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History · Dash Point

Dash Point’s post office opened in 1912, and 50% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1949 on.

1912first post office
0on the National Register
50%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Dash Point began

When was Dash Point founded?

1912

The Dash Point post office opened in 1912, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 963114 years
Founding year: the first Dash Point post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Dash Point’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 Dash Point are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Dash Point’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Dash Point’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Dash Point’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
The story

How Dash Point came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Dash Point.

Read it all →

Prior to being known as Dash Point the area was known as lson Landing, Fairview Beach, and Woodstock Beach. The origin of the name Dash Point is unclear. The area was named Dash Point on official maps by 1877.

The land was sold by the McLeod family to the State of Washington in the late 1940s for use as a park. The park was dedicated and developed in 1962 for the Seattle World's Fair.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Dash Point, 1912 to 1962

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1912Post officeThe Dash Point post office opens
  3. 1949On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 1962Post officeThe Dash Point post office closes
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Dash Point on the map, 1949 to 1994

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

Dash Point on the 1949 USGS mapDash Point on the 1961 USGS mapDash Point on the 1973 USGS mapDash Point on the 1981 USGS mapDash Point on the 1994 USGS map1949Tacoma North sheet · 1:24,000

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Dash Point

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

See all →
Bing CrosbyAmerican singer and actor · b. 1903
Frank HerbertAmerican writer · b. 1920
Cam GigandetAmerican actor · b. 1982
Dyan CannonAmerican film and television actress, director,… · b. 1937
Richard BrautiganAmerican novelist, poet, and short story writer · b. 1935
Philip AbelsonUS physicist, editor of the journal Science, an… · b. 1913
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Dash Point had its own post office from 1912 to 1962.

Dash Point
1912–1962
19101970today

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Tacoma92 historic placesA−Browns Point1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Dash Point’s history

What year was Dash Point founded?

The Dash Point post office opened in 1912, 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 Wikipedia, 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.