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Point no Point Light WAPhoto: Jan Tik · CC BY 2.0
CHistory
History · Hansville

Hansville’s post office opened in 1914, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 25% of U.S. towns · #154 of 285 in Washington. What drives it

Most of Hansville was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1995. Its Register listing is the Point No Point Light Station. Below: maps from 1937 on.

1914first post office
1on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Hansville began

When was Hansville founded?

1914

The Hansville post office opened in 1914, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Point No Point (1890), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 3,410112 years

How historic is Hansville?

C

More historic than 25% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Hansville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Hansville’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hansville is more historic than 25% of U.S. towns, #154 of 285 in Washington. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Hansville’s overall grade.
Founding era1914, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 19403.0% of homes (±3.0) · typical WA town 4.3% · U.S. 8.4%C−National Register1 listing, 2 historic buildings, 5.9 per 10,000 residents · typical WA town 0.1 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 25%
NewerOlder
Washington towns of 2,500+ (285)Ahead of 46%

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 Hansville’s 5.9 sits above most of its state (77% of Washington towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% 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 (±3.0 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 Hansville’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Hansville are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Hansville’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Hansville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Hansville.

Read it all →

Point No Point was first sighted by a European settler, and given its English name, during the United States Exploring Expedition of Puget Sound in 1841. Expedition leader Charles Wilkes gave the site its name because it appears much less of a promontory at close range than it does from a distance.

On January 25, 1855, Isaac Stevens, the governor of the newly organized Washington Territory, summoned a treaty council to Point No Point, which was attended by 1,200 American Indians of the Chimakum, Klallam, and Skokomish tribes, Point No Point being a central midpoint between the tribal centers. The Point No Point Treaty was signed between the United States and the delegates of the tribes the following day.

Chapters19th century20th century

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Hansville, 1879 to 1937

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1879BuiltPoint No Point Light Station is built
  3. 1890Post officeThe Point No Point post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1914Post officeThe Point No Point post office closes
  6. 1914Post officeThe Hansville post office opens
  7. 1937On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Hansville, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Hansville, WA — Fire Station2015Hansville, WA — Fire StationDRIFTWOODKEY2015DRIFTWOODKEYCRUISESHIP2015CRUISESHIPPoint No Point Treaty plaque2014Point No Point Treaty plaqueBuck Lake County Park2011Buck Lake County ParkPt. No Point, Hansville, dramatic weather, single sailboat2010Pt. No Point, Hansville, dramatic weather, single sai…
On the map

Hansville on the map, 1937 to 1997

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

Hansville on the 1937 USGS mapHansville on the 1940 USGS mapHansville on the 1953 USGS mapHansville on the 1968 USGS mapHansville on the 1997 USGS map1937Port Gamble sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Hansville.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Hansville

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1978
Point No Point Light Station
Point No Point Light Station, built 1879
Buildings
Point No Point Light StationBuilt 1879

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Hansville

Nobody well known was born in Hansville itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
A
Andra DayAmerican singer · b. 1984
Tom McGrathAmerican voice actor, animator and film director · b. 1964
Martell WebsterAmerican basketball player · b. 1986
Corey KispertAmerican basketball player · b. 1999
Ken JenningsAmerican game show contestant, host, and writer · b. 1974
B
Brett DavernAmerican actor · b. 1983
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Hansville’s post office has been open since 1914. Another post office, Point No Point, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Point No Point
1890–1914
Hansville
1914–today
18901960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Twin Spits
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Hansville
EglonHansville

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Port Gamble Tribal CommunityIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPort Ludlow2 historic placesC+

Questions about Hansville’s history

What year was Hansville founded?

The Hansville post office opened in 1914, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Hansville rank for history?

Hansville is more historic than 25% of U.S. towns, #154 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 Hansville?

One place: the Point No Point Light Station (listed 1978).

How old are the homes in Hansville?

3% of Hansville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.0 points), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 1995.

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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.