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History · Winthrop

Winthrop dates to 1890, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Guy Waring Cabin. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1909 on, and the census since 1930.

1890founded
1on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Winthrop’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Winthrop began

When was Winthrop founded?

1890

Winthrop dates its founding to 1890 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1930.

First census: 270 in 19302020 census: 504136 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1891.The full story ↓

What stands out about Winthrop’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Winthrop’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewWinthrop Washington: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Winthrop came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Winthrop.

Read it all →

Native Americans, including the Methow people, were the first inhabitants of Winthrop, with evidence of human habitation at least 8,000 to 10,000 years before present. They lived along the banks of the Methow and Chewuch rivers, where they harvested camas root and berries, fished, and hunted. The Methow had seasonal camps and returned annually to the upper valley in the summer once they acquired horses in the 18th century. The Columbia Plateau peoples, including the Methow and Syilx, established routes over Cascade Pass to trade with Coast Salish tribes in modern-day Skagit Valley. The population of the Methow people and other Columbia Plateau tribes were devastated by smallpox epidemics by the 19th century. The tribes under the leadership of Chief Moses were assigned by the federal government to the Columbia Reservation in 1879, which included the Methow Valley.

ChaptersPrehistory and early settlementFounding and developmentIncorporation and growthWesternization project

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Winthrop, 1890 to 2001

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1890
    FoundingWinthrop is established
  3. 1891Post officeThe Winthrop post office opens
  4. 1896BuiltGuy Waring Cabin is built
  5. 20th century
  6. 1965In the archiveWinthrop Washington
  7. 1969On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1986In the archiveWinthrop Washington Pratts store
  9. 1991Born hereErik Bjornsen is born here
  10. 21st century
  11. 2001Born hereNovie McCabe is born here
By decade

Winthrop, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1960s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1960s–1980s2 items
Winthrop Washington1965Winthrop WashingtonWinthrop Washington Pratts store1986Winthrop Washington Pratts store
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
Today15 recent
Fawn fording the Methow River 012012Fawn fording the Methow River 01Doe fording the Methow River 022012Doe fording the Methow River 02Doe fording the Methow River 012012Doe fording the Methow River 01Methow Valley2010Methow ValleyMountainy landscape 4682009Mountainy landscape 468DowntownWinthropWashington2008DowntownWinthropWashingtonDouglas Squirrel, Beaver Pond Trail2008Douglas Squirrel, Beaver Pond TrailWinthropWildflowers2007WinthropWildflowersWinthropHills2007WinthropHillsWinthrop cabin22007Winthrop cabin2Winthrop Cabin2006Winthrop CabinFlickr - brewbooks - Tower, Golden Horn ^ Azurite Mountain2006Flickr - brewbooks - Tower, Golden Horn ^ Azurite Mou…Flickr - brewbooks - Rocks with Fossils at Slate Peak2006Flickr - brewbooks - Rocks with Fossils at Slate PeakFlickr - brewbooks - Rocks with Fossils at Slate Peak (1)2006Flickr - brewbooks - Rocks with Fossils at Slate Peak…WinthropWA2003WinthropWA
On the map

Winthrop on the map, 1969 to 2002

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

Winthrop on the 1969 USGS mapWinthrop on the 2002 USGS map1969Winthrop 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 Winthrop.

Every building

Winthrop, building by building, 1909

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 sheet.

Winthrop fire insurance map, 1909, sheet 11909Sheet 1 of 1
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

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.

Winthrop Washington
Retake this viewWinthrop Washington, 1965

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Winthrop

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
1982
Guy Waring Cabin
Guy Waring Cabin, built 1896
Buildings
Guy Waring CabinBuilt 1896

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

People over time

Winthrop, census by census

010020030040050019401960198020002020Peak: 504

Between 270 and 504 people in every census since 1930.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Winthrop

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Erik BjornsenAmerican cross country skier · b. 1991
N
Novie McCabeAmerican cross-country skier · b. 2001

Questions about Winthrop’s history

What year was Winthrop founded?

In 1890, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Winthrop’s post office opened in 1891, and the census of 1930 counted 270 people here.

What is on the National Register in Winthrop?

One place: the Guy Waring Cabin (listed 1982).

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 (17), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (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.