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C−History
History · Granger

Granger dates to 1902, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 20% of U.S. towns · #184 of 285 in Washington. What drives it

Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1910 on, and the census since 1910.

1902founded
0on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Granger’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Granger began

When was Granger founded?

1902

Granger dates its founding to 1902 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1910.

First census: 453 in 19102020 census: 3,624124 years

How historic is Granger?

C−

More historic than 20% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1905.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Granger’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Granger is more historic than 20% of U.S. towns, #184 of 285 in Washington. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Granger’s overall grade.
Founding era1902, from Wikidata: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 194012.0% of homes (±7.7) · typical WA town 4.3% · U.S. 8.4%B−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical WA town 0.1 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 20%
NewerOlder
Washington towns of 2,500+ (285)Ahead of 36%

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 Granger’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (27% of Washington towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.7 points). Two sources give 1902.

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 Granger’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 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19103 editions of the USGS map, 1910 to 1979. Watch Granger change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Granger’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewMain St., Granger, Yakima County: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Granger on the map, 1910 to 1979

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

Granger on the 1910 USGS mapGranger on the 1965 USGS mapGranger on the 1979 USGS map1910Zillah 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 Granger.

The story

How Granger came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Granger.

Read it all →

Granger was founded in 1902 and named after Walter Granger, superintendent of the Washington Irrigation Company who also laid out the cities of Zillah and Sunnyside. Granger was officially incorporated on September 28, 1909. In the 1910s and 1920s, the town had several large industries including a tile and brick company and a cider mill.

The Granger Farm Workers Camp, which opened in May 1941 two miles north of the city, became known as the Crewport, Washington Farm Labor Camp. It was built by the Farm Security Administration to house Dust Bowl refugees, initially White, and later Mexican Americans, who were brought in to work in the Yakima Valley as a result of World War II labor shortages. The camp closed in the late 1960s.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Granger, 1902 to 1942

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1902
    FoundingGranger is established
  3. 1905Post officeThe Granger post office opens
  4. 1906In the archiveMain St., Granger, Yakima County
  5. 1910On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1911In the archiveGranger, Yakima County
  7. 1942In the archiveGranger, Washington. Air view of the Farm Security Administration (FSA) camp and homes. T…
By decade

Granger, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s–1940s4 items
Main St., Granger, Yakima Countyc. 1906Main St., Granger, Yakima CountyGranger, Yakima County1911Granger, Yakima CountyGranger, Yakima County1911Granger, Yakima CountyGranger, Washington. Air view of the Farm Security Administration (FSA) camp and homes. The community and school buildi…1942Granger, Washington. Air view of the Farm Security Ad…
1950s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today6 recent
KDNA studios, Granger WA, September 20152015KDNA studios, Granger WA, September 2015Granger WA, September 20152015Granger WA, September 2015Granger Welcome Sign2009Granger Welcome SignGranger Library2009Granger LibraryGranger City Hall2009Granger City HallYakima Valley Academy2007Yakima Valley Academy
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.

Main St., Granger, Yakima County
Retake this viewMain St., Granger, Yakima County, c. 1906

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Granger’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Granger, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0001920194019601980200020203,624

Grew from 453 people in 1910 to 3,624 in 2020, 8 times over.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Questions about Granger’s history

What year was Granger founded?

In 1902, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Granger’s post office opened in 1905, and the census of 1910 counted 453 people here.

How does Granger rank for history?

Granger is more historic than 20% of U.S. towns, #184 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.

How old are the homes in Granger?

12% of Granger’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.7 points), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 1976.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (9), the Library of Congress (1), Wikipedia, 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.