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History · Trout Lake

Trout Lake’s post office opened in 1887, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Trout Lake was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1996. Its Register listing is the Trout Lake Tourist Club. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1998 on, and the census since 2000.

1887first post office
1on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Trout Lake’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Trout Lake began

When was Trout Lake founded?

1887

The Trout Lake post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Guler (1903), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 494 in 20002020 census: 672139 years
Founding year: the first Trout Lake post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
The story so far

Trout Lake, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Trout Lake yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Trout Lake is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Klickitat County, Washington, United States. The population was 672 at the 2020 census. The town is notable for its organic dairy and herb farms, and as an access point to Mount Adams and the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.

Its first post office opened in 1887. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 557 to 672 (+21%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Trout Lake, 1887 to 1998

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1887Post officeThe Trout Lake post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1903Post officeThe Guler post office opens
  5. 1913In the archiveMt. Adams and Trout Creek
  6. 1936Post officeThe Guler post office closes
  7. 1998On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Trout Lake, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s5 items
Mt. Adams and Trout Creek1913Mt. Adams and Trout CreekEast end, Big Ice Cave1913East end, Big Ice CaveWest end, Big Ice Cave1913West end, Big Ice CaveBig Ice Cave looking towards entrance. Trout Lake, Wash1913Big Ice Cave looking towards entrance. Trout Lake, Wa…Little Ice Cave (near lava cave)1913Little Ice Cave (near lava cave)
1920s–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
Today1 recent
Mt Adams from near2012Mt Adams from near
On the map

Trout Lake on the map in 1998

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Trout Lake.

Trout Lake on the 1998 USGS map1998Guler Mountain 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 Trout Lake.

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.

Mt. Adams and Trout Creek
Retake this viewMt. Adams and Trout Creek, 1913

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Trout Lake

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2005
Trout Lake Tourist Club
Trout Lake Tourist Club
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Western False Front1
Trout Lake Tourist ClubWestern False Front

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

People over time

Trout Lake, census by census

010020030040050060070020002020Peak: 672

Between 494 and 672 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Trout Lake

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

See all →
Vic WildAmerican-born Russian snowboarder · b. 1986
Greg WaldenAmerican politician · b. 1957
Cecil D. AndrusAmerican politician · b. 1931
D
Darren MorningstarAmerican basketball player · b. 1969
V
Virginia AdmiralAmerican painter and poet · b. 1915
Clifton N. McArthurAmerican politician · b. 1879
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Trout Lake’s post office has been open since 1887. Another post office, Guler, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Trout Lake
1887–today
Guler
1903–1936
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Guler
Gone or out of use
Hollenbeck Landing Stripairport

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

Help out

Finish Trout Lake’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 viewMt. Adams and Trout Creek: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Trout Lake’s history

What year was Trout Lake founded?

The Trout Lake post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Trout Lake?

One place: the Trout Lake Tourist Club (listed 2005).

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 (1), the Library of Congress (5), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.