Mount Vernon dates to 1870, and 2 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 46% of U.S. towns · #72 of 285 in Washington. What drives it
Most of Mount Vernon was built recently: 10% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1989. Its Register listings are the Lincoln Theater and Commercial Block and the President Hotel. Below: 14 old photos and papers, maps from 1890 on, and the census since 1890.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1877.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Mount Vernon’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Mount Vernon is more historic than 46% of U.S. towns, #72 of 285 in Washington. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Mount Vernon’s overall grade.
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 Mount Vernon’s 0.6 sits near the middle of its state (58% 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 C to B−. The pre-1940 share (±1.6 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1870.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Mount Vernon’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
1890Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Mount Vernon’s post office has been open since 1877. Another post office, Mount Baker, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Mount Vernon
1877–today
Mount Baker
1882–1887
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Colonial Mobile Home ParkEvergreen Mobile Home ParkLittle Mountain Estates Mobile Home ParkMountain View Mobile ParkSkagit Valley Mobile ManorView Mont Mobile Park
Gone or out of use
Pacific Quarrymine
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Mount Vernon
Hawthorne Memorial ParkMount Vernon
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
By decade
Mount Vernon, decade by decade
5 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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.
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.
Jasper Gates and Joseph Dwelley first settled on the banks of the Skagit River, where the city of Mount Vernon now lies, in 1870. Later on, Harrison Clothier came to the community in 1877 to teach school and join in business with a former student, E.G. English. They were later recognized as the city's founders and pioneer businessmen. A post office was established in November 1877 with Clothier appointed postmaster. The city was named after Mount Vernon, the plantation estate and resting place of George Washington. The two men laid out the city's first plan while the area was still heavily timbered.
Early in September, 1781, there was great commotion at Mount Vernon, greater than when, a few months before, small British armed vessels had come up the Potomac, plundering and destroying on every hand. 'One of these, on that occasion, hpd approached Mount Vernon with fire and sword, and Lund Washington had purchased the safety of the estate by giving the commander refreshments and supplies. For this the master of Mount Vernon rebuked him, saying, "It would have
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Mount Vernon, where he was on terms of the greatest intimacy with Washington and his family. Mr. Irving gives the following example of Lee's perfect familiarity with his chief, when nil a visit at Mount Vernon after the war: " Washington one day at table mentioned his being in want of carriage-horses, and asked Lee if he knew where he could get a pair.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Mount Vernon, 1870 to 1987
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In 1870, according to Wikidata. Mount Vernon’s post office opened in 1877, and the census of 1890 counted 770 people here.
How does Mount Vernon rank for history?
Mount Vernon is more historic than 46% of U.S. towns, #72 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 Mount Vernon?
Two places: the Lincoln Theater and Commercial Block (listed 1987) and the President Hotel (2010).
How old are the homes in Mount Vernon?
10% of Mount Vernon’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.6 points), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 1989.
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 (17), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1880
1904
1905
1908
1908
1908
1908
1908
1908
1908
1913
c. 1924
1987
1987
2006
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2003
