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Tenino Downtown Historic DistrictTenino Downtown Historic District · Photo: Joe Mabel · CC BY-SA 3.0
B+History
History · Tenino

Tenino’s post office opened in 1873, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 72% of U.S. towns. What drives it

4 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 19 buildings. Below: 10 old photos and papers, maps from 1910 on, and the census since 1890.

1873first post office
4on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
10old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Tenino’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Tenino began

When was Tenino founded?

1873

The Tenino post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 339 in 18902020 census: 1,870153 years

How historic is Tenino?

B+

More historic than 72% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Tenino post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Tenino’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Tenino is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Tenino’s overall grade.
Founding era1873, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194016.6% of homes (±4.2) · typical WA town 4.3% · U.S. 8.4%BNational Register4 listings, 21 historic buildings, 104 per 10,000 residents · typical WA town 0.1 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 72%
NewerOlder

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 Tenino’s 104 sits above most of its state (97% of Washington towns have fewer) while its 21 historic buildings outnumber those of 80% 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 is a Census survey estimate (±4.2 points). 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 Tenino’s past

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

Landmarks on the Register4 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

4 listings protect 21 historic buildings

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

places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
21
each building in a district counts
first listed
1974
Tenino Depot
Tenino Depot, built 1914Tenino Stone Company QuarryTenino Downtown Historic District
BuildingsDistrictsSites

Architectural styles listings

Residential Vernacular1
Beaux Arts1
Commercial1
American Renaissance1
Commercial Vernacular1
Tenino DepotBuilt 1914
Tenino Stone Company QuarrySite
Colvin HouseResidential Vernacular · Built 1877
Tenino Downtown Historic DistrictBeaux Arts

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

The story

How Tenino came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Tenino.

Read it all →

The city was officially incorporated on July 24, 1906, but Tenino existed as a rural community since the mid-19th century, the area containing a population of approximately 170 people by 1870 and the site fully platted in 1873. Initially, American settlers were attracted to the open prairies created and maintained by local natives through controlled burns to cultivate camas root, a staple food source. Records indicate the initial settlers' community centered on the prairie approximately 1⁄2 a mile (0.80 km) south of the present town. Early residents named their first post office and school "Coal Bank", in the 1860s, a reference to a nearby coal outcropping. It was later renamed Tenino.

Chapters19th-century beginnings20th century21st centuryWooden money

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Tenino, 1873 to 1940

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1873Post officeThe Tenino post office opens
  3. 1877BuiltColvin House is built
  4. 1893Born hereW. R. Davies is born here
  5. 20th century
  6. 1900In the archiveSoldiers' camp, Tenino, Washington, probably between 1895 and 1900
  7. 1900Born hereEdward L. Keithahn is born here
  8. 1914BuiltTenino Depot is built
  9. 1914In the archiveEzra Meeker with crowd at Tenino, probably 1914
  10. 1930In the archiveTenino wooden money 01
  11. 1940On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Tenino, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s–1910s6 items
Soldiers' camp, Tenino, Washington, probably between 1895 and 1900c. 1900Soldiers' camp, Tenino, Washington, probably between …Blumauer Lumber Co. mill, Tenino1909Blumauer Lumber Co. mill, TeninoBunkers of the Black Bear Coal Co., Tenino1909Bunkers of the Black Bear Coal Co., TeninoInterior of Blumauer Lumber Co., Tenino, 19091909Interior of Blumauer Lumber Co., Tenino, 1909Ezra Meeker with crowd at Tenino, probably 19141914Ezra Meeker with crowd at Tenino, probably 1914Street scene, Tenino, Washington, ca. 1917c. 1917Street scene, Tenino, Washington, ca. 1917
1930s4 items
Tenino wooden money 011930sTenino wooden money 01Tenino wooden money 01A1930sTenino wooden money 01ATenino wooden money 021930sTenino wooden money 02Tenino wooden money 02A1930sTenino wooden money 02A
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
On the map

Tenino on the map, 1940 to 1990

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

Tenino on the 1940 USGS mapTenino on the 1959 USGS mapTenino on the 1973 USGS mapTenino on the 1981 USGS mapTenino on the 1990 USGS map1940Tenino 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 Tenino.

Every building

Tenino, building by building, 1910

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.

Tenino fire insurance map, 1910, sheet 11910Sheet 1 of 7
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.

Soldiers' camp, Tenino, Washington, probably between 1895 and 1900
Retake this viewSoldiers' camp, Tenino, Washington, probably between 1895 and 1900, c. 1900

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Tenino, census by census

05001,0001,5002,00019001920194019601980200020201,870

Grew from 339 people in 1890 to 1,870 in 2020, 5 times over.

13 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Tenino

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

See all →
W. R. DaviesWisconsin educator · b. 1893
E
Edward L. KeithahnAmerican ethnographer and writer · b. 1900
Help out

Finish Tenino’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 viewSoldiers' camp, Tenino, Washington, pro…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Tenino’s history

What year was Tenino founded?

The Tenino post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Tenino rank for history?

Tenino is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns. 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 Tenino?

4 listings: 2 buildings, among them the Tenino Depot (listed 1974, the first), 1 historic district, the Tenino Downtown Historic District, with 19 contributing buildings, and 1 site. 21 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Tenino?

17% of Tenino’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.2 points), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 1980.

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 (10), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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.