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CHistory
History · Lacey

Lacey’s post office opened in 1891, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 28% of U.S. towns · #142 of 285 in Washington. What drives it

Most of Lacey was built recently: 0.9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1996. Its Register listings are the Long Lake Recreation Hall and the Chamber's Prairie-Ruddell Pioneer Cemetery. Below: maps from 1937 on and the census since 1960.

1891first post office
2on the National Register
0.9%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Lacey began

When was Lacey founded?

1891

The Lacey post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 6,630 in 19602020 census: 53,526135 years

How historic is Lacey?

C

More historic than 28% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Lacey’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lacey is more historic than 28% of U.S. towns, #142 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 Lacey’s overall grade.
Founding era1891, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19400.9% of homes (±0.4) · typical WA town 4.3% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register2 listings, 0.3 per 10,000 residents · typical WA town 0.1 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 28%
NewerOlder
Washington towns of 2,500+ (285)Ahead of 50%

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 Lacey’s 0.3 sits near the middle of its state (56% of Washington towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C+. The pre-1940 share (±0.4 points) is firm at this size. 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 Lacey’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 Lacey are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lacey’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Lacey came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lacey.

Read it all →

Lacey was originally called Woodland after settlers Isaac and Catherine Wood, who claimed land there in 1853. By 1891, the railroad had come to the community of Woodland and the residents decided it was time to apply for a post office. The request was denied because there was already a town called Woodland on the Columbia River. The name Lacey was chosen for the new post office application, presumably after O. C. Lacey, a Justice of the Peace in Olympia. The small settlements of Woodland and Chambers Prairie consolidated into Lacey in the 1950s.

ChaptersEarly settlement20th century21st century

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Lacey, 1891 to 1972

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1891Post officeThe Lacey post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1933BuiltLong Lake Recreation Hall is built
  5. 1937On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1965Post officeThe Lacey post office closes
  7. 1972Born hereTom Dutra is born here
By decade

Lacey, decade by decade

Today13 recent
Lacey School Memorial 012026Lacey School Memorial 01Kluh Clock (Lacey, Washington) 012026Kluh Clock (Lacey, Washington) 01Southeast Lacey, Washington, August 16, 20232023Southeast Lacey, Washington, August 16, 20232023 Mushroom Farm Fire20232023 Mushroom Farm FireSt. Martin's Abbey2021St. Martin's AbbeyTargetDCWS2019TargetDCWSCabelas Megastore - Flickr - brewbooks2011Cabelas Megastore - Flickr - brewbooksThis Image also appears in 'Amtrak train Routes'2010This Image also appears in 'Amtrak train Routes'Olympia Lacey Centennial Station WA2010Olympia Lacey Centennial Station WALacey Washington Target Import Warehouse2010Lacey Washington Target Import Warehouse2010 Census Urbanized Area Reference Map for Olympia--Lacey, Washington20102010 Census Urbanized Area Reference Map for Olympia-…BookUntitled photo2008Untitled photoNorth Thurston High School building2005North Thurston High School building
On the map

Lacey on the map, 1937 to 1994

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

Lacey on the 1937 USGS mapLacey on the 1949 USGS mapLacey on the 1959 USGS mapLacey on the 1968 USGS mapLacey on the 1973 USGS mapLacey on the 1981 USGS mapLacey on the 1994 USGS map1937Olympia 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 Lacey.

On the National Register

2 historic places in Lacey

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1988
Long Lake Recreation Hall
Long Lake Recreation Hall, built 1933Chamber's Prairie-Ruddell Pioneer Cemetery
BuildingsSites

Architectural styles listings

Rustic1
Long Lake Recreation HallRustic · Built 1933
Chamber's Prairie-Ruddell Pioneer CemeterySite

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

People over time

Lacey, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,00035,00040,00045,00050,00055,000196019802000202053,526

Grew from 6,630 people in 1960 to 53,526 in 2020, 8 times over.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Lacey had its own post office from 1891 to 1965.

Lacey
1891–1965
18901960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Mushroom Corner
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Lacey
Ruddell PioneerSaint Martins AbbeyWoodlawn

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Olympia38 historic placesB+TanglewildeIts storyD

Questions about Lacey’s history

What year was Lacey founded?

The Lacey post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Lacey rank for history?

Lacey is more historic than 28% of U.S. towns, #142 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 Lacey?

Two places: the Long Lake Recreation Hall (listed 1988) and the Chamber's Prairie-Ruddell Pioneer Cemetery (1995).

How old are the homes in Lacey?

0.9% of Lacey’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 1996.

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 (13), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (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) 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.