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History · Riverside

Riverside’s post office opened in 1900, and 18% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1909 on, and the census since 1920.

1900first post office
0on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Riverside’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Riverside began

When was Riverside founded?

1900

The Riverside post office opened in 1900, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 209 in 19202020 census: 329126 years
Founding year: the first Riverside post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Riverside’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1930 and 1950, then more than doubled.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Riverside’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewPost office at Riverside, Washington Te…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Riverside, census by census

0100200300192019401960198020002020218 in 1930Low: 149

Lost a third of its people between 1930 and 1950, then more than doubled.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

The story

How Riverside came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Riverside.

Read it all →

Riverside was first settled in the 1880s by Uriah Ward. When steamboats began traveling up the Okanogan River, Riverside was the upstream limit of navigation during the high water season. Riverside was officially incorporated on December 22, 1913. Riverside is one of the few locations in the world where the mineral thulite is found, the others being Mitchell County, North Carolina; Orkland, Norway; and the Otago region of New Zealand.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Riverside, 1889 to 2000

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1889In the archivePost office at Riverside, Washington Terr
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900Post officeThe Riverside post office opens
  5. 1910In the archiveRiverside Washington About 1910
  6. 1954On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 21st century
  8. 2000CensusPopulation peaks at 348
By decade

Riverside, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s–1910s3 items
Post office at Riverside, Washington Terrc. 1889Post office at Riverside, Washington TerrPost office at Riverside, Washington Terrc. 1889Post office at Riverside, Washington TerrRiverside Washington About 19101910Riverside Washington About 1910
1920s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today5 recent
Bombus centralis2021Bombus centralisRiverside, Washington city hall2010Riverside, Washington city hallCity Hall 101, Riverside, WA2010City Hall 101, Riverside, WAOutcropping near2009Outcropping nearOkanogan River at2009Okanogan River at
On the map

Riverside on the map, 1954 to 1981

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

Riverside on the 1954 USGS mapRiverside on the 1981 USGS map1954Okanogan sheet · 1:250,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Riverside.

Every building

Riverside, building by building, 1909–1929

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.

Riverside fire insurance map, 1909, sheet 11909Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
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.

Post office at Riverside, Washington Terr
Retake this viewPost office at Riverside, Washington Terr, c. 1889

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Riverside

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

See all →
Sadie Maubet BjornsenAmerican cross-country skier · b. 1989
W
William S. SkylstadCatholic bishop · b. 1934
Erik BjornsenAmerican cross country skier · b. 1991
J
Jake MuxworthyAmerican actor · b. 1978
N
Novie McCabeAmerican cross-country skier · b. 2001
R
Retta ScottAmerican artist · b. 1916

Questions about Riverside’s history

What year was Riverside founded?

The Riverside post office opened in 1900, 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 Wikimedia Commons (8), Wikipedia, 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.