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Electric City, WashingtonPhoto: Ken Lund · CC BY-SA 2.0
–Not graded
History · Electric City

Electric City’s post office opened in 1935, and 28% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1968 on, and the census since 1960.

1935first post office
0on the National Register
28%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Electric City’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Electric City began

When was Electric City founded?

1935

The Electric City post office opened in 1935, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1950. Another post office, Osborne (1935), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 404 in 19602020 census: 95691 years
Founding year: the first Electric City post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1950.The full story ↓

What stands out about Electric City’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Electric City’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Electric City’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewPanoramic view from bluff south of Gran…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Electric City came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Electric City.

Read it all →

Electric City was established in 1934 as one of several settlements around the future site of the Grand Coulee Dam that aimed to house construction workers. President Franklin D. Roosevelt stopped at Electric City during his tour of the dam site later that year; by August, 500 lots had been platted for the town. Some of the earliest buildings in Electric City had been relocated from nearby Osborne, which was inundated by Franklin D. Roosevelt Lake following the dam's completion. A post office was created for the settlement in June 1935 and was followed by a school a year later.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Electric City, 1935 to 1996

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1935Post officeThe Electric City post office opens
  3. 1935Post officeThe Osborne post office opens
  4. 1950Post officeThe Osborne post office closes
  5. 1967Born hereDennis Oppenheim is born here
  6. 1968On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1996In the archivePanoramic view from bluff south of Grand Coulee Dam; this segment of the panorama shows B…
By decade

Electric City, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1990s1 item
Panoramic view from bluff south of Grand Coulee Dam; this segment of the panorama shows Banks Lake and part of Electric…1996Panoramic view from bluff south of Grand Coulee Dam; …
Today3 recent
Electric City, Washington2020Electric City, WashingtonFranklin Delano Roosevelt Lake, WA2009Franklin Delano Roosevelt Lake, WAWAMap-doton-Electric City2004WAMap-doton-Electric City
On the map

Electric City on the map, 1968 to 1977

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

Electric City on the 1968 USGS mapElectric City on the 1977 USGS map1968Electric City 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 Electric City.

People over time

Electric City, census by census

02004006008001,0001960198020002020Peak: 968

Between 404 and 968 people in every census since 1960.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Electric City’s post office has been open since 1935. Another post office, Osborne, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Electric City
1935–today
Osborne
1935–1950
19301980today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Osborne

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

Questions about Electric City’s history

What year was Electric City founded?

The Electric City post office opened in 1935, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1950.

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 (4), 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.