Renton’s post office opened in 1876, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 31% of U.S. towns · #128 of 285 in Washington. What drives it
Most of Renton was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1988. Its Register listing is the Woolworth, F.W., Company Store. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1904 on, and the census since 1880.
The Renton post office opened in 1876, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Kennydale (1904) and Earlington (1907), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 200 in 18802020 census: 106,785150 years
How historic is Renton?
C
More historic than 31% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Renton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Renton’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Renton is more historic than 31% of U.S. towns, #128 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 Renton’s overall grade.
Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Renton ranks #302 on History.
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 Renton’s 0.1 sits near the middle of its state (54% of Washington towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
Newer cities are common at Renton’s size: in the typical U.S. city of 100,000 or more, 5% of homes predate 1940.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C. The pre-1940 share (±0.6 points) is firm at this size. 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 Renton’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Renton’s post office has been open since 1876. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Renton
1876–today
Kennydale
1904–1965
Earlington
1907–1949
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Benson HillCascadeEmerald Crest Mobile Home ParkHi - Land Mobile ManorHighlands ParkKennydaleLeisure Estates Mobile Home ParkMaplewoodMay CreekSunnydale Mobile Home ParkValley View Mobile Home ParkVantage Glen Mobile Home ParkWonderland Mobile Homes
Gone or out of use
Black River Quarrymine
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Renton
Greenwood Memorial ParkMount Olivet
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Famous people
23 famous people were born in Renton
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Long a cultural center for the Duwamish, European settlers arrived in the area of present-day Renton as early as 1853. First among them were Henry Tobin and his wife Diana. The town of Renton was accessed via the Seattle and Walla Walla Railroad, the first railroad to be built to Seattle, and was in the vicinity of several coal mines that attracted entrepreneurs like Erasmus M. Smithers, who is credited with the founding and establishment of the town in 1875. Smithers named Renton in honor of Captain William Renton, a local lumber and shipping merchant who invested heavily in the coal trade. Smithers discovered coal there and brought in Charles D. Shattuck as the coal mine operator.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Renton. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1949Renton sheet · 1:24,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Renton.
Every building
Renton, building by building, 1904–1909
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.
The Renton post office opened in 1876, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Renton rank for history?
Renton is more historic than 31% of U.S. towns, #128 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 Renton?
One place: the Woolworth, F.W., Company Store (listed 2015).
How old are the homes in Renton?
3% of Renton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 1988.
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 the Library of Congress (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.
1909
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