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History · Roy

Roy’s post office opened in 1884, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1940 on and the census since 1910.

1884first post office
0on the National Register
15%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Steven Pavlov · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Roy began

When was Roy founded?

1884

The Roy post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 315 in 19102020 census: 816142 years
Founding year: the first Roy post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Roy’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 Roy are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1980 and 1990, then grew 3-fold.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Roy’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Roy’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
People over time

Roy, census by census

0200400600800192019401960198020002020417 in 1980Low: 258

Lost a third of its people between 1980 and 1990, then grew 3-fold.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

The story

How Roy came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Roy.

Read it all →

Roy was officially incorporated on January 16, 1908. It is a rural city outside Tacoma and primarily features ranch-style homes and farms. Roy was one of the early communities in the area, a prosperous boom-town and a major stop on the railroad line. But 3 major blows reduced this once-thriving town to its current form. A major fire in 1929 wiped out most of the downtown businesses just before the Depression started. The railroad eventually discontinued using Roy as a main stop. The Army annexed most of the surrounding land to the north and west, limiting expansion and the local tax base, and erasing the nearby community of Loveland.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Roy, 1926–1927

Passages that mention Roy, cut from the printed page as they were published.

Great Bend, Barton county, Kansas, where he practiced until "1881 wh ae : to Pierce county, settling at Lake View. Here he practiced his fe ten Mit alin all over the county on horseback, often in the most inclement ait Henne founded the town of Roy. While building his ho th L NaS ie ar creo immense…
History of Pierce County Washington1927 · page 574Read the page →
Read the text

Great Bend, Barton county, Kansas, where he practiced until "1881 wh ae : to Pierce county, settling at Lake View. Here he practiced his fe ten Mit alin all over the county on horseback, often in the most inclement ait Henne founded the town of Roy. While building his ho th L NaS ie ar creo immense hollow fir tree. Here he practiced his fes tot Wi ee profession with success, and also for

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
M. C. Hughes secured his education in the public schools of Sioux City, Iowa, after which for about two years he was engaged in a mercantile business in that city and in South Dakota. In 1886 he came to Roy, Pierce county, near which place he took up a homestead, most of which was prairie land, and…
History of Pierce County Washington1927 · page 467Read the page →
Read the text

M. C. Hughes secured his education in the public schools of Sioux City, Iowa, after which for about two years he was engaged in a mercantile business in that city and in South Dakota. In 1886 he came to Roy, Pierce county, near which place he took up a homestead, most of which was prairie land, and which is now known as the Ludwig place. He located on that land and proved it up and then, about 1895, came into Roy and engaged in the photograph business, which he carried on profitably until 1911, when he opened a photographic supply and stationery store, which he is still conducting. He is also agent for the telegraph company at this place. By close

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Protitanotherium andrewsi, named in honor of Roy Chapman Andrews, leader of the Third Asiatic Expedition; in a somewhat more advanced stage of evolution than Protitanotherium superbum of the Uinta C formation, northern Utah.
Central Asiatic Expeditions of the American Museum of Natural History, under the leadership of Roy Chapman Andrews1926Read the page →
Read the text

Protitanotherium andrewsi, named in honor of Roy Chapman Andrews, leader of the Third Asiatic Expedition; in a somewhat more advanced stage of evolution than Protitanotherium superbum of the Uinta C formation, northern Utah.

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.

Timeline

Roy, 1884 to 2020

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1884Post officeThe Roy post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1924Born hereCecelia Svinth Carpenter is born here
  5. 1940On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 21st century
  7. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 816
By decade

Roy, decade by decade

Today24 recent
Watertower 16122024Watertower 1612Track yard 16172024Track yard 1617Track yard 16162024Track yard 1616Steakhouse Saloon 16092024Steakhouse Saloon 1609Roy Community Ch 16292024Roy Community Ch 1629RR building 16132024RR building 1613RR building 16072024RR building 1607Old Red School 16242024Old Red School 1624Modified shop 16202024Modified shop 1620Missionary Church 16052024Missionary Church 1605Elementary School 16252024Elementary School 1625Copper Gables Barn 16272024Copper Gables Barn 1627Copper Gables Barn 16212024Copper Gables Barn 1621City Hall 16042024City Hall 1604Steakhouse Saloon 41992023Steakhouse Saloon 4199Roy 41952023Roy 4195Roy, WA — South Pierce Fire and Rescue No. 17, Station 171, (2022-03-18), 022022Roy, WA — South Pierce Fire and Rescue No. 17, Statio…Roy, WA — South Pierce Fire and Rescue No. 17, Station 171, (2022-03-18), 012022Roy, WA — South Pierce Fire and Rescue No. 17, Statio…Roy, WA — Roy Elementary School (2022-03-18)2022Roy, WA — Roy Elementary School (2022-03-18)Roy, WA — McNaught Rd S (2022-03-18), 032022Roy, WA — McNaught Rd S (2022-03-18), 03Roy, WA — McNaught Rd S (2022-03-18), 022022Roy, WA — McNaught Rd S (2022-03-18), 02Roy, WA — McNaught Rd S (2022-03-18), 012022Roy, WA — McNaught Rd S (2022-03-18), 01Roy, Washington2007Roy, WashingtonRoy, Washington2006Roy, Washington
On the map

Roy on the map, 1940 to 1973

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

Roy on the 1940 USGS mapRoy on the 1959 USGS mapRoy on the 1968 USGS mapRoy on the 1973 USGS map1940Anderson Island 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 Roy.

Places that used to be

Old corners

Roy’s post office has been open since 1884.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Royal Oak Mobile Home Park

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

Questions about Roy’s history

What year was Roy founded?

The Roy post office opened in 1884, 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 (24), 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 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.