Centralia dates to 1852, and 23% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 78% of U.S. towns · #13 of 285 in Washington. What drives it
9 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 59 buildings. Below: 9 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1890.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1857.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Centralia’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Centralia is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns, #13 of 285 in Washington. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Centralia’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 Centralia’s 35.1 sits above most of its state (93% of Washington towns have fewer) while its 66 historic buildings outnumber those of 87% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1852.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A. The pre-1940 share (±2.8 points) is firm at this size.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Centralia’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every building
Centralia, building by building, 1885–1909
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1885Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
The area was first settled by the Upper Chehalis people, who had several villages at the confluence of the Skookumchuck and Chehalis rivers. The first non-indigenous settlers arrived in 1845. In 1850, J. G. Cochran and his wife Anna were led there via the Oregon Trail by their adopted son, George Washington, a free African-American. The family feared Washington would be forced into slavery if they stayed in Missouri after the passage of the Compromise of 1850. Cochran filed a donation land claim near the Borst Home in 1852 and was able to sell his claim to Washington for $6,000 because unlike the neighboring Oregon Territory, there was no restriction against passing legal ownership of land to African Americans in the newly formed Washington Territory.
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.
In 1852, according to Wikidata. Centralia’s post office opened in 1857, and the census of 1890 counted 2,026 people here.
How does Centralia rank for history?
Centralia is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns, #13 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.
What is on the National Register in Centralia?
9 listings: 6 buildings, among them the Joseph Borst House (listed 1977, the first), 1 historic district, the Centralia Downtown Historic District, with 59 contributing buildings, 1 site, and 1 object. 66 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Centralia?
23% of Centralia’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.8 points), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 1977.
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 (9), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (9), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1909
1909
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1910s
1912
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