Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 43% of U.S. towns · #81 of 285 in Washington. What drives it
Most of Longbranch was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1991. Its Register listing is the Longbranch School Gymnasium. Below: maps from 1937 on.
The Longbranch post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 43% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Longbranch is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns, #81 of 285 in Washington. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
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 Longbranch’s 2.2 sits above most of its state (65% of Washington towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Longbranch’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Longbranch.
In 1934, Longbranch was linked by ferry service with Steilacoom, Anderson and McNeil islands. The ferry continues in operation, but no longer connects to Longbranch.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Longbranch. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Longbranch.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Longbranch had its own post office from 1891 to 1964.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Longbranch post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Longbranch is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns, #81 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.
One place: the Longbranch School Gymnasium (listed 1987).
8% of Longbranch’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.4 points), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 1991.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
