Cheney’s post office opened in 1881, and 6 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 50% of U.S. towns · #62 of 285 in Washington. What drives it
Most of Cheney was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1991. 6 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 68 buildings between them. Below: 13 old photos and papers, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1890.
Founding year: the first Cheney post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1883.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Cheney’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cheney is more historic than 50% of U.S. towns, #62 of 285 in Washington. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Cheney’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 Cheney’s 57.8 sits above most of its state (94% of Washington towns have fewer) while its 74 historic buildings outnumber those of 87% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B+. The pre-1940 share (±1.4 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1883 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
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 Cheney’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
Cheney, building by building, 1884–1916
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.
1884Sheet 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.
By decade
Cheney, decade by decade
3 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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.
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.
Named for Boston railroad tycoon Benjamin Pierce Cheney, Cheney was officially incorporated on November 28, 1883.
The City of Cheney is located in Spokane County and is home to 13,255 residents, according to the 2020 Census. Cheney is proud of its small-town nature, which is enhanced by the diverse influence of Eastern Washington University, a public regional university with over 10,000 full-time students. The Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League held the majority of their summer training camps at EWU, from 1976 to 1985, and again from 1997 through the 2006 training camp.
Passages that mention Cheney, cut from the printed page as they were published.
An illustrated history of Spokane county, state of Washington1900 · page 55Read the page →
Read the text
the railroad reached here a syndicate of speculators, railroad men and some others, laid out a new townsite sixteen miles west of here and ga\-e it the name of a Boston capitalist, Cheney. The new town grew rapidly, and many had strong faith in its future, because it was the railroad town. Some doubtless risked their fortunes on it, believing that a town that had a
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
An illustrated history of Spokane county, state of Washington1900 · page 56Read the page →
Read the text
reasonable expectations. The influence of men in high jjlaces, the jiractical managers of the Northern Pacific Railroad. ga\'e the ri\-al town of Cheney the cream of the business for two or three years. But the enterprising Ijusiness men made the best of the situation and made a lirave fight against adverse circumstances, though they had corporation magnates to con-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Cheney, 1881 to 1995
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Cheney post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1883.
How does Cheney rank for history?
Cheney is more historic than 50% of U.S. towns, #62 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 Cheney?
6 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Sutton Barn (listed 1975, the first), and 2 historic districts, the Washington State Normal School at Cheney Historic District and the City of Cheney Historic District, with 68 contributing buildings. 74 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Cheney?
3% of Cheney’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.4 points), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 1991.
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 (16), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (6), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1884
1884
1884
c. 1884
1921
c. 1925
1995
1995
1995
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