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History · St. John

St. John’s post office opened in 1889, and 27% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1964 on, and the census since 1910.

1889first post office
0on the National Register
27%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Robert Ashworth from Bellingham, WA., USA · CC BY 2.0
Quick answers

How St. John began

When was St. John founded?

1889

The St. John post office opened in 1889, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 421 in 19102020 census: 599137 years
Founding year: the first St. John post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about St. John’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Old housesHalf of St. John’s homes were built before 1959.
★ What stands out · The story

How St. John came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of St. John.

Read it all →

St. John was founded and named in the late 1880s for settler Edward Talbert St. John. St. John was officially incorporated on March 10, 1904.

Edward Talbert St. John (1812–1894) was the son of Pierce St. John and Mary Talbot/Talbert. Before making his way to Whitman County, Washington he abandoned his family in Indiana around 1845. He seems to have wandered around before settling in Whitman and founding the town of St. John.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

St. John, 1863 to 1964

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1863In the archiveMargaret St. John, St. John, Washington, circa 1863 - DPLA - e9b1c152a9a5e4549b4df8d3f500…
  3. 1875In the archiveMarriage certificate of Franklin and Martha Nickerson, of St. John, Washington, 1875 - DP…
  4. 1889Post officeThe Saint John post office opens
  5. 1890In the archiveUntitled photo
  6. 20th century
  7. 1939Born hereMike Lowry is born here
  8. 1964On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

St. John, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s–1890s6 items
Margaret St. John, St. John, Washington, circa 1863 - DPLA - e9b1c152a9a5e4549b4df8d3f500fb75c. 1863Margaret St. John, St. John, Washington, circa 1863 -…PostcardMarriage certificate of Franklin and Martha Nickerson, of St. John, Washington, 1875 - DPLA - bd3d6040141954e455d561900…1875Marriage certificate of Franklin and Martha Nickerson…DocumentMarriage certificate of Franklin and Martha Nickerson, of St. John, Washington, 1875 - DPLA - d89065373561c9f3275e2ccbb…1875Marriage certificate of Franklin and Martha Nickerson…DocumentUntitled photo1890Untitled photoFranklin Arlington Nickerson, of St. John, Washington, circa 1892 - DPLA - 618cdac664a177770cdb85cf00ce3347 (page 1)c. 1892Franklin Arlington Nickerson, of St. John, Washington…PostcardFranklin Arlington Nickerson, of St. John, Washington, circa 1892 - DPLA - 618cdac664a177770cdb85cf00ce3347 (page 2)c. 1892Franklin Arlington Nickerson, of St. John, Washington…
1900s–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
On the map

St. John on the map, 1964 to 1984

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

St. John on the 1964 USGS mapSt. John on the 1984 USGS map1964St John sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of St. John.

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.

Margaret St. John, St. John, Washington, circa 1863 - DPLA - e9b1c152a9a5e4549b4df8d3f500fb75
Retake this viewMargaret St. John, St. John, Washington, circa 1863 - DPLA - e9b1c152a9a5e4549b4df8d3f500fb75, c. 1863

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

St. John, census by census

0100200300400500600192019401960198020002020Peak: 599

Between 421 and 599 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Old corners

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Saint John

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

Help out

Finish St. John’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewMargaret St. John, St. John, Washington…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about St. John’s history

What year was St. John founded?

The St. John post office opened in 1889, 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 (6), 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) 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.