The story
Read it all →How Dresser came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Dresser.
The community has the name of Samuel B. Dresser, an early settler.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Dresser
16% of Dresser’s homes were built before 1940
Below: maps from 1974 on and the census since 1930.
0on the National Register
16%homes built before 1940
What stands out about Dresser’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Dresser’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Dresser’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Timeline
Dresser, 1888 to 1974
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your albumOn the map
Dresser on the map, 1974 to 1993
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Dresser. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1974St Croix Dalles SW sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Dresser.
People over time
Dresser, census by census
Grew from 285 people in 1930 to 935 in 2020, 3 times over.
10 censuses, 1930–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Dresser’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Dresser
Nobody well known was born in Dresser itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
C
Chad AndersonAmerican ice hockey player · b. 1982S
Sam LofquistAmerican ice hockey player · b. 1990Places that used to be
Lost post offices
Dresser’s post office has been open since 1940. Another post office, Dresser Junction, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Dresser Junction
Dresser
18801950today
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Dresser’s history
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 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.