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BHistory
History · Anacortes

Anacortes’ post office opened in 1879, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 62% of U.S. towns · #42 of 285 in Washington. What drives it

11 places in town are on the National Register, among them the W. T. PRESTON (snagboat), a National Historic Landmark, and a historic district with 3 buildings. Below: 15 old photos and papers, maps from 1892 on, and the census since 1890.

1879first post office
11on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
15old photos & papers
9famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Anacortes’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Anacortes began

When was Anacortes founded?

1879

The Anacortes post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1891. Another post office, Ship Harbor (1874), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 1,131 in 18902020 census: 17,637147 years

How historic is Anacortes?

B

More historic than 62% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Anacortes post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1891.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Anacortes’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Anacortes is more historic than 62% of U.S. towns, #42 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 Anacortes’ overall grade.
Founding era1879, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194013.1% of homes (±1.1) · typical WA town 4.3% · U.S. 8.4%B−National Register11 listings, 13 historic buildings, 7.2 per 10,000 residents · typical WA town 0.1 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 62%
NewerOlder
Washington towns of 2,500+ (285)Ahead of 86%

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 Anacortes’ 7.2 sits above most of its state (81% of Washington towns have fewer) while its 13 historic buildings outnumber those of 77% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share (±1.1 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1891 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.

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 Anacortes’ past

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

A National Historic Landmark11 places on the National Register, including W. T. PRESTON (snagboat), a National Historic Landmark.Mapped building by building5 fire insurance maps, 1892 to 1907, drew every building in Anacortes.A town in old photos15 old photos, postcards and papers, 1885–1987.Famous sons and daughtersJames Okubo, Phil Elverum and 7 more were born here.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

11 historic places in Anacortes

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.

places listed
11
National Historic Landmark
1
W. T. PRESTON (snagboat)
historic buildings protected
13
each building in a district counts
first listed
1972
W. T. PRESTON (snagboat)
Anacortes Public Library, built 1909Causland ParkCalifornia Fruit StoreGreat Northern DepotMarine Supply and Hardware ComplexLa MercedWilson HotelFraternal Order of Eagles Hall-Anacortes, built 1920Semar BlockBurrows Island Light StationW. T. PRESTON (snagboat)★
BuildingsDistrictsStructures★ landmark

Architectural styles listings

Commercial Vernacular3
Late Victorian3
Classical1
Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals1
Tudor1
Four-Masted Schooner1
★ Landmark
W. T. PRESTON (snagboat)Structure
Anacortes Public LibraryClassical · Built 1909
Causland ParkStructure
California Fruit StoreCommercial Vernacular
Great Northern DepotLate 19th and 20th Century Revivals
Marine Supply and Hardware ComplexLate Victorian
La MercedFour-Masted Schooner
Wilson HotelLate Victorian
All 11 listings
Fraternal Order of Eagles Hall-AnacortesBuilding · listed 2019Semar BlockBuilding · listed 1987Burrows Island Light StationDistrict · listed 2024

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

Every building

Anacortes, building by building, 1892–1907

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Anacortes fire insurance map, 1892, sheet 11892Sheet 1 of 6
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

By decade

Anacortes, decade by decade

7 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s–1900s9 items
Group of four unidentified children, Anacortes, Washingon, ca. 1885c. 1885Group of four unidentified children, Anacortes, Washi…Western Union surveying crew, vicinity of Anacortes,between 1890 and 19001890Western Union surveying crew, vicinity of Anacortes,b…Anacortes, Washington 18911891Anacortes, Washington 1891Anacortes, Washington, ca. 1891c. 1891Anacortes, Washington, ca. 1891Pacific Navigation Company advertisement 19001900Pacific Navigation Company advertisement 1900Seattle Mail and Herald, v. 6, no. 11, Jan. 24, 19031903Seattle Mail and Herald, v. 6, no. 11, Jan. 24, 1903Interior of a public school classroom, Anacortes, Washington, 19041904Interior of a public school classroom, Anacortes, Was…Sixth grade schoolroom interior, Anacortes, 19041904Sixth grade schoolroom interior, Anacortes, 1904Anacortes Washington, circa 19061906Anacortes Washington, circa 1906
1910s–1930s4 items
Slimers at work at Apex Fish Co., Anacortes1913Slimers at work at Apex Fish Co., AnacortesMen around steam roller and a big rock taken from Catch Basin, Anacortes, Washington, July 19141914Men around steam roller and a big rock taken from Cat…Anacortes Jun 19231923Anacortes Jun 1923Photocopy of photograph (Original print, Anacortes Museum.) Morse of San Francisco, Photographer. Date unknown. Portrai…1933Photocopy of photograph (Original print, Anacortes Mu…
1940s–1970snothing 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
1980s2 items
Barber sign, Commercial Avenue1987Barber sign, Commercial AvenueCircus Drive-In1987Circus Drive-In
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
Today6 recent
Anacortes 012007Anacortes 01Anacortes - SKAT bus2007Anacortes - SKAT busPacificMadronaGrove2006PacificMadronaGroveCypress-island-washington2006Cypress-island-washingtonAnacortesdock2006AnacortesdockISS008-E-15493 lrg2004ISS008-E-15493 lrg
The story

