Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 33% of U.S. towns · #119 of 285 in Washington. What drives it
Most of Artondale was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1988. Its Register listing is the Arletta School. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1942 on, and the census since 1990.
The Artondale post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Arletta (1893) and Cromwell (1903), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 33% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Artondale is more historic than 33% of U.S. towns, #119 of 285 in Washington. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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 Artondale’s 1.4 sits near the middle of its state (63% of Washington towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Artondale’s history is told.
Artondale had its own post office from 1878 to 1905. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Artondale yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Artondale is a census-designated place (CDP) in Pierce County, Washington, United States. The population was 13,641 at the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1878. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 12,653 to 13,641 (+8%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltArletta School is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Artondale. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Artondale.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Artondale’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Between 7,141 and 13,641 people in every census since 1990.
4 censuses, 1990–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Artondale’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Artondale itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Artondale post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Artondale is more historic than 33% of U.S. towns, #119 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.
One place: the Arletta School (listed 1987).
2% of Artondale’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.2 points), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 1988.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
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