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History · Starbuck

Starbuck’s post office opened in 1883, and 38% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Bank of Starbuck. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1909 on, and the census since 1910.

1883first post office
1on the National Register
38%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Starbuck’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Starbuck began

When was Starbuck founded?

1883

The Starbuck post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 761 in 19102020 census: 119143 years
Founding year: the first Starbuck post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Starbuck’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 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Starbuck’s homes were built before 1962.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Starbuck’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewSnake River Bridge at Lyons Ferry, Stat…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Starbuck came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Starbuck.

Read it all →

Named for railroad official W. H. Starbuck, the town was originally a junction on the main line of the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company. The town was platted in 1894, and built its first bank ten years later. In 1886, the railroad completed a line eastward from Starbuck to Pomeroy and Pataha City in Garfield County; the line remained in operation until 1981. The town was officially incorporated on September 18, 1905. In 1910, a large brick school was built.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Starbuck, 1800 to 1948

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1800Born hereKamiakin is born here
  3. 1883Post officeThe Starbuck post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1904BuiltBank of Starbuck is built
  6. 1948On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Starbuck, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Snake River Bridge at Lyons Ferry, State Route 261 spanning Snake RiverDate?Snake River Bridge at Lyons Ferry, State Route 261 sp…
Today14 recent
Here at Palouse Falls State Park named the State Waterfall in 2014, near Starbuck, Washington, the Palouse River runs t…2018Here at Palouse Falls State Park named the State Wate…Here at Palouse Falls State Park named the State Waterfall in 2014, near Starbuck, Washington, the Palouse River runs t…2018Here at Palouse Falls State Park named the State Wate…Here at Palouse Falls State Park named the State Waterfall in 2014, near Starbuck, Washington, the Palouse River runs t…2018Here at Palouse Falls State Park named the State Wate…Rock formation at the bottom of a 200-foot-deep bowl, formed by a raging waterfall on the Palouse River at Palouse Fall…2018Rock formation at the bottom of a 200-foot-deep bowl,…View of the Palouse River as it leaves Palouse Falls State Park, near Starbuck, Washington2018View of the Palouse River as it leaves Palouse Falls …Train track, seemingly to nowhere2018Train track, seemingly to nowhereHumble rodeo arena2018Humble rodeo arenaStarbuck, Washington, is a remote, dusty place that assuredly has no connection to the Starbucks coffee empire that too…2018Starbuck, Washington, is a remote, dusty place that a…The community church2018The community churchSeemingly endless rows of stacked hay bales near Starbuck, Washington2018Seemingly endless rows of stacked hay bales near Star…A sweeping field of grain near Starbuck, Washington2018A sweeping field of grain near Starbuck, Washington2009-05-30, Starbuck, Washington, welcome sign20092009-05-30, Starbuck, Washington, welcome sign2009-05-30, Starbuck, Washington, road sign20092009-05-30, Starbuck, Washington, road signWAMap-doton-Starbuck2004WAMap-doton-Starbuck
On the map

Starbuck on the map, 1948 to 1981

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

Starbuck on the 1948 USGS mapStarbuck on the 1950 USGS mapStarbuck on the 1981 USGS map1948Starbuck 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 Starbuck.

Every building

Starbuck, building by building, 1909–1930

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 year, then a sheet.

Starbuck fire insurance map, 1909, sheet 11909Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
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.

Snake River Bridge at Lyons Ferry, State Route 261 spanning Snake River
Retake this viewSnake River Bridge at Lyons Ferry, State Route 261 spanning Snake River

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Starbuck

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1978
Bank of Starbuck
Bank of Starbuck, built 1904
Buildings
Bank of StarbuckBuilt 1904

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

People over time

Starbuck, census by census

0200400600800192019401960198020002020Peak: 761

Between 119 and 761 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Questions about Starbuck’s history

What year was Starbuck founded?

The Starbuck post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Starbuck?

One place: the Bank of Starbuck (listed 1978).

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 (3), the Library of Congress (12), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.