Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 35% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: maps from 1944 on and the census since 2000.
The Big Lake post office opened in 1898, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Montebourne (1891), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 35% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Big Lake is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull 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 Big Lake’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (27% of Washington towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% 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 Big Lake’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Big Lake yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Its first post office opened in 1898. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,835 to 2,980 (+62%).
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Big Lake. 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 Big Lake.
Grew from 1,153 people in 2000 to 2,980 in 2020.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Big Lake’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Big Lake itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Big Lake had its own post office from 1898 to 1931. Another post office, Montebourne, 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.
The Big Lake post office opened in 1898, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Big Lake is more historic than 35% 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.
15% of Big Lake’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.1 points), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 1991.
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 (2), 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.
2009
2009
