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History · Keller

Keller’s post office opened in 1899

Most of Keller was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1974. Below: maps from 1952 on.

1899first post office
0on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Keller began

When was Keller founded?

1899

The Keller post office opened in 1899, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 229127 years
Founding year: the first Keller post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Keller’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 Keller are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
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Start Keller’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Keller came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Keller.

Read it all →

The town is located in the valley of the Sanpoil River, and was founded in 1898 by Baby Ray Peone, a local fisherman. The town was located in the area known as "God's Country" (or "Old Keller" to the locals). At its height the town had an estimated population of 3,500 and even featured a minor league baseball team and red light district. The town was moved several times beginning in 1940 due to backwatering from the Grand Coulee Dam which flooded its previous locations, and is now located 18 miles (29 km) north of the Columbia River. The series of moves seriously reduced its population over time.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Keller, decade by decade

Today2 recent
Colville Indian Reservation2023Colville Indian ReservationWild Fire Moon2021Wild Fire Moon
On the map

Keller on the map, 1952 to 1989

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

Keller on the 1952 USGS mapKeller on the 1989 USGS map1952Keller 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 Keller.

Places that used to be

Places now gone

Keller’s post office has been open since 1899.

Gone or out of use
Meadow Creek Minemine

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

Questions about Keller’s history

What year was Keller founded?

The Keller post office opened in 1899, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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 (2), 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.