Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Concrete

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
–Not graded
History · Concrete

Concrete’s post office opened in 1907, and 35% of its homes were built before 1940

2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1912 on, and the census since 1910.

1907first post office
2on the National Register
35%homes built before 1940
11old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Concrete’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Concrete began

When was Concrete founded?

1907

The Concrete post office opened in 1907, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Baker (1892), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 945 in 19102020 census: 801119 years
Founding year: the first Concrete post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Concrete’s past

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

Old housesHalf of Concrete’s homes were built before 1960.
★ What stands out · The story

How Concrete came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Concrete.

Read it all →

The town of Concrete, Washington has undergone several incarnations, the earliest being a settlement at the northwestern junction of the Baker and Skagit Rivers, known as "Minnehaha." Amasa "Peg-Leg" Everett was one of the earliest settlers and in 1890, the townsite was platted by another settler, Magnus Miller. Shortly thereafter, a post office was established and the town name changed to "Baker." In 1905, a settlement across the Baker River came into being due to the building of the Washington Portland Cement Company and was named "Cement City." After the Superior Portland Cement Company plant was built in Baker in 1908, it was decided to merge the two towns. Inhabitants of the new community settled on the name "Concrete" and the town was so christened and officially incorporated on May 8, 1909.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Concrete, 1892 to 1952

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1892Post officeThe Baker post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1907In the archivePortland Cement Co. and Great Northern Railway bridge spanning the Baker River, Cement Ci…
  5. 1907Post officeThe Concrete post office opens
  6. 1910Post officeThe Baker post office closes
  7. 1916BuiltBaker River Bridge is built
  8. 1924In the archive150 I.W.W Kicked Out of Concrete, Wash, Pacific & Atlantic Photos, c. November 1924, from…
  9. 1952On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Concrete, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s5 items
Portland Cement Co. and Great Northern Railway bridge spanning the Baker River, Cement City, Washington, ca. 1907c. 1907Portland Cement Co. and Great Northern Railway bridge…Portland Cement Co. employees, Cement City, Washington, ca. 1907c. 1907Portland Cement Co. employees, Cement City, Washingto…Portland Cement Co. employees, Cement City, Washington, ca. 1907c. 1907Portland Cement Co. employees, Cement City, Washingto…Portland Cement Co. engine room, Cement City, Washington, ca. 1907c. 1907Portland Cement Co. engine room, Cement City, Washing…Portland Cement Co., Cement City, Washington, ca. 1907c. 1907Portland Cement Co., Cement City, Washington, ca. 1907
1920s6 items
150 I.W.W Kicked Out of Concrete, Wash, Pacific & Atlantic Photos, c. November 1924, from the Digital Commonwealth - 1 …1924150 I.W.W Kicked Out of Concrete, Wash, Pacific & Atl…Great Northern Railroad yards and associated buildings near Baker River, June 30, 19241924Great Northern Railroad yards and associated building…Warehouse at Great Northern railroad terminus near Henry Thompson Bridge, Concrete, May 29, 19241924Warehouse at Great Northern railroad terminus near He…Company houses and clubhouse on the west end of Concrete, September 28, 19251925Company houses and clubhouse on the west end of Concr…Draft tube that will go under one of the powerhouse water wheels, pictured after delivery in town next to the warehouse…1925Draft tube that will go under one of the powerhouse w…Form for water wheel draft tube, after delivery to Concrete, March 20, 19251925Form for water wheel draft tube, after delivery to Co…
1930s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
On the map

Concrete on the map, 1952 to 1989

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

Concrete on the 1952 USGS mapConcrete on the 1989 USGS map1952Lake Shannon 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 Concrete.

Every building

Concrete, building by building, 1912

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 sheet.

Concrete fire insurance map, 1912, sheet 11912Sheet 1 of 3
BrickWoodStone

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

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Portland Cement Co. and Great Northern Railway bridge spanning the Baker River, Cement City, Washington, ca. 1907
Retake this viewPortland Cement Co. and Great Northern Railway bridge spanning the Baker River, Cement City, Washington, ca. 1907, c. 1907

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Concrete’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Concrete

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1976
Baker River Bridge
Baker River Bridge, built 1916Lower Baker River Hydroelectric Power Plant
DistrictsStructures

Architectural styles listings

Semi-Gravity Arch Dam1
Baker River BridgeBuilt 1916
All 2 listings
Lower Baker River Hydroelectric Power PlantDistrict · listed 1990

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

People over time

Concrete, census by census

02004006008001,000192019401960198020002020Peak: 945

Between 573 and 945 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Concrete

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

See all →
Jim CaviezelAmerican actor · b. 1968
Bob BarkerAmerican game show host · b. 1923
C
Chad LindbergAmerican actor · b. 1976
T. J. OshieAmerican ice hockey player · b. 1986
Rick LarsenAmerican politician · b. 1965
J
John StillingsAmerican rower · b. 1955
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Concrete’s post office has been open since 1907. Another post office, Baker, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Baker
1892–1910
Concrete
1907–today
18901960today

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Concrete’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewPortland Cement Co. and Great Northern …: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Concrete’s history

What year was Concrete founded?

The Concrete post office opened in 1907, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Concrete?

Two places: the Baker River Bridge (listed 1976) and the Lower Baker River Hydroelectric Power Plant (1990).

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 (11), Wikidata (1), 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.