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History · Startup

Startup’s post office opened in 1900, and 28% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 13 old photos and papers, maps from 1914 on, and the census since 2000.

1900first post office
0on the National Register
28%homes built before 1940
13old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Startup’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Startup began

When was Startup founded?

1900

The Startup post office opened in 1900, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Wallace (1890), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 817 in 20002020 census: 859126 years
Founding year: the first Startup post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Startup’s past

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

A town in old photos13 old photos, postcards and papers, 1910–1930.Old housesHalf of Startup’s homes were built before 1964.
★ What stands out · By decade

Startup, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s9 items
Main Street, Startup, Washington, ca. 1910c. 1910Main Street, Startup, Washington, ca. 1910Angora goats, Startup, 19111911Angora goats, Startup, 1911Angora goats, Startup, 19111911Angora goats, Startup, 1911Children entering school, Startup, ca. 1911c. 1911Children entering school, Startup, ca. 1911Church at Startup, ca. 1911c. 1911Church at Startup, ca. 1911Fir log at the Wallace Lumber Co. mill, Startup, ca. 1911c. 1911Fir log at the Wallace Lumber Co. mill, Startup, ca. …Fir log at the Wallace Lumber Co. mill, Startup, ca. 1911c. 1911Fir log at the Wallace Lumber Co. mill, Startup, ca. …School children in front of school, Startup, 19111911School children in front of school, Startup, 1911Startup panorama, 19111911Startup panorama, 1911
1920s–1930s4 items
Group of men and children seated on large log, Startup, ca. 1925c. 1925Group of men and children seated on large log, Startu…Lee Toney ranch, Startup, ca. 1927c. 1927Lee Toney ranch, Startup, ca. 1927Panorama of Startup with Mt. Baring in the background, 19281928Panorama of Startup with Mt. Baring in the background…Startup School, ca. 1930c. 1930Startup School, ca. 1930
1940s–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
The story

How Startup came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Startup.

Read it all →

Startup was homesteaded by F.M. Sparling in the 1880s. He left the area in 1889 after getting married and sold his property to William Wait, who filed a plat for the town of Wallace on March 22, 1890. The town's name caused confusion with mail being mistakenly sent to Wallace, Idaho, and in 1901 the name was changed to Startup to honor George G. Startup, manager of the Wallace Lumber Company.

The settlement was mistakenly excluded from receiving mailed questionnaires for the 2000 census due to a post office error.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Startup in 1926

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

STARTUP Up the valley of the Skykomish, thirty miles from Everett is located the thriving Village of Startup, with a population of 400. While it lies in the river valley, and the ascent over the Scenic Highway has been gradual, there is a freshness and lightness in the air which bespeaks the nearer…
History of Snohomish County, Washington, Volume I1926 · page 606Read the page →
Read the text

STARTUP Up the valley of the Skykomish, thirty miles from Everett is located the thriving Village of Startup, with a population of 400. While it lies in the river valley, and the ascent over the Scenic Highway has been gradual, there is a freshness and lightness in the air which bespeaks the nearer approach to the mountains, even though the visitor does not raise his eyes to the towering peaks which now seem close at hand. Startup, nee Wallace, began its existence when F. M. Sparling, a bachelor, settled there in the early eighties. There was much travel along

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
“Two churches and a good school promote the moral, educational and social welfare of Startup. Of the churches the Methodist is the older, having been erected in 1898; its present pastor is Rev. H. C. Wilson. The Baptist house of worship was erected in 1904 and is presided over by Rev. Adolph Guenth…
History of Snohomish County, Washington, Volume I1926 · page 607Read the page →
Read the text

“Two churches and a good school promote the moral, educational and social welfare of Startup. Of the churches the Methodist is the older, having been erected in 1898; its present pastor is Rev. H. C. Wilson. The Baptist house of worship was erected in 1904 and is presided over by Rev. Adolph Guenther. In 1892 the main portion of the present neat schoolhouse was erected, superseding a small shack. ‘Two additions have since been made, the last in 1904, giving the building four rooms.”

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

Startup, 1890 to 1957

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1890Post officeThe Wallace post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900Post officeThe Wallace post office closes
  5. 1900Post officeThe Startup post office opens
  6. 1910In the archiveMain Street, Startup, Washington, ca. 1910
  7. 1925In the archiveGroup of men and children seated on large log, Startup, ca. 1925
  8. 1930In the archiveStartup School, ca. 1930
  9. 1957On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
On the map

Startup on the map, 1957 to 1989

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

Startup on the 1957 USGS mapStartup on the 1989 USGS map1957Index 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 Startup.

Every building

Startup, building by building, 1914

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.

Startup fire insurance map, 1914, sheet 11914Sheet 1 of 1
Sheets
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.

Main Street, Startup, Washington, ca. 1910
Retake this viewMain Street, Startup, Washington, ca. 1910, c. 1910

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Startup, census by census

020040060080020002020Peak: 859

Between 676 and 859 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Startup

Nobody well known was born in Startup itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Benson BooneAmerican singer · b. 2002
Chuck CloseAmerican artist · b. 1940
J
Jon BrockmanAmerican basketball player · b. 1987
Earl AverillAmerican baseball player · b. 1902
D
Dwain EsperAmerican film director · b. 1892
Ben DragavonAmerican soccer player · b. 1983
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Startup’s post office has been open since 1900. Another post office, Wallace, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Wallace
1890–1900
Startup
1900–today
18901960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Wallace River Mobile Home Park

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

Help out

Finish Startup’s story

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewMain Street, Startup, Washington, ca. 1…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

SultanIts storyCGold BarIts storyC−

Questions about Startup’s history

What year was Startup founded?

The Startup post office opened in 1900, 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 (13), Wikipedia, 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.