Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 30% of U.S. towns · #134 of 285 in Washington. What drives it
Most of Edmonds was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1974. Its Register listing is the Carnegie, Andrew, Library. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1942 on, and the census since 1900.
Edmonds dates its founding to 1876 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1900.
More historic than 30% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Edmonds is more historic than 30% of U.S. towns, #134 of 285 in Washington. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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 Edmonds’ 0.2 sits near the middle of its state (55% of Washington towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Edmonds’s post office has been open since 1884. Another post office, Meadowdale, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
3 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1900First telephone office, Edmonds, Washington, 1900
c. 1903Two men working horse drawn grader outside the Hotel …
1907Great Western Lumber Co., Lake Ballinger, Aug. 19, 19…
1907Great Western Lumber Co., Lake Ballinger, Aug. 19, 19…
1907Great Western Lumber Co., Lake Ballinger, Aug. 19, 19…
1907Great Western Lumber Co., Lake Ballinger, Aug. 19, 19…
1907Great Western Lumber Co., Lake Ballinger, Aug. 19, 19…Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
From Wikipedia’s history of Edmonds.
Prior to the 19th century, the Edmonds area was inhabited by the Suquamish tribe, who foraged and fished near the flat beach forming modern-day downtown. No archaeological evidence of a permanent settlement in Edmonds has been found, despite claims that a fishing village had existed near the modern-day downtown.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Edmonds, cut from the printed page as they were published.
It fell to him also to select the name for the new office and as he was a great admirer of Senator Edmunds of Vermont, he named the place in his honor— but a mistake was made in the spelling some place along the line and the official designation was “Edmonds,” which error of an “o” for a “u,’’ was never corrected. When Chris Wilsted came to Edmonds, in 1884, he found but three families at the place, but Brackett had visions of the future, and this was at a time when railroad talk was rife, so that on August 24, 1884, he filed a plat of a townsite. This was dedicated by George E. and Etta E. Brackett, and the wis-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
MEADOWDALE—A postoffice and Great Northern Railroad station center at a point about midway between Mukilteo and Edmonds, a pleasant locality steadily developing with small farm and home settlements. NORMAN—Postoffice and flag station on the Coast line of the Great Northern Railway, eighteen miles northwest of Everett, one mile from Silvana, its banking and business center. A. A. Satrum is postmaster.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveFirst school in Edmonds, Washington, 1888
In the archiveHyner residence, Edmonds, Washington, ca. 1890In the archiveFirst telephone office, Edmonds, Washington, 1900
BuiltCarnegie, Andrew, Library is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereKen Jennings is born here
Born hereMartell Webster is born here
Born hereCorey Kispert is born hereEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Edmonds. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Edmonds.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Edmonds’ page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Grew from 474 people in 1900 to 42,853 in 2020, more than tenfold.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Edmonds’ Wikipedia page.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1876, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Edmonds’ post office opened in 1884, and the census of 1900 counted 474 people here.
Edmonds is more historic than 30% of U.S. towns, #134 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.
One place: the Carnegie, Andrew, Library (listed 1973).
3% of Edmonds’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 1974.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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 old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1891
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1898
