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Touchey looking toward main street IMG 1484Photo: Williamborg · Public domain
–Not graded
History · Touchet

Touchet’s post office opened in 1883, and 25% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 7 old photos and papers, maps from 1918 on, and the census since 2000.

1883first post office
0on the National Register
25%homes built before 1940
7old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Touchet’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Touchet began

When was Touchet founded?

1883

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

First census: 396 in 20002020 census: 425143 years
Founding year: the first Touchet post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Touchet’s past

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

On the map since 19184 editions of the USGS map, 1918 to 1991. Watch Touchet change.
★ What stands out · On the map

Touchet on the map, 1918 to 1991

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

Touchet on the 1918 USGS mapTouchet on the 1966 USGS mapTouchet on the 1980 USGS mapTouchet on the 1991 USGS map1918Wallula sheet · 1:125,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Touchet.

The story

How Touchet came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Touchet.

Read it all →

Prior to removal to reservations, there was a village of Walla Walla people located near the present townsite. This site was called Tuushi, meaning "baking salmon on sticks over coals", a name based on a coyote myth. Bands of Palouse, Yakamas, Umatilla, Walla Walla and Wanapum, that used this area were collectively called Nez Perce by Lewis and Clark when they passed through the Walla Walla Valley on their return journey in 1806.

Settlers from the east came to the valley in the early 1850s, but shortly left due to conflicts with the Native people. Homesteaders returned to the valley in 1859.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Touchet, 1883 to 1941

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1883Post officeThe Touchet post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1918On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1941In the archiveSacked wheat in Washington warehouse. Touchet, Walla Walla County, Washington
By decade

Touchet, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1940s7 items
Sacked wheat in Washington warehouse. Touchet, Walla Walla County, Washington1941Sacked wheat in Washington warehouse. Touchet, Walla …Sack warehouse for wheat. Touchet, Walla Walla County, Washington1941Sack warehouse for wheat. Touchet, Walla Walla County…Taking sacked wheat into warehouse for storage. Touchet, Walla Walla, Washington1941Taking sacked wheat into warehouse for storage. Touch…Truck with sacked wheat at warehouse. Touchet, Walla Walla County, Washington1941Truck with sacked wheat at warehouse. Touchet, Walla …Sacked wheat being stored in warehouse. Touchet, Walla Walla County, Washington1941Sacked wheat being stored in warehouse. Touchet, Wall…Truck which carries bulk wheat in entrance to private elevator. Touchet, Walla Walla County, Washington1941Truck which carries bulk wheat in entrance to private…Truck which carries bulk wheat in entrance to private elevator. Touchet, Walla Walla County, Washington1941Truck which carries bulk wheat in entrance to private…
1950s–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
Today5 recent
Touchet, WA - State Bank Building2006Touchet, WA - State Bank BuildingTouchet, WA - Seed House Saloon2006Touchet, WA - Seed House SaloonTouchet, WA - Old Meat Market2006Touchet, WA - Old Meat MarketTouchet, WA - Old Gas Station and Feed Mill2006Touchet, WA - Old Gas Station and Feed MillTouchet, WA - Caiser Building2006Touchet, WA - Caiser Building
Every building

Touchet, building by building, 1922

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.

Touchet fire insurance map, 1922, sheet 11922Sheet 1 of 2
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.

Sacked wheat in Washington warehouse. Touchet, Walla Walla County, Washington
Retake this viewSacked wheat in Washington warehouse. Touchet, Walla Walla County, Washington, 1941

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Touchet, census by census

010020030040020002020Peak: 425

Between 396 and 425 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Touchet

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

See all →
Chuck PalahniukAmerican novelist, essayist · b. 1962
Adam WestAmerican actor · b. 1928
Hamza YusufAmerican Islamic scholar · b. 1958
C
Connor TrinneerAmerican actor · b. 1969
Gordon H. SmithAmerican politician · b. 1952
Brian UrlacherAmerican football player · b. 1978
Help out

Finish Touchet’s story

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewSacked wheat in Washington warehouse. T…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Touchet’s history

What year was Touchet founded?

The Touchet post office opened in 1883, 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 (5), the Library of Congress (7), 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 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.