How Anacortes came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Anacortes.

Read it all →

Anacortes is within the historical territory of the Samish people. Anacortes was officially incorporated on May 19, 1891.

In 1877, railroad surveyor and town founder Amos Bowman moved his family to the northern tip of Fidalgo Island. Bowman began promoting the area as an obvious terminus for the Northern Pacific Railway as it was built through the north Cascades to the Pacific. Bowman established the town's first newspaper, The Northwest Enterprise, to promote his vision of the New York of the West.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Anacortes, 1874 to 1989

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1874Post officeThe Ship Harbor post office opens
  3. 1875Post officeThe Ship Harbor post office closes
  4. 1879Post officeThe Anacortes post office opens
  5. 1885In the archiveGroup of four unidentified children, Anacortes, Washingon, ca. 1885
  6. 1890In the archiveWestern Union surveying crew, vicinity of Anacortes,between 1890 and 1900
  7. 20th century
  8. 1900In the archivePacific Navigation Company advertisement 1900
  9. 1909BuiltAnacortes Public Library is built
  10. 1913In the archiveSlimers at work at Apex Fish Co., Anacortes
  11. 1917Born hereEldon Davis is born here
  12. 1920BuiltFraternal Order of Eagles Hall-Anacortes is built
  13. 1920Born hereJames Okubo is born here
  14. 1923In the archiveAnacortes Jun 1923
  15. 1933In the archivePhotocopy of photograph (Original print, Anacortes Museum.) Morse of San Francisco, Photo…
  16. 1943On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  17. 1948Born hereKathi McDonald is born here
  18. 1978Born herePhil Elverum is born here
  19. 1989LandmarkW. T. PRESTON (snagboat) named a National Historic Landmark
On the map

Anacortes on the map, 1943 to 1998

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

Anacortes on the 1943 USGS mapAnacortes on the 1951 USGS mapAnacortes on the 1973 USGS mapAnacortes on the 1998 USGS map1943Anacortes 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 Anacortes.

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.

Group of four unidentified children, Anacortes, Washingon, ca. 1885
Retake this viewGroup of four unidentified children, Anacortes, Washingon, ca. 1885, c. 1885

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Anacortes, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00014,00016,00018,000190019201940196019802000202017,637

Grew from 1,131 people in 1890 to 17,637 in 2020, more than tenfold.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Famous people

9 famous people were born in Anacortes

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

See all →
James OkuboUnited States Army Medal of Honor recipient · b. 1920
Phil ElverumAmerican musician · b. 1978
K
Kathi McDonaldAmerican singer · b. 1948
Eldon DavisArchitect · b. 1917
V
Violet KnightsAmerican actress · b. 1894
J
Jeff MorrisAmerican politician · b. 1964
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Anacortes’s post office has been open since 1879. Another post office, Ship Harbor, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Ship Harbor
1874–1875
Anacortes
1879–today
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Cap SanteSharpes Corner
1cemetery inside Anacortes
Grand View

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

Help out

Finish Anacortes’s story

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
5 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewGroup of four unidentified children, An…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Anacortes’ history

What year was Anacortes founded?

The Anacortes post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1891.

How does Anacortes rank for history?

Anacortes is more historic than 62% of U.S. towns, #42 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 Anacortes?

11 listings: 7 buildings, 1 historic district, the Burrows Island Light Station, with 3 contributing buildings, and 3 structures. 13 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Anacortes?

13% of Anacortes’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.1 points), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 1989.

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 (21), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (11), 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 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.