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History · Toledo

Toledo’s post office opened in 1880, and 36% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1941 on, and the census since 1890.

1880first post office
0on the National Register
36%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Toledo’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Toledo began

When was Toledo founded?

1880

The Toledo post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 276 in 18902020 census: 631146 years
Founding year: the first Toledo post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Toledo’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 Toledo’s homes were built before 1964.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Toledo’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewStreet scene Toledo, Washington, ca. 19…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Toledo came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Toledo.

Read it all →

The lands and Cowlitz River in and near present-day Toledo were once used by the Cowlitz people and other indigenous tribes as a means for sustenance, including fishing the waters, and as a transportation vector.

Simon Plomondon (or Plamondon), an employee of the Hudson Bay Company, settled in the area in 1820, taking up a donation land claim, marrying a Cowlitz Chief Schanewah's daughter, Thas-e-muth (Veronica). Plomondon became the first white man to settle in what would later be known as Southwest Washington. The couple's first child was born in what would become Toledo in 1821.

ChaptersIndigenous historySettlement20th century21st century

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Toledo, 1880 to 1941

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880Post officeThe Toledo post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1923In the archiveStreet scene Toledo, Washington, ca. 1923
  5. 1941On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Toledo, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s1 item
Street scene Toledo, Washington, ca. 1923c. 1923Street scene Toledo, Washington, ca. 1923
1930s–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
Today11 recent
Toledo, WA - Kellogg Way curving north out of town center 012019Toledo, WA - Kellogg Way curving north out of town ce…Toledo, WA - First Baptist Church2019Toledo, WA - First Baptist ChurchToledo, WA - Community Center - Senior Center2019Toledo, WA - Community Center - Senior CenterToledo, WA - City Hall and Lewis County Fire District 22019Toledo, WA - City Hall and Lewis County Fire District…Toledo, WA - City Hall 022019Toledo, WA - City Hall 02Toledo, WA - City Hall 012019Toledo, WA - City Hall 01Toledo, WA - Church of Christ2019Toledo, WA - Church of ChristToledo, WA - Augustus Street 012019Toledo, WA - Augustus Street 01Toledo, WA - 301 Augustus St. 022019Toledo, WA - 301 Augustus St. 02Toledo, WA - 301 Augustus St. 012019Toledo, WA - 301 Augustus St. 01Toledo, WA - 251 N Second St2019Toledo, WA - 251 N Second St
On the map

Toledo on the map, 1941 to 1984

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

Toledo on the 1941 USGS mapToledo on the 1953 USGS mapToledo on the 1984 USGS map1941Olequa 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 Toledo.

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.

Street scene Toledo, Washington, ca. 1923
Retake this viewStreet scene Toledo, Washington, ca. 1923, c. 1923

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Toledo, census by census

02004006008001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 725

Between 276 and 725 people in every census since 1890.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Toledo

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

See all →
R
Raymond CarverPenman, poet, screenwriter, novelist, prose wri… · b. 1938
Merce CunninghamAmerican dancer and choreographer · b. 1919
Buzz OsborneAmerican musician · b. 1964
Ralph TownerAmerican musician · b. 1940
Brandy ClarkAmerican singer-songwriter · b. 1977
Herbert HeyesActor · b. 1889

Questions about Toledo’s history

What year was Toledo founded?

The Toledo post office opened in 1880, 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 (12), Wikipedia, 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.