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C+History
History · Long Beach

Long Beach’s post office opened in 1887, and 20% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 40% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: 8 old photos and papers, maps from 1938 on, and the census since 1930.

1887first post office
0on the National Register
20%homes built before 1940
8old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Long Beach’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Long Beach began

When was Long Beach founded?

1887

The Long Beach post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Breakers (1905), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 396 in 19302020 census: 1,688139 years

How historic is Long Beach?

C+

More historic than 40% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Long Beach’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Long Beach is more historic than 40% of U.S. towns. 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 Long Beach’s overall grade.
Founding era1887, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194019.5% of homes (±6.3) · 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 40%
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 Long Beach’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 B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.3 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 Long Beach’s past

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

Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Long Beach, and 4 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Long Beach’s post office has been open since 1887. Another post office, Breakers, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Long Beach
1887–today
Breakers
1905–1919
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Anthonys Mobile Home CourtBreakersDriftwood Mobile Home ParkSand - Lo Trailer Park
Gone or out of use
Breakers Post Officepost office

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

The story

How Long Beach came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Long Beach.

Read it all →

Long Beach began when Henry Harrison Tinker bought a land claim from Charles E. Reed in 1880. He platted the town and called it "Tinkerville." Long Beach was officially incorporated on January 18, 1922. From 1889 to 1930, a narrow-gauge railroad called the Ilwaco Railway and Navigation Company ran up the whole peninsula.

The Long Beach depot was built between First and Second Streets on the east side of the track, which ran north along "B" Street. Two hotels were constructed near the depot by Tinker and later the Hanniman family; the latter was destroyed in a fire on December 6, 1914. The Driftwood Hotel was another common Long Beach destination.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Long Beach, 1887 to 1942

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1887Post officeThe Long Beach post office opens
  3. 1892In the archiveWagon on North Beach, Pacific County, Washington
  4. 20th century
  5. 1903In the archiveBreakers Hotel, Long Beach, WA about 1914
  6. 1905Post officeThe Breakers post office opens
  7. 1910In the archiveLong Beach, Wash. from the north, ca. 1910
  8. 1919Post officeThe Breakers post office closes
  9. 1923Born hereLawrence Ray Heckard is born here
  10. 1938On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  11. 1942In the archiveWorthington's Long View Court (NBY 430106)
By decade

Long Beach, decade by decade

4 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s–1900s5 items
Wagon on North Beach, Pacific County, Washingtonc. 1892Wagon on North Beach, Pacific County, WashingtonBreakers Hotel, Long Beach, WA about 1914c. 1903Breakers Hotel, Long Beach, WA about 1914PostcardBreakers hotelc. 1905Breakers hotelPostcardLong Beach, WA Rubberneck Row, 1909c. 1909Long Beach, WA Rubberneck Row, 1909PostcardChildren's band from Long Beach, Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition, Seattle, 19091909Children's band from Long Beach, Alaska Yukon Pacific…
1910s–1940s3 items
Long Beach, Wash. from the north, ca. 1910c. 1910Long Beach, Wash. from the north, ca. 1910Long Beach WA ca 1911c. 1911Long Beach WA ca 1911PostcardWorthington's Long View Court (NBY 430106)1942Worthington's Long View Court (NBY 430106)Postcard
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
Today10 recent
Long Beach Whale Skeleton Monument2012Long Beach Whale Skeleton MonumentFestuca rubra grass2010Festuca rubra grassChief Nahcati's grave2010Chief Nahcati's graveJake the alligator man2010Jake the alligator manSouth bend view of2009South bend view ofLong Beach, WA2008Long Beach, WALong Beach, WA - panoramio - Gabriele Giuseppini2008Long Beach, WA - panoramio - Gabriele GiuseppiniLongbeach WA coast2007Longbeach WA coastLongBeachWA2007LongBeachWALong Beach WA RR station rebuilding 3-25-20002000Long Beach WA RR station rebuilding 3-25-2000
On the map

Long Beach on the map, 1938 to 1984

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

Long Beach on the 1938 USGS mapLong Beach on the 1949 USGS mapLong Beach on the 1973 USGS mapLong Beach on the 1984 USGS map1938Cape Disappointment 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 Long Beach.

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.

Wagon on North Beach, Pacific County, Washington
Retake this viewWagon on North Beach, Pacific County, Washington, c. 1892

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Long Beach, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,6001,800194019601980200020201,688

Grew from 396 people in 1930 to 1,688 in 2020, 4 times over.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

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

Help out

Finish Long Beach’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 viewWagon on North Beach, Pacific County, W…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Long Beach’s history

What year was Long Beach founded?

The Long Beach post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Long Beach rank for history?

Long Beach is more historic than 40% 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.

How old are the homes in Long Beach?

20% of Long Beach’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.3 points), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 1974.

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), 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.