Tacoma’s post office opened in 1869, and 27% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 84% of U.S. towns · #6 of 285 in Washington. What drives it
92 places in town are on the National Register, among them 2 National Historic Landmarks and ten historic districts with 2,170 buildings between them. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1870.
The Tacoma post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1875. Five smaller post offices, Old Tacoma (1884), Fern Hill (1890) and Excelsior (1891), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 73 in 18702020 census: 219,346157 years
How historic is Tacoma?
A−
More historic than 84% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Tacoma post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1875.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Tacoma’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Tacoma is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns, #6 of 285 in Washington. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Tacoma’s overall grade.
Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Tacoma ranks #104 on History.
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 Tacoma’s 102 sits above most of its state (96% of Washington towns have fewer) while its 2,267 historic buildings outnumber those of 99% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A+. The pre-1940 share (±1.3 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1875 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
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 Tacoma’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. 2 are National Historic Landmarks, the highest tier. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Tacoma’s post office has been open since 1869. Five other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Tacoma
1869–today
Old Tacoma
1884–1887
Fern Hill
1890–1910
Excelsior
1891–1896
Leon
1893–1894
Manito
1908–1909
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
CaledoniaCebalopEvergreen Manor Mobile Home ParkExcelsiorFern HillFort NisquallyHillsdaleManitouNortheast TacomaOaklandOhana Estates Mobile Home ParkOld TacomaSalishanSouth TacomaTitlow
Gone or out of use
Camp 6 Logging Museumbuilding
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Tacoma
CalvaryOakwood HillOld Tacoma City
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The area was inhabited for thousands of years by Native Americans, most recently the Puyallup people, who lived in settlements on the delta. In 1852, Swedish immigrant Nicolas Delin built a water-powered sawmill on a creek near the head of Commencement Bay, but the small settlement that grew around it was abandoned during the Indian War of 1855–56. In 1864, pioneer and postmaster Job Carr, a Civil War veteran and land speculator, built a cabin (which also served as Tacoma's first post office; a replica was built in 2000 near the original site in "Old Town"). Carr hoped to profit from the selection of Commencement Bay as the terminus of the Transcontinental Railroad, and sold most of his claim to developer Morton M. McCarver (1807–1875), who named his project Tacoma City, derived from the indigenous name for the mountain.
Passages that mention Tacoma, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Pierce County Washington1927 · page 155Read the page →
Read the text
Tacoma Gas & Electric Light Company, which he operated until 1902. He then organized the Hurley-Mason Company and engaged in general contracting, in which he has achieved noteworthy success, having been identified with many large building and construction jobs throughout this section of the country. He erected the Northern Pacific Railroad station in Tacoma, the Perkins building and the hydro-electric plant of the Portland Railway & Power Company, and executed many other large contracts in Tacoma, Portland and Seattle. He has faithfully performed every contract into which he has entered and has long enjoyed a high reputation for absolute
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Pierce County Washington1927 · page 190Read the page →
Read the text
shop for awhile. Then, going to Wyoming, he worked as a cook in prospecting camps, and later was engaged in railroad work in Idaho. In 1884 he came to Tacoma, but not being able to secure employment, he went to Portland, Oregon, where he remained three years. In 1887 he returned to Tacoma and was in the employ of the Northern Pacific Railroad until 1894, when he engaged in the grocery business in partnership with his brother. A short time later he sold out and went to Portland, where he remained three years. From there he went to Clear Lake, Washington, where he was engaged in a mercantile business about five and a half
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
Tacoma, 1845 to 1982
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Tacoma. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1961Tacoma North 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 Tacoma.
Every building
Tacoma, building by building, 1885–1912
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.
The Tacoma post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1875.
How does Tacoma rank for history?
Tacoma is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns, #6 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 Tacoma?
92 listings, 2 of them National Historic Landmarks: 75 buildings, among them the Fort Nisqually Granary and Factor's House (a National Historic Landmark since 1970), 10 historic districts with 2,170 contributing buildings, 1 site, and 6 structures. 2,267 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Tacoma?
27% of Tacoma’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.3 points), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 1967.
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 (10), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (92), 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, 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.
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