Founding year: the first Chico post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Chico’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Chico is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns, #172 of 285 in Washington. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Chico’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 Chico’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 C− to C. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.2 points). 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 Chico’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Chico yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Chico is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. Named in 1889 for a Suquamish head chief, Chico is located on the Dyes Inlet waterfront, south of Silverdale. At the 2020 census the community had a population of 2,723.
Its first post office opened in 1889. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 2,259 to 2,723 (+21%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Chico, 1889 to 1937
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Chico post office opened in 1889, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Chico rank for history?
Chico is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns, #172 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 Chico?
5% of Chico’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.2 points), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 1987.
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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
