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History · Ione

Ione dates to 1894, and 19% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1915 on, and the census since 1910.

1894founded
0on the National Register
19%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Ione’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Ione began

When was Ione founded?

1894

Ione dates its founding to 1894 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1910.

First census: 634 in 19102020 census: 428132 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1896.The full story ↓

What stands out about Ione’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.Old housesHalf of Ione’s homes were built before 1960.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Ione’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Ione’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 viewIoneWashington: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Ione came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Ione.

Read it all →

Ione was first settled in 1894 by homesteader Elmer Hall. Ione was officially incorporated on January 3, 1910.

The timber industry played a major role in Ione's history. In the early 1900's, Frederick A. Blackwell's Panhandle Lumber Company opened the inland northwest's first all-electric sawmill in Ione. The timber-based economy persisted for nearly 100 years in Ione, lasting until 1995 when the Vaagen Brothers' sawmill, the last major sawmill in the county, closed down. After the mill shut down, some of the residents relocated to Colville, due to the expansion of the local saw mill site.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Ione, 1894 to 1967

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1894
    FoundingIone is established
  3. 1896Post officeThe Ione post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1915In the archiveIoneWashington
  6. 1938Born hereDon Ellersick is born here
  7. 1967On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Ione, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s1 item
IoneWashington1915IoneWashington
1920s–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
Today3 recent
Ione looking south2023Ione looking southIone looking north2023Ione looking northIone bridge and2023Ione bridge and
On the map

Ione on the map, 1967 to 1992

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

Ione on the 1967 USGS mapIone on the 1986 USGS mapIone on the 1992 USGS map1967Ione 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 Ione.

Every building

Ione, building by building, 1915

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 sheet.

Ione fire insurance map, 1915, sheet 11915Sheet 1 of 3
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

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.

IoneWashington
Retake this viewIoneWashington, 1915

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Ione, census by census

0100200300400500600700192019401960198020002020Peak: 714

Between 428 and 714 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Questions about Ione’s history

What year was Ione founded?

In 1894, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Ione’s post office opened in 1896, and the census of 1910 counted 634 people here.

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), 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.