Dayton’s post office opened in 1872, and 36% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 87% of U.S. towns · #3 of 285 in Washington. What drives it
18 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 137 buildings between them. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1880.
The Dayton post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Touchet (1864), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 996 in 18802020 census: 2,448154 years
How historic is Dayton?
A
More historic than 87% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Dayton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Dayton’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Dayton is more historic than 87% of U.S. towns, #3 of 285 in Washington. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Dayton’s overall grade.
Few Washington towns list much on the Register (a typical Washington town has 0.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Dayton’s 559 sits above most of its state (100% of Washington towns have fewer) while its 155 historic buildings outnumber those of 92% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.5 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Dayton’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Dayton was founded in the 1860s. A town site plat was filed by Jesse N. and Elizabeth Day on November 23, 1871. The city was officially incorporated on November 10, 1881, and was named for Jesse Day.
Dayton has the oldest train depot in Washington state, dating from 1881, and the oldest continuously used courthouse, operating since 1887. The historic community of Baileysburg was situated about one mile southeast of Dayton, at the junction of North Touchet and South Touchet Roads.
In the 1980s and 1990s, the town underwent a $3 million restoration program, repairing the historic depot and historic courthouse, adding pedestrian amenities to Main Street, and creating a National Historic District.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Dayton. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1937Pomeroy sheet · 1:125,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Dayton.
Every building
Dayton, building by building, 1884–1916
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.
1884Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
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.
Retake this viewInsurance office. Dayton, Washington. The majority of the wheat farmers in this section carry crop insurance, 1941
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Dayton’s page.
Between 996 and 3,026 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Dayton’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices and burying grounds
Dayton’s post office has been open since 1872. Another post office, Touchet, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Touchet
1864–1872
Dayton
1872–today
18601940today
1cemetery inside Dayton
Dayton
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Dayton’s history
What year was Dayton founded?
The Dayton post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Dayton rank for history?
Dayton is more historic than 87% of U.S. towns, #3 of 285 in Washington. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Dayton?
18 listings: 15 buildings, among them the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company Depot-Dayton (formerly Dayton Depot) (listed 1974, the first), and 3 historic districts, the South Side Historic District, the Washington Street Historic District and the Downtown Dayton Historic District, with 137 contributing buildings. 155 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Dayton?
36% of Dayton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.5 points), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 1948.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (5), the Library of Congress (4), Wikidata (14), the National Register of Historic Places (18), 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), 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.
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