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BHistory
History · White Center

13% of White Center’s homes were built before 1940

More historic than 64% of U.S. towns · #39 of 285 in Washington. What drives it

1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 2 buildings. Below: maps from 1894 on and the census since 1980.

1on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

About White Center’s history

How historic is White Center?

B

More historic than 64% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
The full story ↓
History grade

What drives White Center’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, White Center is more historic than 64% of U.S. towns, #39 of 285 in Washington. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of White Center’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 194012.9% of homes (±4.4) · typical WA town 4.3% · U.S. 8.4%B−National Register1 listing, 2 historic buildings, 1.3 per 10,000 residents · typical WA town 0.1 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 64%
NewerOlder
Washington towns of 2,500+ (285)Ahead of 87%

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 White Center’s 1.3 sits near the middle of its state (62% of Washington towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.4 points).

Founding year: our sources. 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 White Center’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of White Center are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18945 editions of the USGS map, 1894 to 1983. Watch White Center change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start White Center’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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On the map

White Center on the map, 1894 to 1983

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

White Center on the 1894 USGS mapWhite Center on the 1908 USGS mapWhite Center on the 1968 USGS mapWhite Center on the 1973 USGS mapWhite Center on the 1983 USGS map1894Seattle 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 White Center.

The story

How White Center came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of White Center.

Read it all →

In 1912, farmers near White Center paid for an interurban line, the Highland Park and Lake Burien Railway, to pass through White Center to reach Burien. A commercial core developed around the line between Southwest Roxbury Street and 16th Avenue Southwest.

In 1918, local developers George White and Hiram Green decided the name of the community in a coin toss. White won the coin toss, and thereafter the community was called White Center.

ChaptersOrigin of the nameIncorporation

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

White Center, decade by decade

Today2 recent
Untitled2012UntitledWhite Center 3 flags2007White Center 3 flags
On the National Register

1 historic place in White Center

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
2015
White Center Fieldhouse and Caretaker Cottage
White Center Fieldhouse and Caretaker Cottage
Districts
White Center Fieldhouse and Caretaker CottageDistrict

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

People over time

White Center, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,000198020002020Peak: 20,975

Between 13,495 and 20,975 people in every census since 1980.

5 censuses, 1980–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Seattle226 historic placesA−BurienIts storyC−Boulevard ParkIts storyC−

Questions about White Center’s history

How does White Center rank for history?

White Center is more historic than 64% of U.S. towns, #39 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 White Center?

One place: the White Center Fieldhouse and Caretaker Cottage (listed 2015).

How old are the homes in White Center?

13% of White Center’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.4 points), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 1977.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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).

From Wikimedia Commons (2), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.