Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1870.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives White Salmon’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, White Salmon is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns, #69 of 285 in Washington. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of White Salmon’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 White Salmon’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 C− to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±10.6 points). Two sources give 1852.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 White Salmon’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
White Salmon was first settled in 1852 by Erastus Joslyn and his wife. White Salmon was officially incorporated on June 3, 1907.
White Salmon was part of the home of the Klickitat Tribe, now a part of the Yakama Confederated Nations. The Klickitat Tribe sold some land to the Joslyns. They were generally Native advocates for the time. The area was thrown open on October 31, 1858, for white settlement after the Klickitat and Yakama lost the fight for their homelands in the Yakama War. Within the same year, the region was very rapidly and heavily settled by white immigrants making land claims. The Klickitat were forced to relocate to the Yakama Reservation.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of White Salmon. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1975White Salmon 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 White Salmon.
Every building
White Salmon, building by building, 1910–1929
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 year, then a sheet.
In 1852, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. White Salmon’s post office opened in 1870, and the census of 1910 counted 682 people here.
How does White Salmon rank for history?
White Salmon is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns, #69 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 White Salmon?
28% of White Salmon’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.6 points), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 1978.
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), the Library of Congress (1), 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 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.
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