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C−History
History · Maple Valley

Maple Valley’s post office opened in 1885, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 24% of U.S. towns · #158 of 285 in Washington. What drives it

Most of Maple Valley was built recently: 0.4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2001. Its Register listing is the Gaffney's Lake Wilderness Lodge. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1949 on, and the census since 1990.

1885first post office
1on the National Register
0.4%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Maple Valley’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Maple Valley began

When was Maple Valley founded?

1885

The Maple Valley post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1997.

First census: 1,211 in 19902020 census: 28,013141 years

How historic is Maple Valley?

C−

More historic than 24% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Maple Valley post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1997.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Maple Valley’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Maple Valley is more historic than 24% of U.S. towns, #158 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 Maple Valley’s overall grade.
Founding era1885, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19400.4% of homes (±0.4) · typical WA town 4.3% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register1 listing, 0.4 per 10,000 residents · typical WA town 0.1 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 24%
NewerOlder
Washington towns of 2,500+ (285)Ahead of 45%

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 Maple Valley’s 0.4 sits near the middle of its state (56% 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 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; Wikidata gives 1997.

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 Maple Valley’s past

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

Lost villages6 hamlets and corners are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Old corners

Maple Valley’s post office has been open since 1885.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Cherokee Bay ParkDanvilleHenrysSummitWildernessWilderness Village

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

The story

How Maple Valley came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Maple Valley.

Read it all →

The area was settled in 1879 by three men who were improving a trail and brought their families in. When a name for a future community was proposed, the names Vine Maple Valley and Maple Ridge were suggested. A vote was taken by writing the names on slips of paper and placing them in a hat. Vine Maple Valley won by 2/3, but the word "Vine" was later cut by the post office because it made the name too long.

The town's early history mainly had to do with coal, lumber milling to build homes, and a railroad that ran through town. Coal was brought in from Black Diamond to the south, but the town itself also mined coal from Cedar Mountain. The mine was used as late as 1947.

ChaptersIncorporation and recent development

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Maple Valley, 1885 to 1996

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1885Post officeThe Maple Valley post office opens
  3. 1891In the archiveStudents and teachers at Maple Valley School, ca. 1891
  4. 20th century
  5. 1911In the archive"The Olympian" train (Chicago, Milwaukee & Puget Sound Railroad Number 16), 2 miles east …
  6. 1949On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1950BuiltGaffney's Lake Wilderness Lodge is built
  8. 1979Born hereTaylor Matheny is born here
  9. 1988Born hereNikolas Besagno is born here
  10. 1996Born hereZan Fiskum is born here
By decade

Maple Valley, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s–1910s4 items
Students and teachers at Maple Valley School, ca. 1891c. 1891Students and teachers at Maple Valley School, ca. 1891"The Olympian" train (Chicago, Milwaukee & Puget Sound Railroad Number 16), 2 miles east of Maple Valley, Washington, a…1911"The Olympian" train (Chicago, Milwaukee & Puget Soun…Columbia & Puget Sound Railroad Bridge #13 damaged by flood, Maple Valley, Washington, November 19111911Columbia & Puget Sound Railroad Bridge #13 damaged by…Possible employees of Maple Valley Railroad Station, Maple Valley, Washington, 1910sc. 1915Possible employees of Maple Valley Railroad Station, …
1920s–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
Date unknown1 to date
Maple Valley in King CountyDate?Maple Valley in King County
Today3 recent
Lake Francis Park (2022-01-26)2022Lake Francis Park (2022-01-26)Lake Francis Park (2022-01-26) sign2022Lake Francis Park (2022-01-26) signLake Wilderness in2019Lake Wilderness in
On the map

Maple Valley on the map, 1949 to 1995

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

Maple Valley on the 1949 USGS mapMaple Valley on the 1968 USGS mapMaple Valley on the 1973 USGS mapMaple Valley on the 1983 USGS mapMaple Valley on the 1995 USGS map1949Maple Valley sheet · 1:24,000

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

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.

Students and teachers at Maple Valley School, ca. 1891
Retake this viewStudents and teachers at Maple Valley School, ca. 1891, c. 1891

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Maple Valley

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
2003
Gaffney's Lake Wilderness Lodge
Gaffney's Lake Wilderness Lodge, built 1950
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Pacific Northwest Regional Style1
Gaffney's Lake Wilderness LodgePacific Northwest Regional Style · Built 1950

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

People over time

Maple Valley, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,0002000202028,013

Grew from 1,211 people in 1990 to 28,013 in 2020, more than tenfold.

4 censuses, 1990–2020.

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

Famous people

4 famous people were born in Maple Valley

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
N
Nikolas BesagnoAmerican soccer player · b. 1988
T
Taylor MathenyAmerican professional wrestler · b. 1979
P
Paul GravesAmerican lawyer and politician
Z
Zan FiskumAmerican folk-pop singer-songwriter · b. 1996
Help out

Start Maple Valley’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewStudents and teachers at Maple Valley S…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

HobartIts storyDLake Morton-BerrydaleIts storyC−Covington1 historic placeCKent1 historic placeC

Questions about Maple Valley’s history

What year was Maple Valley founded?

The Maple Valley post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1997.

How does Maple Valley rank for history?

Maple Valley is more historic than 24% of U.S. towns, #158 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 Maple Valley?

One place: the Gaffney's Lake Wilderness Lodge (listed 2003).

How old are the homes in Maple Valley?

0.4% of Maple Valley’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 2001.

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