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C−History
History · Brewster

Brewster’s post office opened in 1898

More historic than 22% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Brewster was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1973. Below: 2 old photos and papers from 1911 on.

1898first post office
0on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Brewster’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Brewster began

When was Brewster founded?

1898

The Brewster post office opened in 1898, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Virginia City (1893), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

2020 census: 1,983128 years

How historic is Brewster?

C−

More historic than 22% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Brewster’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Brewster is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Brewster’s overall grade.
Founding era1898, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19405.2% of homes (±5.2) · 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 22%
NewerOlder

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 Brewster’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 range from C− to C. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.2 points). 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 Brewster’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 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Brewster’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewD.S. Gamble Mill: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Brewster came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Brewster.

Read it all →

Brewster was founded in 1896. A post office called Brewster has been in operation since 1898. The city derives its name from John Bruster, a pioneer settler.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Brewster, 1893 to 1911

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1893Post officeThe Virginia City post office opens
  3. 1898Post officeThe Brewster post office opens
  4. 1899Post officeThe Virginia City post office closes
  5. 20th century
  6. 1911In the archiveD.S. Gamble Mill
By decade

Brewster, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s2 items
D.S. Gamble Mill1911D.S. Gamble MillWarf [sic] boat and part of town1911Warf [sic] boat and part of town
1920s–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
Today4 recent
Columbia River - Brewster, Washington aerial 01A2012Columbia River - Brewster, Washington aerial 01AColumbia River - Brewster, Washington aerial 012012Columbia River - Brewster, Washington aerial 01Looks like a war zone2007Looks like a war zoneBrewster22003Brewster2
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.

D.S. Gamble Mill
Retake this viewD.S. Gamble Mill, 1911

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

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Brewster’s post office has been open since 1898. Another post office, Virginia City, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Virginia City
1893–1899
Brewster
1898–today
18901960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Virginia City
1cemetery inside Brewster
Locust Grove

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

Questions about Brewster’s history

What year was Brewster founded?

The Brewster post office opened in 1898, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Brewster rank for history?

Brewster is more historic than 22% 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.

How old are the homes in Brewster?

5% of Brewster’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.2 points), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 1973.

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 (4), the Library of Congress (2), 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.