The story
Read it all →How Kalama came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Kalama.
Kalama was first settled by Native Americans, particularly members of the Cowlitz Indian Tribes.
ChaptersHistoric buildings
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
CHistory
History · Kalama
Kalama’s post office opened in 1868, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 30% of U.S. towns · #129 of 285 in Washington. What drives it
Below: maps from 1896 on and the census since 1880.
1868first post office
0on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Quick answers
How Kalama began
When was Kalama founded?
1868
The Kalama post office opened in 1868, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 129 in 18802020 census: 2,959158 years
How historic is Kalama?
C
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 30% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Kalama post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Kalama’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Kalama is more historic than 30% of U.S. towns, #129 of 285 in Washington. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Kalama’s overall grade.
Founding era1868, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194011.6% of homes (±6.0) · 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 30%
NewerOlder
Washington towns of 2,500+ (285)Ahead of 55%
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 Kalama’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 C− to C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.0 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 Kalama’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Kalama’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Kalama’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Every building
Kalama, building by building, 1896–1930
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.
1896Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Kalama, 1868 to 1953
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1868Post officeThe Kalama post office opens
- 20th century
- 1916Born hereJackson Gillis is born here
- 1953
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade
Kalama, decade by decade
Today2 recent
2012
2004On the map
Kalama on the map, 1953 to 1990
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Kalama. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1953Kalama sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Kalama.
People over time
Kalama, census by census
Grew from 129 people in 1880 to 2,959 in 2020, more than tenfold.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Kalama’s Wikipedia page.
Questions about Kalama’s history
What year was Kalama founded?
The Kalama post office opened in 1868, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Kalama rank for history?
Kalama is more historic than 30% of U.S. towns, #129 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 Kalama?
12% of Kalama’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.0 points), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 2002.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (2), 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.