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History · Brinnon

Brinnon’s post office opened in 1888, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Brinnon was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. Its Register listing is the Duckabush River Bridge. Below: 10 old photos and papers, maps from 1936 on, and the census since 2000.

1888first post office
1on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
10old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Brinnon’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Brinnon began

When was Brinnon founded?

1888

The Brinnon post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Duckabush (1891), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 803 in 20002020 census: 907138 years
Founding year: the first Brinnon post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Brinnon’s past

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

Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Brinnon, and 3 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Brinnon’s post office has been open since 1888. Another post office, Duckabush, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Brinnon
1888–today
Duckabush
1891–1926
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
DuckabushLackawanna BeachSeal Rock

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

The story

How Brinnon came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Brinnon.

Read it all →

White settlers began arriving in the area that would become Brinnon, then referred to as both Quogaboos and Ducaboos, in the 1850s. Ewell P. Brinnon, a settler who later became the namesake of the settlement, took a donation land claim in the late 1850s at the mouth of the Duckabush River. In 1891 Brinnon was established when the post office began operations in the settlement.

Camp Parsons was founded in 1919 just outside the north end of Brinnon. The camp is the oldest Boy Scout camp west of the Mississippi River.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Brinnon, 1888 to 1973

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1888Post officeThe Brinnon post office opens
  3. 1891Post officeThe Duckabush post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1912In the archiveJules First Attempt, Brinnon, Washington by Jules Bernard Dahlager, 1912, Anchorage Museum
  6. 1926Post officeThe Duckabush post office closes
  7. 1934BuiltDuckabush River Bridge is built
  8. 1936On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1973In the archiveCRAB NETTING AT BRINNON TIDE FLAT ON THE HOOD CANAL BRINGS OUT LARGE CROWDS DURING THE SP…
By decade

Brinnon, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s1 item
Jules First Attempt, Brinnon, Washington by Jules Bernard Dahlager, 1912, Anchorage Museum1912Jules First Attempt, Brinnon, Washington by Jules Ber…
1920s–1960snothing 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
1970s9 items
CRAB NETTING AT BRINNON TIDE FLAT ON THE HOOD CANAL BRINGS OUT LARGE CROWDS DURING THE SPRING AND SUMMER MINUS TIDES...…1973CRAB NETTING AT BRINNON TIDE FLAT ON THE HOOD CANAL B…CRAB NETTING AT BRINNON TIDE FLAT ON THE HOOD CANAL BRINGS OUT LARGE CROWDS DURING THE SPRING AND SUMMER MINUS TIDES...…1973CRAB NETTING AT BRINNON TIDE FLAT ON THE HOOD CANAL B…JIM POTH OF SEATTLE SHUCKS AND EATS OYSTERS ON THE PUBLIC TIDELANDS OF THE HOOD CANAL AT BRINNON, ON THE EAST COAST... …1973JIM POTH OF SEATTLE SHUCKS AND EATS OYSTERS ON THE PU…JIM POTH OF SEATTLE SHUCKS AND EATS OYSTERS ON THE PUBLIC TIDELANDS OF THE HOOD CANAL AT BRINNON, ON THE EAST COAST... …1973JIM POTH OF SEATTLE SHUCKS AND EATS OYSTERS ON THE PU…JIM POTH OF SEATTLE SHUCKS AND EATS OYSTERS ON THE PUBLIC TIDELANDS OF THE HOOD CANAL AT BRINNON, ON THE EAST COAST... …1973JIM POTH OF SEATTLE SHUCKS AND EATS OYSTERS ON THE PU…JIM POTH OF SEATTLE SHUCKS OYSTERS ON THE PUBLIC TIDELANDS OF THE HOOD CANAL AT BRINNON, ON THE EAST COAST OF THE... - …1973JIM POTH OF SEATTLE SHUCKS OYSTERS ON THE PUBLIC TIDE…OYSTERING ON THE PUBLIC TIDELANDS ON THE HOOD CANAL AT BRINNON ON THE OLYMPIC PENINSULA1973OYSTERING ON THE PUBLIC TIDELANDS ON THE HOOD CANAL A…SMALL DUNGENESS CRAB NETTED ON A TIDE FLAT NEAR BRINNON ON THE HOOD CANAL. LURE OF CRAB NETTING BRINGS OUT LARGE... - N…1973SMALL DUNGENESS CRAB NETTED ON A TIDE FLAT NEAR BRINN…TED FAGERNESSE, 7, SON OF MR. AND MRS. DON FAGERNESSE OF TACOMA, HOLDS LARGE GEODUCK CLAM FROM THE DOSEWALLIPS TIDE... …1973TED FAGERNESSE, 7, SON OF MR. AND MRS. DON FAGERNESSE…
1980s–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
Today8 recent
A pair to draw to - Flickr - brewbooks2016A pair to draw to - Flickr - brewbooksBrinnon, WA - Jackson Cove seen from Bee Mill Road 022014Brinnon, WA - Jackson Cove seen from Bee Mill Road 02Brinnon, WA - Jackson Cove seen from Bee Mill Road 012014Brinnon, WA - Jackson Cove seen from Bee Mill Road 01Brinnon, WA - Bee Mill Road 032014Brinnon, WA - Bee Mill Road 03Brinnon, WA - Bee Mill Road 022014Brinnon, WA - Bee Mill Road 02Brinnon, WA - Bee Mill Road 012014Brinnon, WA - Bee Mill Road 01Brinnon - The Cove sign2014Brinnon - The Cove signBSA Camp Parsons (WA) entrance2014BSA Camp Parsons (WA) entrance
On the map

Brinnon on the map, 1936 to 1999

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

Brinnon on the 1936 USGS mapBrinnon on the 1940 USGS mapBrinnon on the 1953 USGS mapBrinnon on the 1981 USGS mapBrinnon on the 1999 USGS map1936Point Misery sheet · 1:62,500

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

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.

Jules First Attempt, Brinnon, Washington by Jules Bernard Dahlager, 1912, Anchorage Museum
Retake this viewJules First Attempt, Brinnon, Washington by Jules Bernard Dahlager, 1912, Anchorage Museum, 1912

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Brinnon

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1982
Duckabush River Bridge
Duckabush River Bridge, built 1934
Structures
Duckabush River BridgeBuilt 1934

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Brinnon, census by census

02004006008001,00020002020Peak: 907

Between 797 and 907 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Brinnon

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

See all →
Dove CameronAmerican actress and singer-songwriter · b. 1996
Madelaine PetschAmerican actress and YouTuber · b. 1994
Mike EnziAmerican politician · b. 1944
Nathan AdrianAmerican swimmer · b. 1988
Ben GibbardAmerican singer, songwriter and guitarist · b. 1976
Marvin WilliamsAmerican basketball player · b. 1986
Help out

Finish Brinnon’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewJules First Attempt, Brinnon, Washingto…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Brinnon’s history

What year was Brinnon founded?

The Brinnon post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Brinnon?

One place: the Duckabush River Bridge (listed 1982).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (18), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.