Most of Amboy was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1990. Its Register listing is the Amboy United Brethren Church. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1914 on, and the census since 2000.
Founding year: the first Amboy post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Amboy’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Amboy is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Amboy’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 Amboy’s 5.9 sits above most of its state (77% of Washington towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 (±3.9 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 Amboy’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Amboy was named by Amos M. Ball, who settled in the area in 1879 and whose family operated the Post Office after it was established in 1880. According to some sources, there were several settlers in the area, including Ball, with the initials A.M.B., who referred to themselves as the A.M. Boys. Reportedly, Ball named the town after that group. Another story states that the town was named after Ball's son, referred to by locals as the A.M. Boy.
A historical church known as the Amboy United Brethren Church was built in 1910 and converted into a museum in 2000.
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.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Amboy’s history
What year was Amboy founded?
The Amboy post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Amboy rank for history?
Amboy is more historic than 38% 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 Amboy?
One place: the Amboy United Brethren Church (listed 2008).
How old are the homes in Amboy?
4% of Amboy’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.9 points), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 1990.
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 (3), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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 Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
Date?
2021
2020
