Alderton’s post office opened in 1878, and 3 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 54% of U.S. towns · #58 of 285 in Washington. What drives it
Most of Alderton was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1989. Its Register listings are the Charles W. Orton House, the McMillin School and the Alderton School. Its Register listings are the Charles W. Orton House, the McMillin School and the Alderton School. Below: maps from 1942 on and old-book passages.
Founding year: the first Alderton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Alderton’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Alderton is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns, #58 of 285 in Washington. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Alderton’s overall grade.
Few Washington towns list much on the Register (a typical Washington town has 0.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Alderton’s 14.8 sits above most of its state (88% of Washington towns have fewer) while its 4 historic buildings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.5 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Alderton’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The valley where Alderton is located is within the traditional lands of the Puyallup Tribe and the Muckleshoot Tribes. The Puyallup people are one of the Salish people who inhabited the Puget Sound lowlands. They lived by fishing, hunting, and gathering. Salmon are the most significant food source and are held in reverence and incorporated into the traditional ceremony. Permanent villages were located along the riverbank. The Puyallup River valley was an important trading center for many tribes.
Passages that mention Alderton, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Pierce County Washington1927 · page 146Read the page →
Read the text
Later he worked for two years at Fort Tillicum for the quartermaster, driving government teams. Subsequently he took up a preemption claim in the vicinity of Alderton, comprising one hundred and sixty acres on section 31, township 20, north, range 5, east, all heavy timber and woods, which came into his possession in 1863. This he cleared, driving the first furrows and developing the farm. In connection with general farming he engaged extensively in raising hops, and also horses and cattle, his business proving profitable. The first house which he had upon his farm was built of logs and later he erected a frame dwelling, securing the lumber at
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Pierce County Washington1927 · page 566Read the page →
Read the text
attention to contract work on road building. He had attained the age of thirty-two years when in 1890 he crossed the Atlantic to the United States and made his way direct to Pierce county, Washington, settling at Sumner. He purchased a forty-acre tract of school land near Alderton, which was partly cleared, and at once set himself to the task of clearing the remainder of the place. Thereon he engaged in the cultivation of hops until 1895, when he substituted these plants for garden truck planted berries and also began raising chickens. Disposing of his farm in the spring of 1898, he made his way to Atlin, Alaska, where he followed mining for two years
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
Alderton, 1878 to 1964
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Alderton post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Alderton rank for history?
Alderton is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns, #58 of 285 in Washington. 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 Alderton?
Three places: the Charles W. Orton House (listed 1983), the McMillin School (1987) and the Alderton School (1987).
How old are the homes in Alderton?
8% of Alderton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.5 points), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 1989.
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 (5), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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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