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C−History
History · Sequim

Sequim’s post office opened in 1907, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 24% of U.S. towns · #159 of 285 in Washington. What drives it

Most of Sequim was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1993. Its Register listings are the Dungeness River Bridge and the Sequim Opera House. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1917 on, and the census since 1920.

1907first post office
2on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Sequim’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Sequim began, and where its name came from

When was Sequim founded?

1907

The Sequim post office opened in 1907, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Seguin (1879), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 402 in 19202020 census: 8,024119 years

How did Sequim get its name?

The name Sequim is derived from the Klallam word sxʷčkʷíyəŋ, which means "hunting ground" or "place for going to shoot".

More on the name

It was adopted as the name of the settlement in 1879, with the spelling replacing the earlier "Seguim".

How historic is Sequim?

C−

More historic than 24% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Sequim post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Sequim’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Sequim is more historic than 24% of U.S. towns, #159 of 285 in Washington. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Sequim’s overall grade.
Founding era1907, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 19403.7% of homes (±2.0) · typical WA town 4.3% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register2 listings, 2.5 per 10,000 residents · typical WA town 0.1 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 24%
NewerOlder
Washington towns of 2,500+ (285)Ahead of 44%

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 Sequim’s 2.5 sits above most of its state (67% of Washington towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C+. The pre-1940 share (±2.0 points) is firm at this size. 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 Sequim’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 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Sequim, and 10 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Sequim’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Sequim’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 viewModel of the nearby New Dungeness Light…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Sequim’s post office has been open since 1907. Another post office, Seguin, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Seguin
1879–1907
Sequim
1907–today
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
City Center Mobile Home ParkClasen Cove Estates Mobile Home ParkDukes Mobile Home ParkHendrickson Heritage Mobile Home ParkHide Away Mobile Home ParkJuniper Mobile EstatesSequim West Mobile Home ParkSpruce West Mobile Home ParkSunnyside Mobile CourtWest Alder Mobile Home Park
Gone or out of use
Duke's Private AirportairportO M H Airportairport

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

The story

How Sequim came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Sequim.

Read it all →

Fossils discovered in the late 1970s – at a dig near Sequim known as the Manis Mastodon site, by Carl Gustafson, an archaeologist at Washington State University – included a mastodon bone with an embedded bone point, evidencing the presence of hunters in the area about 14,000 years ago. According to Michael R. Waters, an archaeologist at Texas A&M University, this is the first hunting weapon found that dates to the pre-Clovis period.

ChaptersIndigenous inhabitantsSettlement

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Sequim, 1879 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1879Post officeThe Seguin post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1906BuiltSequim Opera House is built
  5. 1907Post officeThe Seguin post office closes
  6. 1907Post officeThe Sequim post office opens
  7. 1921Born hereDonald M. Kendall is born here
  8. 1921Born hereBill Ward is born here
  9. 1924Born hereDorothy Eck is born here
  10. 1938On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  11. 1980In the archiveModel of the nearby New Dungeness Lighthouse
By decade

Sequim, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1980s2 items
Model of the nearby New Dungeness Lighthouse1980Model of the nearby New Dungeness LighthouseModel of the nearby New Dungeness Lighthouse1980Model of the nearby New Dungeness Lighthouse
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
Today16 recent
Pheucticus melanocephalus 52712010Pheucticus melanocephalus 5271Pheucticus melanocephalus 52692010Pheucticus melanocephalus 5269Olympic mt daisy2010Olympic mt daisyCynara cardunculus 51502010Cynara cardunculus 5150Cairn South Summit, Mount Townsend - Flickr - brewbooks2010Cairn South Summit, Mount Townsend - Flickr - brewboo…Veggie burger with fried onions cc flickr user bradley j2009Veggie burger with fried onions cc flickr user bradle…Unspoiled2009UnspoiledBeachDog32008BeachDog3Reclaimed Water Pond and Fountain2007Reclaimed Water Pond and FountainJAPANESE GARDEN POND2007JAPANESE GARDEN PONDHeron on Lantern Island2007Heron on Lantern IslandGreat Blue Heron2007Great Blue HeronSequimOlympics2006SequimOlympicsSequimAerial2006SequimAerialWAMap-doton-Sequim2004WAMap-doton-SequimSequim WA Lavender Farm2004Sequim WA Lavender Farm
On the map

Sequim on the map, 1938 to 1985

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

Sequim on the 1938 USGS mapSequim on the 1956 USGS mapSequim on the 1979 USGS mapSequim on the 1985 USGS map1938Dungeness 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 Sequim.

Every building

Sequim, building by building, 1917

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 sheet.

Sequim fire insurance map, 1917, sheet 11917Sheet 1 of 2
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.

Model of the nearby New Dungeness Lighthouse
Retake this viewModel of the nearby New Dungeness Lighthouse, 1980

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Sequim

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1982
Dungeness River Bridge
Dungeness River BridgeSequim Opera House, built 1906
BuildingsStructures

Architectural styles listings

Commercial Vernacular1
Dungeness River BridgeStructure
Sequim Opera HouseCommercial Vernacular · Built 1906

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Sequim, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,0001920194019601980200020208,024

Grew from 402 people in 1920 to 8,024 in 2020, more than tenfold.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Sequim

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Donald M. KendallAmerican businessman · b. 1921
B
Bill WardAmerican football player · b. 1921
D
Dorothy EckAmerican politician · b. 1924
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Bell HillIts storyD−River RoadIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Sequim’s history

What year was Sequim founded?

The Sequim post office opened in 1907, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Sequim rank for history?

Sequim is more historic than 24% of U.S. towns, #159 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.

What is on the National Register in Sequim?

Two places: the Dungeness River Bridge (listed 1982) and the Sequim Opera House (1991).

How old are the homes in Sequim?

4% of Sequim’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.0 points), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 1993.

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 Wikimedia Commons (17), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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 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.