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History · Alger

Alger’s post office opened in 1912

Most of Alger was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1984. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1918 on, and the census since 2000.

1912first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Alger’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Alger began

When was Alger founded?

1912

The Alger post office opened in 1912, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 89 in 20002020 census: 507114 years
Founding year: the first Alger post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Alger’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19184 editions of the USGS map, 1918 to 1994. Watch Alger change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Alger’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Alger’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewSteam locomotive in the snow in Alger, …: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Alger on the map, 1918 to 1994

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

Alger on the 1918 USGS mapAlger on the 1952 USGS mapAlger on the 1968 USGS mapAlger on the 1994 USGS map1918Samish Lake 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 Alger.

The story so far

Alger, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Alger yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Alger is a census-designated place (CDP) in Skagit County, Washington, United States. The population was 507 at the 2020 census. It is included in the Mount Vernon–Anacortes, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area. Alger is located along Old Highway 99 North Road. It is near the midway point of the route between Seattle and Vancouver, 76 miles from the former and 66 miles from the latter. A former logging camp, Alger is now a working-class exurban community and home to the Skagit Speedway. The nearby Skagit Speedway has been operating for 50 years and attracting racers from all over the Northwest and West; Kasey Kahne raced there before becoming a NASCAR Sprint Cup driver. It is a 1/3 mil…

Its first post office opened in 1912. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 403 to 507 (+26%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Alger, 1912 to 1921

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1912Post officeThe Alger post office opens
  3. 1913In the archiveSteam locomotive in the snow in Alger, unidentified Bloedel-Donovan lumber operation, Jan…
  4. 1918On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1921Post officeThe Alger post office closes
By decade

Alger, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s2 items
Steam locomotive in the snow in Alger, unidentified Bloedel-Donovan lumber operation, January 28, 19131913Steam locomotive in the snow in Alger, unidentified B…Geraldine Goodheart Donovan with dog standing on rail tracks in Alger, unidentified Bloedel-Donovan lumber operation, M…1916Geraldine Goodheart Donovan with dog standing on rail…
1920s–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
Today1 recent
WAMap-doton-Alger2004WAMap-doton-Alger
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.

Steam locomotive in the snow in Alger, unidentified Bloedel-Donovan lumber operation, January 28, 1913
Retake this viewSteam locomotive in the snow in Alger, unidentified Bloedel-Donovan lumber operation, January 28, 1913, 1913

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Alger, census by census

010020030040050020002020507

Grew from 89 people in 2000 to 507 in 2020, 5 times over.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Alger had its own post office from 1912 to 1921.

Alger
1912–1921
19101970today

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

Questions about Alger’s history

What year was Alger founded?

The Alger post office opened in 1912, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (3), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.