Columbia County, Washington
Historic newspapers, landmarks, and county history layers for genealogists and local historians.
At a glance
SummaryThe National Register of Historic Places includes 20 listed properties in the county, first listed in 1974. Most listings are in or near Dayton, Starbuck, Lyons Ferry.
Summary generated automatically from the source data on this page.
Newspapers
Library of CongressNewspaper directory data for Washington is not yet loaded on this site. Browse Columbia titles at the Library of Congress.
National Register of Historic Places
NPS NRHP17 of 20 listings mapped; some locations are restricted by NPS to protect sensitive sites.
20 listed properties
| Property | City | Listed |
|---|---|---|
| Bank of Starbuck | Starbuck | 1978 |
| Bishop, A. H., House | Dayton | 1986 |
| Brining, John, House | Dayton | 1986 |
| Columbia County Courthouse | Dayton | 1975 |
| Dexter House No. 1 | Dayton | 1986 |
| Dexter House No. 2 | Dayton | 1986 |
| Downtown Dayton Historic District | Dayton | 1999 |
| Flintner, Frank, House | Dayton | 1986 |
| Guernsey-Sturdevant Building | Dayton | 1993 |
| Israel, Grover J., House | Dayton | 1986 |
| Kelley, Mancel, House | Dayton | 1986 |
| Mill House | Dayton | 1986 |
| Nilsson, Andrew, House | Dayton | 1986 |
| Oregon Railway and Navigation Company Depot-Dayton (formerly Dayton Depot) | Dayton | 1974 |
| Pietrzycki, Dr. Marcel, House | Dayton | 1986 |
| Snake River Bridge | Lyons Ferry | 1982 |
| South Side Historic District | Dayton | 1986 |
| Thronson, J. A., House | Dayton | 1986 |
| Washington Street Historic District | Dayton | 1986 |
| Weinhard, Jacob, House | Dayton | 1986 |
Source: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Property links open NRHP nomination files at the National Archives.
County formation
Newberry AHCBColumbia was formed in 1875 (1875-11-11) from Walla Walla.
COLUMBIA created by Washington Territory from WALLA WALLA.
Source: Newberry Library, Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
Population by decade
CensusColumbia County population from 1880 to 2020 (Census historical series).
| 1880 | 1900 | 1920 | 1940 | 1950 | 1960 | 1980 | 2000 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7,103 | 7,128 | 6,093 | 5,549 | 4,860 | 4,569 | 4,057 | 4,064 | 3,952 |
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau historical county population (Forstall 1790–1990) and public-domain / CC0 county population series through 2020.
National Park Service sites nearby
NPSPark units within about 40 km of the county centroid (from NPS Public POIs; no API key).
| Site | Type | Dist. |
|---|---|---|
| Whitman Mission National Historic Site | Park unit | 50.9 km |
Source: NPS National Datasets / Public POIs. The NPS Developer API requires a free key and was not used.
Cemeteries & historical places
USGS GNIS6 cemeteries and 2 historical populated places (ghost towns / former settlements) recorded in USGS GNIS for this county.
Cemeteries — 6 of 6 listed
| Name |
|---|
| Bundy Hollow Cemetery |
| Covello Cemetery |
| Dayton Cemetery |
| Pioneer Cemetery |
| Pioneer Memorial Park |
| Turner Cemetery |
Historical populated places — 2 of 2
| Name |
|---|
| Grange City |
| Wild Goose |
Source: USGS Geographic Names Information System (public domain). Cemeteries from the 2021 NationalFile archive; historical places from GNIS HistoricalFeatures topical extract.
Historical markers
HMdb linkMarker text and photos from the Historical Marker Database (HMdb) are not embedded here. HMdb allows non-commercial reuse with attribution, but commercial/compensated use needs written permission; this is a commercial site, so we only link out.
Search HMdb for Columbia County, Washington
Terms: hmdb.org/copyright.asp. Linking is encouraged by HMdb.