Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Chinook

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
Chinook PointChinook Point · Photo: Ian Poellet (User:Werewombat) · CC BY-SA 3.0
–Not graded
History · Chinook

Chinook’s post office opened in 1852, and 39% of its homes were built before 1940

2 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Chinook Point, a National Historic Landmark, and a historic district with 13 buildings. Below: maps from 1909 on and the census since 2000.

1852first post office
2on the National Register
39%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Chinook began

When was Chinook founded?

1852

The Chinook post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 457 in 20002020 census: 457174 years
Founding year: the first Chinook post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Chinook’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Chinook are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.A National Historic Landmark2 places on the National Register, including Chinook Point, a National Historic Landmark.Old housesHalf of Chinook’s homes were built before 1950.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Chinook’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Chinook’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the National Register

2 listings protect 13 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmark
1
Chinook Point
historic buildings protected
13
each building in a district counts
first listed
1966
Chinook Point
Chinook Point★
DistrictsSites★ landmark
★ Landmark
Chinook PointSite
All 2 listings
Fort ColumbiaDistrict · listed 2025

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

The story

How Chinook came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Chinook.

Read it all →

Chinook was the site of the first court in Pacific County in 1853, as well as the county's first salmon cannery in 1870.

Chinook was once a wealthy town based on the salmon harvest. There was no road connection to Ilwaco until 1891, when the bridge was completed across the Chinook River. Later, the Ilwaco Railway and Navigation Company built a narrow gauge railroad from Megler to Ilwaco, passing down the main street of Chinook. The railroad was dismantled in 1931.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Chinook, 1852 to 1961

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1852Post officeThe Chinook post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1938On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1961LandmarkChinook Point named a National Historic Landmark
By decade

Chinook, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Chinook, WA — Old church2014Chinook, WA — Old churchChinook, WA — Fire station2014Chinook, WA — Fire stationChinook, WA — Evangelical Lutheran Church2014Chinook, WA — Evangelical Lutheran ChurchChinook, Washington2008Chinook, Washington
On the map

Chinook on the map, 1938 to 1984

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Chinook. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Chinook on the 1938 USGS mapChinook on the 1949 USGS mapChinook on the 1973 USGS mapChinook on the 1984 USGS map1938Fort Columbia sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Chinook.

Every building

Chinook, building by building, 1909–1929

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.

Chinook fire insurance map, 1909, sheet 11909Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

People over time

Chinook, census by census

010020030040050020002020Peak: 466

Between 457 and 466 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Chinook’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Chinook

Nobody well known was born in Chinook itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Holly MadisonAmerican television personality · b. 1979
K
Karl MarlantesAmerican businessman and novelist · b. 1944
Helen KleebAmerican actress · b. 1907
Donald MalarkeyAmerican army noncommissioned officer · b. 1921
C
Consuelo KanagaAmerican photographer and writer · b. 1894
A
Armand LohikoskiFinnish filmmaker · b. 1912

Questions about Chinook’s history

What year was Chinook founded?

The Chinook post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Chinook?

Two places: the Chinook Point (listed 1966) and the Fort Columbia (2025).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (4), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, 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.