Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Quincy

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
C+History
History · Quincy

Quincy dates to 1892, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 37% of U.S. towns · #97 of 285 in Washington. What drives it

Most of Quincy was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1986. Its Register listing is the Samuel and Katherine Reiman House. Below: maps from 1909 on and the census since 1910.

1892founded
1on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Quincy began, and where its name came from

When was Quincy founded?

1892

Quincy dates its founding to 1892 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1910.

First census: 264 in 19102020 census: 7,543134 years

How did Quincy get its name?

Quincy was named after Quincy, Illinois.

How historic is Quincy?

C+

More historic than 37% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1902. Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Quincy’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Quincy is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns, #97 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 Quincy’s overall grade.
Founding era1892, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19405.6% of homes (±4.3) · typical WA town 4.3% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register1 listing, 1.3 per 10,000 residents · typical WA town 0.1 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 37%
NewerOlder
Washington towns of 2,500+ (285)Ahead of 66%

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 Quincy’s 1.3 sits near the middle of its state (62% 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 C to C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.3 points). Two sources give 1892.

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 Quincy’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 Quincy are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19093 editions of the USGS map, 1909 to 1966. Watch Quincy change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Quincy’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Quincy’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
On the map

Quincy on the map, 1909 to 1966

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

Quincy on the 1909 USGS mapQuincy on the 1910 USGS mapQuincy on the 1966 USGS map1909Quincy 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 Quincy.

The story

How Quincy came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Quincy.

Read it all →

Quincy lies atop a part of the Columbia River Basalt Group, which is overlain by Pleistocene outburst flood deposits. The Missoula Floods had one of their outlets at Trinidad, close to Quincy, and another near Ancient Lakes, which includes the Ancient Lakes of the Columbia Valley AVA. Glacial erratics carried from as far away as Montana can be found nearby. The area also has an abundance of rimrock.

Quincy was founded as a railroad camp during construction of the Great Northern Railway in 1892, and was incorporated on March 27, 1907. It was named after Quincy, Illinois.

The arrival of the water from the Grand Coulee Dam in 1952 changed the town.

ChaptersGeologic historyGreat Northern RailwayGrand Coulee Dam

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Quincy, 1892 to 1961

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1892
    FoundingQuincy is established
  3. 20th century
  4. 1902Post officeThe Quincy post office opens
  5. 1904BuiltSamuel and Katherine Reiman House is built
  6. 1909On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1961Born hereAlex Ybarra is born here
By decade

Quincy, decade by decade

Today5 recent
Near2020NearNear2020NearNear2020NearNear2020NearSunrise in near2010Sunrise in near
Every building

Quincy, building by building, 1909–1930

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.

Quincy fire insurance map, 1909, sheet 11909Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

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

On the National Register

1 historic place in Quincy

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
2008
Samuel and Katherine Reiman House
Samuel and Katherine Reiman House, built 1904
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Late Victorian1
Samuel and Katherine Reiman HouseLate Victorian · Built 1904

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

People over time

Quincy, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,0001920194019601980200020207,543

Grew from 264 people in 1910 to 7,543 in 2020, more than tenfold.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Questions about Quincy’s history

What year was Quincy founded?

In 1892, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Quincy’s post office opened in 1902, and the census of 1910 counted 264 people here.

How does Quincy rank for history?

Quincy is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns, #97 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 Quincy?

One place: the Samuel and Katherine Reiman House (listed 2008).

How old are the homes in Quincy?

6% of Quincy’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.3 points), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 1986.

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 (5), 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), 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.