Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 42% of U.S. towns · #86 of 285 in Washington. What drives it
Most of Brush Prairie was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1977. Its Register listing is the Glenwood School. Below: maps from 1897 on and the census since 1990.
The Brush Prairie post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 42% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Brush Prairie is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns, #86 of 285 in Washington. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 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 Brush Prairie’s 4.0 sits above most of its state (73% of Washington towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 Brush Prairie’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Brush Prairie. 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 Brush Prairie.
From Wikipedia’s history of Brush Prairie.
A post office called Brush Prairie has been in operation since 1871. The community was named by Elmarine Jane Bowman for a brushy prairie and swamp on her father's homestead.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The 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.
Between 2,384 and 2,749 people in every census since 1990.
4 censuses, 1990–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Brush Prairie’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Brush Prairie post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Brush Prairie is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns, #86 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.
One place: the Glenwood School (listed 1992).
6% of Brush Prairie’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.7 points), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 1977.
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), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
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2020