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History · Naselle

Naselle’s post office opened in 1877, and 28% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1938 on and the census since 2000.

1877first post office
0on the National Register
28%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Frank Smith · Public domain
Quick answers

How Naselle began

When was Naselle founded?

1877

The Naselle post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Nasel (1881), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 377 in 20002020 census: 421149 years
Founding year: the first Naselle post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Naselle’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Naselle are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Naselle’s homes were built before 1954.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Naselle’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Naselle came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Naselle.

Read it all →

The community first flourished as a logging town founded by Austin Dewing, and logging remains the dominant private industry. Settled primarily by Finnish and Scandinavian immigrants, the community has maintained this cultural heritage despite a declining percentage of traditional family names. Since 1982, Naselle has hosted a "Finnish-American Folk Festival" every other year, and in 2006 co-hosted, with the nearby city of Astoria, Oregon, the national festival FinnFest USA. A statue in honor of Dewing was erected in 1995 but later stolen.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Naselle, 1877 to 1938

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1877Post officeThe Naselle post office opens
  3. 1878Post officeThe Naselle post office closes
  4. 1881Post officeThe Nasel post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1920Post officeThe Nasel post office closes
  7. 1920Post officeThe Naselle post office opens
  8. 1938On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Naselle, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Washington State is (in 2018) battling a years-long bark-beetle infestation that is damaging or killing thousands of tr…2018Washington State is (in 2018) battling a years-long b…One of many verdant sloughs, or wetlands formed in backwater parts of bays, parts of which are often giant mud fields, …2018One of many verdant sloughs, or wetlands formed in ba…One of many verdant sloughs, or wetlands formed in backwater parts of bays, parts of which are often giant mud fields, …2018One of many verdant sloughs, or wetlands formed in ba…One of many verdant sloughs, or wetlands formed in backwater parts of bays, parts of which are often giant mud fields, …2018One of many verdant sloughs, or wetlands formed in ba…
On the map

Naselle on the map, 1938 to 1984

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

Naselle on the 1938 USGS mapNaselle on the 1949 USGS mapNaselle on the 1973 USGS mapNaselle on the 1984 USGS map1938Fort Columbia 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 Naselle.

People over time

Naselle, census by census

010020030040020002020Peak: 421

Between 377 and 421 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Naselle

Nobody well known was born in Naselle itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Holly MadisonAmerican television personality · b. 1979
K
Karl MarlantesAmerican businessman and novelist · b. 1944
Helen KleebAmerican actress · b. 1907
Donald MalarkeyAmerican army noncommissioned officer · b. 1921
C
Consuelo KanagaAmerican photographer and writer · b. 1894
A
Armand LohikoskiFinnish filmmaker · b. 1912
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Naselle had its own post office from 1877 to 1878. Another post office, Nasel, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Naselle
1877–1878
Nasel
1881–1920
Naselle
1920–today
18701950today

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

Questions about Naselle’s history

What year was Naselle founded?

The Naselle post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From the Library of Congress (4), Wikipedia, 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.