Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 56% of U.S. towns · #55 of 285 in Washington. What drives it
Most of Rochester was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1994. Below: maps from 1941 on and the census since 1990.
Rochester dates its founding to 1852 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1990.
More historic than 56% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Rochester is more historic than 56% of U.S. towns, #55 of 285 in Washington. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
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 Rochester’s 12.0 sits above most of its state (86% of Washington towns have fewer) while its 7 historic buildings outnumber those of 73% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Rochester’s history is told.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Rochester.
Rochester was platted in 1890, and named after Rochester, Indiana, the native home of a first settler. An early variant name was "Key".
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Rochester, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Yielding to the persuasions of his family, he determined to remain at Rochester. Here he was elected City Attorney in 1869, when barely twenty-four years of age. Early in 1870 he came to Washington Territory, bringing with him a very considerable sum of money, which had been intrusted to him for investment by his father and businessmen of Rochester.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Yielding to the persuasions of his family, he determined to remain at Rochester. Here he was elected City Attorney in 1869, when barely twenty-four years of age. Early in 1870 he came to Washington Territory, bringing with him a very considerable sum of money, which had been intrusted to him for investment by his father and businessmen of Rochester.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltState Training School for Girls Administration Building is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Rochester. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Rochester.
Grew from 1,250 people in 1990 to 6,064 in 2020, 4 times over.
4 censuses, 1990–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Rochester’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Rochester itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Rochester’s post office has been open since 1890. Another post office, Key, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1852, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Rochester’s post office opened in 1878, and the census of 1990 counted 1,250 people here.
Rochester is more historic than 56% of U.S. towns, #55 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.
5 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Jaaska House and Warehouse (listed 1988, the first). 7 historic buildings in all.
8% of Rochester’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.1 points), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 1994.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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 old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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