More historic than 15% of U.S. towns · #198 of 285 in Washington. What drives it
Most of Burien was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1966. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1949 on, and the census since 1980.
The Burien post office opened in 1919, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Sunnydale (1887), Sherwood (1892) and Three Tree (1915), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 23,189 in 19802020 census: 52,066107 years
How historic is Burien?
C−
More historic than 15% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Burien post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Burien’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Burien is more historic than 15% of U.S. towns, #198 of 285 in Washington. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Burien’s overall grade.
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 Burien’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 D to C−. The pre-1940 share (±1.3 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 Burien’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Burien had its own post office from 1919 to 1962. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Sunnydale
1887–1903
Sherwood
1892–1901
Three Tree
1915–1917
Burien
1919–1962
Seahurst
1920–today
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Beverly ParkBoulevard ParkEvansvilleFive CornersGregory HeightsHighlineIngleseaMount ViewSeahurstSeola BeachShorewoodSouthern HeightsSuburban Villa Mobile Home ParkSunnydale
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Burien’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Burien’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
European settlement in the Burien area dates to 1864, when George Ouellet (1831–1899), a French-Canadian born in Sainte-Marie-de-Beauce, Quebec, purchased his first of several land patents for homestead sites directly from a federal land office. Ouellet had first arrived in the Washington Territory at Port Madison on Bainbridge Island, off the Kitsap Peninsula, in 1858. Three years after purchasing his homestead in the Burien area, he married 14-year-old Elizabeth Cushner, who was born in the Washington Territory, and started a family. Several years later, the Ouellet family moved to the White River Valley, near Auburn.
The Burien post office opened in 1919, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Burien rank for history?
Burien is more historic than 15% of U.S. towns, #198 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 Burien?
8% of Burien’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.3 points), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 1966.
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 (3), the Library of Congress (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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