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C+History
History · Kettle Falls

Kettle Falls’ post office opened in 1890, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 39% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Kettle Falls was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. Below: 15 old photos and papers, maps from 1915 on, and the census since 1900.

1890first post office
1on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
15old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Kettle Falls’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Kettle Falls began

When was Kettle Falls founded?

1890

The Kettle Falls post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1940. Another post office, Meyers Falls (1891), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 297 in 19002020 census: 1,636136 years

How historic is Kettle Falls?

C+

More historic than 39% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Kettle Falls post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1940.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Kettle Falls’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Kettle Falls is more historic than 39% of U.S. towns. 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 Kettle Falls’ overall grade.
Founding era1890, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19404.1% of homes (±3.5) · typical WA town 4.3% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register1 listing, 6.3 per 10,000 residents · typical WA town 0.1 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 39%
NewerOlder

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 Kettle Falls’ 6.3 sits above most of its state (79% of Washington towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 is a Census survey estimate (±3.5 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1940.

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 Kettle Falls’ past

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

A town in old photos15 old photos, postcards and papers, 1880–1942.
★ What stands out · By decade

Kettle Falls, decade by decade

5 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s–1920s5 items
Officer's quarters at Hudson's Bay Co., Fort Colville near1880Officer's quarters at Hudson's Bay Co., Fort Colville…FMIB 34196 Myers Falls, Coleville River1894FMIB 34196 Myers Falls, Coleville RiverLARO 28741925LARO 2874LARO 33221925LARO 3322LARO 33221925LARO 3322
1930s–1940s10 items
Rodeo and dedication of Greater Kettle Falls, Program August 4-6, 19391939Rodeo and dedication of Greater Kettle Falls, Program…LARO 26591940sLARO 2659LARO 24701940LARO 2470LARO 26991941LARO 2699LARO 26981941LARO 2698LARO 27001941LARO 2700LARO 27921941LARO 2792Marcus (1942) Washington 1-125000 topographic quadrangles (cut)1942Marcus (1942) Washington 1-125000 topographic quadran…Marcus (1942) Washington 1-125000 topographic quadrangles1942Marcus (1942) Washington 1-125000 topographic quadran…LARO 27931942LARO 2793
1950s–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
LARO 33352005LARO 3335LARO 31872005LARO 3187WAMap-doton-Kettle Falls2004WAMap-doton-Kettle Falls
The story

How Kettle Falls came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Kettle Falls.

Read it all →

The original Kettle Falls was officially incorporated on December 17, 1891, on the bank of the Columbia. Before it was flooded by the Grand Coulee Dam in 1940, city planners relocated the town at a community called Meyers Falls, near the railroad lines, helping to ensure its success as a trans-shipment point for the logging, agriculture, and paper industries. This is its present location, eight miles northwest of Colville and roughly 80 miles northwest of Spokane.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Kettle Falls, 1880 to 1948

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880In the archiveOfficer's quarters at Hudson's Bay Co., Fort Colville near
  3. 1890Post officeThe Kettle Falls post office opens
  4. 1891Post officeThe Meyers Falls post office opens
  5. 1894In the archiveFMIB 34196 Myers Falls, Coleville River
  6. 20th century
  7. 1925In the archiveLARO 2874
  8. 1939In the archiveRodeo and dedication of Greater Kettle Falls, Program August 4-6, 1939
  9. 1939Post officeThe Meyers Falls post office closes
  10. 1940In the archiveLARO 2659
  11. 1948On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
On the map

Kettle Falls on the map, 1948 to 1969

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

Kettle Falls on the 1948 USGS mapKettle Falls on the 1951 USGS mapKettle Falls on the 1969 USGS map1948Kettle Falls 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 Kettle Falls.

Every building

Kettle Falls, 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.

Kettle Falls fire insurance map, 1915, sheet 11915Sheet 1 of 2
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.

Officer's quarters at Hudson's Bay Co., Fort Colville near
Retake this viewOfficer's quarters at Hudson's Bay Co., Fort Colville near, 1880

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Kettle Falls

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1995
Meyers Falls Power Plant Historic District
Meyers Falls Power Plant Historic District
Districts

Architectural styles listings

Industrial1
Bungaloid1
All 1 listings
Meyers Falls Power Plant Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1995

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

People over time

Kettle Falls, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,6001,80019001920194019601980200020201,636

Grew from 297 people in 1900 to 1,636 in 2020, 5 times over.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Kettle Falls

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

See all →
C
Charles DayAmerican rower · b. 1914
ReniéAmerican costume designer (1901−1992) · b. 1901
J
James FargoFilm/television director · b. 1938
Nathan SawayaAmerican artist · b. 1973
Allen StoneAmerican soul musician · b. 1986
R
Roy WilliamsAmerican animator · b. 1907
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Kettle Falls’s post office has been open since 1890. Another post office, Meyers Falls, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Kettle Falls
1890–today
Meyers Falls
1891–1939
18901960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Lindseys Mobile Home ParkYellow Pine Mobile Home Park
1cemetery inside Kettle Falls
Meyers Falls

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

Help out

Finish Kettle Falls’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewOfficer's quarters at Hudson's Bay Co.,…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Kettle Falls’ history

What year was Kettle Falls founded?

The Kettle Falls post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1940.

How does Kettle Falls rank for history?

Kettle Falls is more historic than 39% of U.S. towns. 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 Kettle Falls?

One place: the Meyers Falls Power Plant Historic District (listed 1995).

How old are the homes in Kettle Falls?

4% of Kettle Falls’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.5 points), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 1980.

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 (18), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.