Yakima dates to 1847, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 88% of U.S. towns · #2 of 285 in Washington. What drives it
41 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 34 buildings between them. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1920 on, and the census since 1890.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1870.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Yakima’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Yakima is more historic than 88% of U.S. towns, #2 of 285 in Washington. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Yakima’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 Yakima’s 7.8 sits above most of its state (82% of Washington towns have fewer) while its 76 historic buildings outnumber those of 88% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. The pre-1940 share (±2.1 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1847.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Yakima’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The Yakama people were the first known inhabitants of the Yakima Valley. In 1805, the Lewis and Clark Expedition came to the area and encountered abundant wildlife and rich soil, prompting the settlement of homesteaders. A Catholic Mission was established in Ahtanum, southwest of present-day Yakima, in 1847. The arrival of settlers and their conflicts with the natives resulted in the Yakima War. The U.S. Army established Fort Simcoe in 1856 near present-day White Swan as a response to the uprising. The Yakamas were defeated and forced to relocate to the Yakama Indian Reservation.
Passages that mention Yakima, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of the Yakima Valley, Washington1919 · page 369Read the page →
Read the text
young manhood followed farming and also worked at the cooper's trade in Michigan, learning the business under his father's direction. He continued to reside in Michigan until 1881. when he went to Howell county, Missouri, where he made his home until 1889. In that year he arrived in Yakima county and rented land near the city of Yakima, upon which he resided until 1893, when he purchased forty acres two and a half miles south of Yakima and has since planted thirty acres of this to fruit, making a specialty of apples and pears. He has erected the house upon the place and has continuously occupied the farm from that date to the present. He is a
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of the Yakima Valley, Washington1919 · page 829Read the page →
Read the text
mine owner. He saved ten thousand dollars but lost it all in the failure of the Carbonit Bank of Leadville. Thus rendered penniless, he again went to work for wages and later he was with the Gurley Investment Company as a mining expert. In 1902 he started for British Columbia but stopped ofif in Yakima county and, being pleased with the district, decided to remain. He worked for the gas company of Yakima county for five years and helped lay the first gas mains in the city of Yakima. He was afterward for five years with the Consolidated Fuel Company, but ambitious to engage in business on his own account, in 1910 he bought eighty acres on Naches
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
Yakima, 1847 to 1959
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.
In 1847, according to Wikidata. Yakima’s post office opened in 1870, and the census of 1890 counted 1,535 people here.
How does Yakima rank for history?
Yakima is more historic than 88% of U.S. towns, #2 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 Yakima?
41 listings: 38 buildings, among them the Capitol Theatre (listed 1973, the first), and 3 historic districts, the Old North Yakima Historic District, the Yakima Valley Transportation Company and the Fruit and Produce Row Historic District, with 34 contributing buildings. 76 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Yakima?
17% of Yakima’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.1 points), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 1972.
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), Wikidata (4), the National Register of Historic Places (41), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
c. 1889
