Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 56% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Full Gospel Church. Below: 1 old photo or paper from 1906 on and old-book passages.
Asotin dates its founding to 1878 (Wikidata). Its post office opened in 1878.
More historic than 56% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Asotin is more historic than 56% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age 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 Asotin’s 9.8 sits above most of its state (85% of Washington towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Asotin’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Asotin.
The name Asotin is derived from a Nez Perce language term meaning "eel creek." It was founded in 1878 by Alexander Sumpster. A river ferry stop at Asotin was set up by 1881.
In 1931, Herbert Niccolls Jr., a 12-year-old, was convicted of the murder of the Asotin County sheriff.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Asotin, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Friday evening. May 25, 1888, the citizens of Asotin met in Baumeister's hall for the purpose of making arrangements for the incorporation of Asotin, and a committee was appointed for the purpose of forming the boundary lines and drafting and circulating the proper petition for the property owners to sign. The papers incorporating the town of
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Section 6. That the county seat of the said county of Asotin is hereby temporarily located at Asotin, which in this connection shall mean the town of Asotin, or Asotin City, at which place it shall remain until located permanently elsewhere in said county by a majority of qualified electors thereof, and for which a vote shall be taken at the next general election, viz : on the Tuesday next following the first Monday in
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveMountain Gem, Hannaford and GeromeOne decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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 Asotin’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.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Asotin’s post office has been open since 1884. Another post office, Assotin, 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).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1878, according to Wikidata. Asotin’s post office opened in 1878.
Asotin is more historic than 56% 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.
One place: the Full Gospel Church (listed 1972).
13% of Asotin’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.7 points), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 1975.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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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