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C−History
History · Birch Bay

Birch Bay’s post office opened in 1881

More historic than 20% of U.S. towns · #182 of 285 in Washington. What drives it

Most of Birch Bay was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1990. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1952 on, and the census since 1990.

1881first post office
0on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Birch Bay’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Birch Bay began

When was Birch Bay founded?

1881

The Birch Bay post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Hillsdale (1883), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 2,656 in 19902020 census: 10,115145 years

How historic is Birch Bay?

C−

More historic than 20% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Birch Bay’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Birch Bay is more historic than 20% of U.S. towns, #182 of 285 in Washington. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Birch Bay’s overall grade.
Founding era1881, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19403.7% of homes (±1.6) · typical WA town 4.3% · U.S. 8.4%CNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical WA town 0.1 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 20%
NewerOlder
Washington towns of 2,500+ (285)Ahead of 36%

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 Birch Bay’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.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be C−. The pre-1940 share (±1.6 points) is firm at this size. 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 Birch Bay’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Birch Bay, and 9 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Birch Bay’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Birch Bay’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewArch in redcedar tree at Birch Bay, Wha…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Birch Bay had its own post office from 1881 to 1904. Another post office, Hillsdale, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Birch Bay
1881–1904
Hillsdale
1883–1904
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Baywood Mobile Home ParkBirch Bay Circle GrangeBirch Bay Resort Mobile Home ParkCottonwood BeachEdgewater Resort and Trailer ParkHillsdaleNorth Bay Mobile Home ParkPlaza Mobile Home ParkPleasant Valley
Gone or out of use
Birch Bay Post Officepost officeBlaine Air Force Stationmilitary
1cemetery inside Birch Bay
Hillsdale

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

The story

How Birch Bay came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Birch Bay.

Read it all →

Local indigenous communities named this place Say-wak, meaning "people saved from a flood by building a raft."

Captains of Spanish ships from Acapulco and San Blas (Spanish west coast ports in Mexico) were in this area in 1791 and 1792 and named it Puerto del Garzon in 1791 by captain Jose Maria Narvaez. It was then renamed Birch Bay in 1792 by Archibald Menzies, a member of the Vancouver Expedition. Vancouver's two ships used Birch Bay as an anchorage for several days. Menzies noted a number of species of birch and gave the name to the bay.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Birch Bay, 1881 to 1952

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1881Post officeThe Birch Bay post office opens
  3. 1883Post officeThe Hillsdale post office opens
  4. 1899In the archiveArch in redcedar tree at Birch Bay, Whatcom County, Washington, 1899
  5. 20th century
  6. 1904Post officeThe Birch Bay post office closes
  7. 1904Post officeThe Hillsdale post office closes
  8. 1923In the archiveCars decorated with flags at Bloedel Donovan picnic at Birch Bay, August 11, 1923
  9. 1931In the archiveRuddy-Duker Company billboard advertising Birch Bay Washington, in BC Canada 1931
  10. 1952On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Birch Bay, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s–1930s3 items
Arch in redcedar tree at Birch Bay, Whatcom County, Washington, 18991899Arch in redcedar tree at Birch Bay, Whatcom County, W…Cars decorated with flags at Bloedel Donovan picnic at Birch Bay, August 11, 19231923Cars decorated with flags at Bloedel Donovan picnic a…Ruddy-Duker Company billboard advertising Birch Bay Washington, in BC Canada 19311931Ruddy-Duker Company billboard advertising Birch Bay W…
1940s–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
Today9 recent
Concert in Birch Bay Park2014Concert in Birch Bay ParkAlong Point Whitehorn Road2014Along Point Whitehorn RoadAlong Birch Bay Drive2014Along Birch Bay DriveThe C Shop in2012The C Shop inRocks at2012Rocks atAnother friend of mind used to manage the Birch Bay Hostle2012Another friend of mind used to manage the Birch Bay H…2010 Census Urban Cluster Reference Map for20102010 Census Urban Cluster Reference Map forBookBirchBayThanksgivingMorningByJuliusReque2008BirchBayThanksgivingMorningByJuliusRequeBirchBay Panorama by JuliusReque2008BirchBay Panorama by JuliusReque
On the map

Birch Bay on the map, 1952 to 1972

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

Birch Bay on the 1952 USGS mapBirch Bay on the 1972 USGS map1952Blaine sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Birch Bay.

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.

Arch in redcedar tree at Birch Bay, Whatcom County, Washington, 1899
Retake this viewArch in redcedar tree at Birch Bay, Whatcom County, Washington, 1899, 1899

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Birch Bay, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,0002000202010,115

Grew from 2,656 people in 1990 to 10,115 in 2020, 3 times over.

4 censuses, 1990–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Birch Bay

Nobody well known was born in Birch Bay itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
B
Billy BurkeAmerican actor, musician · b. 1966
Tommy NoonanAmerican actor, screenwriter and producer · b. 1921
Daran NorrisAmerican actor (born c. 1964) · b. 1964
Brett CooperAmerican political commentator · b. 2001
Gale BishopAmerican basketball player · b. 1922
Julie Larson-GreenCEO of the Windows division at Microsoft · b. 1962
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Blaine2 historic placesB

Questions about Birch Bay’s history

What year was Birch Bay founded?

The Birch Bay post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Birch Bay rank for history?

Birch Bay is more historic than 20% of U.S. towns, #182 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.

How old are the homes in Birch Bay?

4% of Birch Bay’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.6 points), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 1990.

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 (12), Wikipedia, 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.