Steilacoom was founded by Lafayette Balch, a sea captain from Maine, and officially incorporated in 1854. It is the oldest incorporated town in Washington State and has 32 buildings and sites listed on the National Registry of Historic Places, including the oldest Catholic Church in the state and the first Protestant Church north of the Columbia River. A leading candidate for territorial capital and one-time seat of Pierce County, Steilacoom lost its chance for dominance in the south Puget Sound region when the Northern Pacific railroad picked rival Tacoma instead for its west coast terminus in 1873. Steilacoom has since settled into its role of suburban bedroom community.
Steilacoom had the first jail in Washington and the first sawmill.
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