Issaquah dates to 1892, and 4 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 35% of U.S. towns · #110 of 285 in Washington. What drives it
Most of Issaquah was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2002. Below: maps from 1908 on and the census since 1900.
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1870.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Issaquah’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Issaquah is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns, #110 of 285 in Washington. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Issaquah’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 Issaquah’s 1.8 sits near the middle of its state (64% of Washington towns have fewer) while its 7 historic buildings outnumber those of 73% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B−. The pre-1940 share (±0.9 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1892.
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 Issaquah’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
"Issaquah" is an anglicization of the Southern Lushootseed placename /sqʷáxʷ/, meaning either "the sound of birds", "snake", or "little stream". "Squak Valley", an older name for the area, also derives from this same Native American name.
In September 1885, the then-unincorporated area was the scene of an attack on Chinese laborers who had come to pick hops from local fields. Three of the laborers died from gunshot wounds; seven attackers were indicted, but they were later acquitted or charges were dropped.
Shortly after becoming known as Squak, the town was briefly renamed to Gilman, an homage to Daniel Hunt Gilman, who brought railways to the town.
In 1892, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Issaquah’s post office opened in 1870, and the census of 1900 counted 700 people here.
How does Issaquah rank for history?
Issaquah is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns, #110 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 Issaquah?
4 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Pickering Farm (listed 1983, the first). 7 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Issaquah?
2% of Issaquah’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 2002.
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 (2), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (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.
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