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History · Lind

Lind dates to 1888, and 48% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1902 on, and the census since 1910.

1888founded
0on the National Register
48%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Lind’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Lind began

When was Lind founded?

1888

Lind dates its founding to 1888 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1910.

First census: 831 in 19102020 census: 535138 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1889.The full story ↓

What stands out about Lind’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Lind’s homes were built before 1941.Mapped building by building3 fire insurance maps, 1902 to 1909, drew every building in Lind.On the map since 19163 editions of the USGS map, 1916 to 1983. Watch Lind change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lind’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewLind, Washington panorama (1906): stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Lind came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lind.

Read it all →

Lind was first settled in 1888 on a relatively barren area along the Northern Pacific Railway's main line by the Neilson Brothers, James and Dugal. The site had previously been selected in 1881 for a station (an old boxcar) and section house and was named Lind by the railroad although the exact origin of that name has been lost. In the autumn of 1888 the Neilson Brothers built the first Lind residence and two years later they built and stocked a store and resumed postal service which until then had been processed in Ritzville and tossed off in town by passing trains. James Neilson became the first postmaster. The first school opened in 1889 with six students in attendance. The Neilson Brothers platted the town site on June 7, 1890, which consisted of only four square blocks. The Panic of 1893 would stave off any further development of the town site until the turn of the century.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Every building

Lind, building by building, 1902–1909

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.

Lind fire insurance map, 1902, sheet 11902Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Lind, 1888 to 1916

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1888
    FoundingLind is established
  3. 1889Post officeThe Lind post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1906In the archiveLind, Washington panorama (1906)
  6. 1916On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Lind, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s1 item
Lind, Washington panorama (1906)1906Lind, Washington panorama (1906)
1910s–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
Today1 recent
Noctilucent Clouds - Flickr - couleewinds2007Noctilucent Clouds - Flickr - couleewinds
On the map

Lind on the map, 1916 to 1983

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

Lind on the 1916 USGS mapLind on the 1970 USGS mapLind on the 1983 USGS map1916Connell sheet · 1:125,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Lind.

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.

Lind, Washington panorama (1906)
Retake this viewLind, Washington panorama (1906), 1906

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Lind, census by census

0200400600800192019401960198020002020Peak: 831

Between 472 and 831 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Lind

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

See all →
Clarence GilyardAmerican actor · b. 1955
Pierson FodéAmerican actor and model · b. 1991
ValkyraeAmerican video game streamer · b. 1992
Davey RichardsAmerican professional wrestler · b. 1983
Joseph J. TysonAmerican Catholic prelate · b. 1957
Matt CedeñoAmerican actor and model · b. 1973

Questions about Lind’s history

What year was Lind founded?

In 1888, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Lind’s post office opened in 1889, and the census of 1910 counted 831 people here.

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (2), 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.