment Civil rights and home rule era Statehood movement 2025 federal takeover

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Washington, 1901–1918

Passages that mention Washington, cut from the printed page as they were published.

Mr. McCary is the efficient manager of one of the most ambitions enterprises ever undertaken by the colored citizens of Washington. He is cashier of the Capital Savings Bank of this city, and is said to have been the youngest bank cashier ever appointed in the city of Washington, having been appoin… — The twentieth century Union League directory. A compilation of the efforts of the Colored people of Washington for social betterment ... A historical, biographical, and statistical study of Colored Washington at the dawn of the twentieth century and after1901 · page 24Read the page →
Read the text
Mr. McCary is the efficient manager of one of the most ambitions enterprises ever undertaken by the colored citizens of Washington. He is cashier of the Capital Savings Bank of this city, and is said to have been the youngest bank cashier ever appointed in the city of Washington, having been appointed when but twenty-three years old. Although he came to this responsible position at that early age, he was, nevertheless, quite fully prepared, both by training and experience for the greater portion of the duties of the position.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

The twentieth century Union League directory. A compilation of the efforts of the Colored people of Washington for social betterment ... A historical, biographical, and statistical study of Colored Washington at the dawn of the twentieth century and after1901 · page 36Read the page →
Read the text
often been selected as a committeeman in the patriotic and political events of Washington. He is a director of the Capital Savings Bank, the president and founder of the Washington Dental Society, and an active member of many of the benevolent societies of Washington.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

**A sketch of the natural history of the District of Columbia together with an indexed edition of the U.S. Geological survey's 1917 map of Washington and vicinity**1918 · page 112Read the page →
Read the text
The beginnings of Washington as described in books, maps and views. 1917, 78 pp., 24 pls. i View of Washington showing original land holdings and their names.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Washington, 1788 to 1941

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

18th century
1788Post officeThe Georgetown post office opens
1790
FoundingWashington is established
1799Post officeThe Washington post office opens
19th century
1834In the archiveCity of Washington from beyond the Navy Yard
1846Post officeThe Tennallytown post office opens
1852In the archiveBilly Bowlegs in Washington D.C
1861In the archiveArrival of the New York seventy-first regiment at the railroad depot, Washington, D.C. - …
1877In the archiveCity of Washington, D.C. from the National Observatory, 1876
1877Post officeThe Georgetown post office closes
1880In the archiveElizabeth McGilvra, n.d
1894Post officeThe Tennallytown post office closes
20th century
1900On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
1910BuiltPan American Union Headquarters is built
1910BuiltAdministration Building, Carnegie Institute of Washington is built
1913BuiltThe Furies Collective is built
1931BuiltNational Archives Building is built
1937LandmarkBlair House named a National Historic Landmark
1941Born hereDavid Gross is born here

By decade

Washington, decade by decade

5 decades in the archive, from the 1830s to the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1830s–1860s8 items

1834City of Washington from beyond the Navy YardDocument

1852Billy Bowlegs in Washington D.C

Arrival of the New York seventy-first regiment at the railroad depot, Washington, D.C. - from a sketch by our special a…

1861Arrival of the New York seventy-first regiment at the…

1861Campbell General Hospital

Electoral Vote Tally for the 1860 Presidential Election - DPLA - b53b74bcfd90a51790fcbfa614d42237 (page 1)

1861Electoral Vote Tally for the 1860 Presidential Electi…

Electoral Vote Tally for the 1860 Presidential Election - DPLA - b53b74bcfd90a51790fcbfa614d42237 (page 2)

1861Electoral Vote Tally for the 1860 Presidential Electi…

Electoral Vote Tally for the 1860 Presidential Election - DPLA - b53b74bcfd90a51790fcbfa614d42237 (page 3)

1861Electoral Vote Tally for the 1860 Presidential Electi…

1866Full view of U.S. Capitol from southwest

1870s–1880s2 items

City of Washington, D.C. from the National Observatory, 1876

1877City of Washington, D.C. from the National Observator…

1880Elizabeth McGilvra, n.d

1890s–1990snothing yet

Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Add from your album

On the map

Washington on the map, 1900 to 1980

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Washington. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

1900Washington sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Washington.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Retake this viewBilly Bowlegs in Washington D.C, 1852

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Washington’s page.

Retake this view · +15

People over time

Washington, census by census

Between 8,144 and 802,178 people in every census since 1800.

23 censuses, 1800–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Washington’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

23 famous people were born in Washington

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →

Al GoreVice President of the United States from 1993 t… · b. 1948

Samuel L. JacksonAmerican actor · b. 1948

Jennifer DoudnaAmerican biochemist · b. 1964

David GrossAmerican particle physicist and string theorist · b. 1941

William HurtAmerican actor · b. 1950

Helen HayesAmerican actress · b. 1900

Help out

Finish Washington’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Retake an old viewBilly Bowlegs in Washington D.C: stand where they stood+15 Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Washington’s history

What year was Washington founded?

In 1790, according to Wikidata. Washington’s post office opened in 1788, and the census of 1800 counted 8,144 people here.

How does Washington rank for history?

Washington is more historic than 93% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Washington?

654 listings, 74 of them National Historic Landmarks: 526 buildings, among them the National Archives Building (a National Historic Landmark since 2023) and the Administration Building, Carnegie Institute of Washington (listed 1966, the first), 71 historic districts with 27,375 contributing buildings, 14 sites, 20 structures, and 45 objects. 28,278 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Washington?

32% of Washington’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 32% for a District of Columbia town; the median home was built in 1958.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →

Start a conversation

Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (10), Wikidata (14), the National Register of Historic Places (677), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

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Washington has 654 places on the National Register, 74 of them National Historic Landmarks

How Washington began

When was Washington founded?

How historic is Washington?

What drives Washington’s History grade

What stands out about Washington’s past

654 listings protect 28,278 historic buildings

Architectural styles listings

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

How Washington came to be

What they wrote about Washington, 1901–1918

Washington, 1788 to 1941

Washington, decade by decade

Washington on the map, 1900 to 1980

Stand where they stood

Washington, census by census

23 famous people were born in Washington

Finish Washington’s story

Questions about Washington’s history

Memory lane

Where this page comes from