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C−History
History · Naches

Naches’ post office opened in 1908, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 18% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: 7 old photos and papers, maps from 1899 on, and the census since 1930.

1908first post office
0on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
7old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Naches’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Naches began

When was Naches founded?

1908

The Naches post office opened in 1908, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 423 in 19302020 census: 1,084118 years

How historic is Naches?

C−

More historic than 18% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Naches’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Naches is more historic than 18% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Naches’ overall grade.
Founding era1908, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 194010.7% of homes (±6.0) · 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 18%
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 Naches’ 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 D to C. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.0 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 Naches’ past

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

On the map since 18994 editions of the USGS map, 1899 to 1978. Watch Naches change.Mystery photos7 old photos have no date. Neighbors can guess the decade.
★ What stands out · On the map

Naches on the map, 1899 to 1978

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

Naches on the 1899 USGS mapNaches on the 1901 USGS mapNaches on the 1958 USGS mapNaches on the 1978 USGS map1899Ellensburg 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 Naches.

Help out

Start Naches’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo7 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewNaches Ranger Station Complex, State Hi…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Naches came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Naches.

Read it all →

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, early settlers like Henry Sedge played a role in the development of the Naches and Nile communities. Sedge was appointed postmaster of Nile and was involved in education and community events, including Memorial Day programs at the local schoolhouse.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Naches, 1899 to 1946

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1899On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 20th century
  4. 1908Post officeThe Naches post office opens
  5. 1946Born hereHarry Jefferson is born here
By decade

Naches, decade by decade

Date unknown7 to date
Naches Ranger Station Complex, State Highway 410, South side, Wenatchee National ForestDate?Naches Ranger Station Complex, State Highway 410, Sou…Naches Ranger Station, Building No. 1120, State Highway 410, Wenatchee National ForestDate?Naches Ranger Station, Building No. 1120, State Highw…Naches Ranger Station, Building No. 1526, State Highway 410, South side, Wenatchee National ForestDate?Naches Ranger Station, Building No. 1526, State Highw…Naches Ranger Station, Building No. 1527, State Highway 410, South side, Wenatchee National ForestDate?Naches Ranger Station, Building No. 1527, State Highw…Naches Ranger Station, Building No. 1029, State Highway 410, South side, Wenatchee National ForestDate?Naches Ranger Station, Building No. 1029, State Highw…Naches Ranger Station, Building No. 1028, State Highway 410, South side, Wenatchee National ForestDate?Naches Ranger Station, Building No. 1028, State Highw…Naches Ranger Station, Building No. 1320, State Highway 410, South side, Wenatchee National ForestDate?Naches Ranger Station, Building No. 1320, State Highw…
Today23 recent
Henry Sedges Headstone2025Henry Sedges HeadstoneWelcome (6-24-24) 77062024Welcome (6-24-24) 7706Town from the east 80722024Town from the east 8072School Adm 77152024School Adm 7715Mason bldg 77092024Mason bldg 7709Entering Naches (6-24-24) 77012024Entering Naches (6-24-24) 7701Corner store 7(6-24-24) 7082024Corner store 7(6-24-24) 708Chinook Ctr 77022024Chinook Ctr 7702Ace 77032024Ace 7703Town Hall2023Town HallNaches, Washington 052023Naches, Washington 05Naches, Washington 032023Naches, Washington 03Naches, Washington 022023Naches, Washington 02Naches, Washington 012023Naches, Washington 01Naches Church of the Nazarene2023Naches Church of the NazareneTieton River Bluffs - Pacific Northwest2015Tieton River Bluffs - Pacific NorthwestTieton River2015Tieton RiverNaches WA, November 20152015Naches WA, November 2015Flowers in Naches, WA2013Flowers in Naches, WANorth Yakima & Valley RR depot2011North Yakima & Valley RR depotJust west of Nachez, WA2010Just west of Nachez, WARail banking in2007Rail banking inWAMap-doton-Naches2004WAMap-doton-Naches
Every building

Naches, building by building, 1915

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 sheet.

Naches fire insurance map, 1915, sheet 11915Sheet 1 of 1
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

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

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.

Naches Ranger Station Complex, State Highway 410, South side, Wenatchee National Forest
Retake this viewNaches Ranger Station Complex, State Highway 410, South side, Wenatchee National Forest

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Naches, census by census

02004006008001,0001,200194019601980200020201,084

Grew from 423 people in 1930 to 1,084 in 2020.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

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

Questions about Naches’ history

What year was Naches founded?

The Naches post office opened in 1908, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Naches rank for history?

Naches is more historic than 18% 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 Naches?

11% of Naches’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.0 points), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 1978.

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 (23), the Library of Congress (7), 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 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.