Friday Harbor dates to 1845, and 3 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 76% of U.S. towns · #18 of 285 in Washington. What drives it
Most of Friday Harbor was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1988. Below: 17 old photos and papers, maps from 1892 on, and the census since 1910.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1876.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Friday Harbor’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Friday Harbor is more historic than 76% of U.S. towns, #18 of 285 in Washington. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Friday Harbor’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 Friday Harbor’s 22.0 sits above most of its state (91% of Washington towns have fewer) while its 6 historic buildings outnumber those of 72% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1845.
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 (±3.2 points).
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Friday Harbor’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
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.
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.
1892Sheet 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.
Timeline
Friday Harbor, 1845 to 1972
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In 1845 the Hudson's Bay Company laid claim to San Juan Island. In 1850 they built a salmon curing station. A few years later they started a sheep farm.
The town's name originates from Joseph Poalie Friday, a native Hawaiian. Friday worked at the Puget Sound Agricultural Company's Fort Cowlitz, from 1841 to 1859–60 and later moved north to San Juan Island, raising and herding sheep around the harbor.
After the peaceful settlement obtained following the Pig War, the San Juan Islands became a separate county in 1873. Friday Harbor was named the county seat. Friday Harbor was officially incorporated on February 10, 1909. It remains the only incorporated town in the San Juan Islands.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Friday Harbor. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1954Friday Harbor 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 Friday Harbor.
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 viewCharles Landes and another unidentified man in front of tent in Friday Harbor, Washington, early 1900s, 1900
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Friday Harbor’s page.
In 1845, according to Wikidata. Friday Harbor’s post office opened in 1876, and the census of 1910 counted 400 people here.
How does Friday Harbor rank for history?
Friday Harbor is more historic than 76% of U.S. towns, #18 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 Friday Harbor?
Three places: the San Juan Island, Lime Kiln Light Station (listed 1978), the San Juan County Courthouse (1984) and the San Juan Lime Company-Cowell's (2007).
How old are the homes in Friday Harbor?
8% of Friday Harbor’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.2 points), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 1988.
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 (17), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.
1892
1900
1906
c. 1908
c. 1908
c. 1908
1909
c. 1915
c. 1915
c. 1915
c. 1915
c. 1915
c. 1915
c. 1915
c. 1915
c. 1915
1972
