More historic than 11% of U.S. towns · #225 of 285 in Washington. What drives it
Most of Warm Beach was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1989. Below: maps from 1943 on and the census since 2000.
The Warm Beach post office opened in 1923, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Birmingham (1910), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 2,040 in 20002020 census: 2,990103 years
How historic is Warm Beach?
D
More historic than 11% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Warm Beach post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Warm Beach’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Warm Beach is more historic than 11% of U.S. towns, #225 of 285 in Washington. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Warm Beach’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 Warm Beach’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (27% of Washington towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.9 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 Warm Beach’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
What is now Warm Beach was the site of a village of the Stillaguamish and Snohomish peoples. The village had one longhouse and several smaller cedar houses. According to James Dorsey, the chief of the Stillaguamish Tribe in 1927, it was a gathering place for members of the Stillaguamish and other neighboring tribes. In their language, Lushootseed, Warm Beach is called dxʷtux̌ʷub.
The Warm Beach post office opened in 1923, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Warm Beach rank for history?
Warm Beach is more historic than 11% of U.S. towns, #225 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.
How old are the homes in Warm Beach?
4% of Warm Beach’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.9 points), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 1989.
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 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.
