Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Rosedale

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 · Rosedale

Rosedale’s post office opened in 1887

More historic than 23% of U.S. towns · #165 of 285 in Washington. What drives it

Most of Rosedale was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1986. Below: maps from 1942 on.

1887first post office
0on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Rosedale began

When was Rosedale founded?

1887

The Rosedale post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 4,357139 years

How historic is Rosedale?

C−

More historic than 23% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Rosedale post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade

What drives Rosedale’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Rosedale is more historic than 23% of U.S. towns, #165 of 285 in Washington. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Rosedale’s overall grade.
Founding era1887, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19406.1% of homes (±4.3) · typical WA town 4.3% · U.S. 8.4%CNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical WA town 0.1 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 23%
NewerOlder
Washington towns of 2,500+ (285)Ahead of 42%

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 Rosedale’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (27% of Washington towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% 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). 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 Rosedale’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 Rosedale are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Rosedale’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Rosedale’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
The story so far

Rosedale, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Rosedale yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Rosedale is a census-designated place (CDP) located in Pierce County, Washington. As of the 2020 census, Rosedale had a population of 4,357. A post office called Rosedale was established in 1887, and remained in operation until 1918. The community was named for roses near the original town site.

Its first post office opened in 1887. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 4,044 to 4,357 (+8%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Rosedale, 1887 to 1942

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1887Post officeThe Rosedale post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1918Post officeThe Rosedale post office closes
  5. 1942On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

Rosedale on the map, 1942 to 1997

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

Rosedale on the 1942 USGS mapRosedale on the 1953 USGS mapRosedale on the 1968 USGS mapRosedale on the 1976 USGS mapRosedale on the 1997 USGS map1942Gig Harbor 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 Rosedale.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Rosedale had its own post office from 1887 to 1918.

Rosedale
1887–1918
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Peninsula Mobile Park

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Gig Harbor2 historic placesC+Artondale1 historic placeC

Questions about Rosedale’s history

What year was Rosedale founded?

The Rosedale post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Rosedale rank for history?

Rosedale is more historic than 23% of U.S. towns, #165 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.

How old are the homes in Rosedale?

6% of Rosedale’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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.