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History · Ryderwood

Ryderwood’s post office opened in 1924, and 49% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 3 old photos and papers and maps from 1953 on.

1924first post office
0on the National Register
49%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Ryderwood’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Ryderwood began

When was Ryderwood founded?

1924

The Ryderwood post office opened in 1924, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 383102 years
Founding year: the first Ryderwood post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Ryderwood’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.Old housesHalf of Ryderwood’s homes were built before 1941.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Ryderwood’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewChurch, Long Bell Lumber Company, Ryder…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Ryderwood came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Ryderwood.

Read it all →

Ryderwood, originally named Cougar Flats, was established as a logging camp by the Long-Bell Lumber Company in 1923. The town was constructed at a cost of $1.5 million and was the largest community to be built by private funding. Simultaneously, the town of Longview was created to mill and ship the lumber coming out of Ryderwood. Ryderwood was named for W. F. ("Uncle Bill") Ryder, the logging operations manager for Long-Bell, who came to the northwest to locate a timber source. The community was envisioned beyond that of a temporary logging camp, as a permanent center that would contain a school, church and theater. Billed as a place for families to live rather than bachelor workers, Ryderwood was considered a "modern logging town", as an article in The Log of Long-Bell proclaimed. At Ryderwood's peak, the town became the third largest in Cowlitz County with a population of 2,000 and th…

Chapters20th century21st century

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Ryderwood, 1924 to 1953

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1924Post officeThe Ryderwood post office opens
  3. 1929In the archiveChurch, Long Bell Lumber Company, Ryderwood, ca. 1929
  4. 1941In the archiveDetail of the post office at Ryderwood, Washington. Is headquarters for woods operations …
  5. 1942Born hereOrin C. Smith is born here
  6. 1953On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Ryderwood, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1920s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s–1940s3 items
Church, Long Bell Lumber Company, Ryderwood, ca. 1929c. 1929Church, Long Bell Lumber Company, Ryderwood, ca. 1929Lineup of thirteen locomotives, Long Bell Lumber Company, Ryderwood, ca. 1929c. 1929Lineup of thirteen locomotives, Long Bell Lumber Comp…Detail of the post office at Ryderwood, Washington. Is headquarters for woods operations of the Long Bell Lumber Compan…1941Detail of the post office at Ryderwood, Washington. I…
1950s–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
Today3 recent
Ryderwood, Washington 022024Ryderwood, Washington 02Ryderwood, Washington 012024Ryderwood, Washington 01Morse Street (SR 506) in2021Morse Street (SR 506) in
On the map

Ryderwood on the map, 1953 to 1986

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

Ryderwood on the 1953 USGS mapRyderwood on the 1986 USGS map1953Ryderwood 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 Ryderwood.

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.

Church, Long Bell Lumber Company, Ryderwood, ca. 1929
Retake this viewChurch, Long Bell Lumber Company, Ryderwood, ca. 1929, c. 1929

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

Retake this view · +15

Questions about Ryderwood’s history

What year was Ryderwood founded?

The Ryderwood post office opened in 1924, 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 (5), the Library of Congress (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.