Prosser’s post office opened in 1884, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 56% of U.S. towns · #51 of 285 in Washington. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Benton County Courthouse, the J. W. Carey House and the US Post Office-Prosser Main. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1905 on, and the census since 1900.
Founding year: the first Prosser post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Prosser’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Prosser is more historic than 56% of U.S. towns, #51 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 Prosser’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 Prosser’s 4.8 sits above most of its state (76% of Washington towns have fewer) while its 3 listings outnumber those of 65% 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 is a Census survey estimate (±5.7 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 Prosser’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.
Prosser was long home to Native Americans who lived and fished along the river. They called the area "Táptat" (alternatively spelled Tap-tat, Top tut, etc.), which translates to "long hair in front, short hair on the sides", referring to a style of headdress.
Colonel William Farrand Prosser first surveyed the area in 1879, then claimed homestead in 1882. The Northern Pacific Railroad laid tracks through the area two years later. A town plat was filed by Colonel Prosser in 1885, and in 1886 he was elected Yakima County Auditor. He moved to North Yakima to attend to these duties, and never returned to the town that he founded.
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.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Prosser, census by census
Grew from 229 people in 1900 to 6,062 in 2020, more than tenfold.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Prosser’s Wikipedia page.
Questions about Prosser’s history
What year was Prosser founded?
The Prosser post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Prosser rank for history?
Prosser is more historic than 56% of U.S. towns, #51 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 Prosser?
Three places: the Benton County Courthouse (listed 1976), the J. W. Carey House (1989) and the US Post Office-Prosser Main (1991).
How old are the homes in Prosser?
12% of Prosser’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.7 points), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 1976.
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 (4), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.
2004