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History · Custer

Custer’s post office opened in 1885, and 28% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1907 on and the census since 2000.

1885first post office
0on the National Register
28%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Custer began

When was Custer founded?

1885

The Custer post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 299 in 20002020 census: 518141 years
Founding year: the first Custer post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Custer’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 Custer are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19073 editions of the USGS map, 1907 to 1972. Watch Custer change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Custer’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Custer’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 map

Custer on the map, 1907 to 1972

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

Custer on the 1907 USGS mapCuster on the 1952 USGS mapCuster on the 1972 USGS map1907Blaine 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 Custer.

The story

How Custer came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Custer.

Read it all →

Custer was named in 1886 after Albert W. Custer, an early settler and the first storekeeper and postmaster of the town. Originally the town was located at the intersection of the current Valley View and Bay Roads. In 1890-1892 the town moved to the current location with the coming of the railroad.

In December 2020, a train derailment led to the spill of approximately 30,000 gallons of oil. Most of the oil burned or evaporated, but possibly up to 8,000 gallons of a type of crude oil could not be recovered. Within weeks, air quality was considered normal and soil mitigation was completed, but the testing of groundwater and ongoing cleanup has been determined to take several years.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Custer, 1885 to 1929

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1885Post officeThe Custer post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1907On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1929Born hereElla Waldek is born here
By decade

Custer, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Visited a friend in Custer, WA. who has an artspace he calls Roxbury2013Visited a friend in Custer, WA. who has an artspace h…Sunset and farm scene north of Custer, WA2013Sunset and farm scene north of Custer, WAUS 99 Looking North at2006US 99 Looking North atCuster, WA - Old State Bank2006Custer, WA - Old State BankCuster, WA - Odd Fellows Hall2006Custer, WA - Odd Fellows HallCuster, WA - Main Street2006Custer, WA - Main Street
People over time

Custer, census by census

010020030040050020002020Peak: 518

Between 299 and 518 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Ferndale1 historic placeB−

Questions about Custer’s history

What year was Custer founded?

The Custer post office opened in 1885, 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, 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) 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.