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History · Copalis Beach

Copalis Beach’s post office opened in 1924

Most of Copalis Beach was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1973. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1938 on, and the census since 2000.

1924first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Copalis Beach’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Copalis Beach began

When was Copalis Beach founded?

1924

The Copalis Beach post office opened in 1924, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Copalis (1890), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 489 in 20002020 census: 447102 years
Founding year: the first Copalis Beach post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
The story

How Copalis Beach came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Copalis Beach.

Read it all →

The Copalis Native Americans belong to the coastal division of the Salishan language family and historically occupied the area of Copalis River and the Pacific Coast between the mouth of Joe Creek and Grays Harbor. In 1805, Lewis and Clark estimated a population of 200 Copalis in 10 houses. The 5 individuals assigned to a "Chepalis" tribe in an enumeration given by Olson of the year 1888 probably refers to them.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Copalis Beach, 1890 to 1938

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1890Post officeThe Copalis post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1912In the archiveDamon Halferty, another man, & dog standing in front of cannery and horse-drawn wagon car…
  5. 1924In the archiveSign advertising Copalis Beach, Washington, 1924
  6. 1924Post officeThe Copalis post office closes
  7. 1924Post officeThe Copalis Beach post office opens
  8. 1938On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Copalis Beach, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s–1920s5 items
Damon Halferty, another man, & dog standing in front of cannery and horse-drawn wagon carrying cases of canned clams, C…1912Damon Halferty, another man, & dog standing in front …Women and children gathered on porch of boarding house, Copalis, ca. 1912c. 1912Women and children gathered on porch of boarding hous…Digging razor clams on the beach near Copalis, Washington, 19151915Digging razor clams on the beach near Copalis, Washin…Women at the Pioneer Packing Company Works cleaning clams, Copalis, Washington, 19151915Women at the Pioneer Packing Company Works cleaning c…Sign advertising Copalis Beach, Washington, 19241924Sign advertising Copalis Beach, Washington, 1924
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
Today1 recent
WAMap-doton-Copalis Beach2004WAMap-doton-Copalis Beach
On the map

Copalis Beach on the map, 1938 to 1983

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

Copalis Beach on the 1938 USGS mapCopalis Beach on the 1941 USGS mapCopalis Beach on the 1955 USGS mapCopalis Beach on the 1973 USGS mapCopalis Beach on the 1983 USGS map1938Moclips 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 Copalis Beach.

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.

Damon Halferty, another man, & dog standing in front of cannery and horse-drawn wagon carrying cases of canned clams, C…
Retake this viewDamon Halferty, another man, & dog standing in front of cannery and horse-drawn wagon carrying cases of canned clams, C…, 1912

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Copalis Beach, census by census

010020030040050020002020Peak: 489

Between 415 and 489 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Copalis Beach’s post office has been open since 1924. Another post office, Copalis, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Copalis
1890–1924
Copalis Beach
1924–today
18901960today

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

Help out

Finish Copalis Beach’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 viewDamon Halferty, another man, & dog stan…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Ocean CityIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Copalis Beach’s history

What year was Copalis Beach founded?

The Copalis Beach post office opened in 1924, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 (6), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.