Tumwater’s post office opened in 1863, and 4 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 44% of U.S. towns · #78 of 285 in Washington. What drives it
Most of Tumwater was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1995. 4 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 21 buildings. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1937 on, and the census since 1870.
The Tumwater post office opened in 1863, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1869. Another post office, Belmore (1895), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 354 in 18702020 census: 25,350163 years
How historic is Tumwater?
C+
More historic than 44% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Tumwater post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1869.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Tumwater’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Tumwater is more historic than 44% of U.S. towns, #78 of 285 in Washington. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Tumwater’s overall grade.
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 Tumwater’s 8.2 sits above most of its state (83% of Washington towns have fewer) while its 22 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 C− to B. The pre-1940 share (±1.0 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1869 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 Tumwater’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The site of Tumwater and Tumwater Falls has been home to Southern Lushootseed-speaking peoples known as the Steh-Chass / Stehchass or Statca'sabsh (a subtribe of the Sahewamish (Sahe'wabsh), a subgroup of the Nisqually people; who became part of the post-treaty Squaxin Island Tribe) for thousands of years. "Steh-Chass" is the Lushootseed name for Budd Inlet, Deschutes River and the Tumwater Falls area, and for an important village of the Statca'sabsh.
A post office called Tumwater was established in 1863. Tumwater was incorporated as a fourth-class municipality, commonly referred to as a town, on November 25, 1869.
Passages that mention Tumwater, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Early history of Thurston County, Washington1916 · page 82Read the page →
Read the text
Bush's, where a good supper was served them and permission given the boys to roll up in their blankets on the floor of the shack, which permission was gladly accepted. In the morning the march was completed by the arrival at Tumwater. There was only the stringers of a bridge then across the Des Chutes River at this place, the crossing having been made heretofore by Indian canoes. Horses and cattle were generally taken to Tenalquot Prairie, where there was a safe ford. This bridge,
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
Tumwater, 1863 to 2020
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.
The Tumwater post office opened in 1863, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1869.
How does Tumwater rank for history?
Tumwater is more historic than 44% of U.S. towns, #78 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 Tumwater?
4 listings: 1 building, 1 historic district, the Tumwater Historic District, with 21 contributing buildings, 1 site, and 1 structure. 22 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Tumwater?
2% of Tumwater’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.0 points), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 1995.
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 (5), Wikidata (1), 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 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.
1900
1902
