Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 24% of U.S. towns · #93 of 142 in Oregon. What drives it
Most of Altamont was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1972. Below: maps from 1957 on and the census since 1950.
The Altamont post office opened in 1895, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 24% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Altamont is more historic than 24% of U.S. towns, #93 of 142 in Oregon. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
Oregon towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Oregon town has 2.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Altamont’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (18% of Oregon towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: the first post office (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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Altamont’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Altamont.
Altamont may have been named after a locally famous trotting horse named Altamont, by a prominent local horseman, Jay Beach. An Altamont post office was in operation from 1895 to 1902.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Altamont. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Altamont.
Grew from 9,419 people in 1950 to 20,233 in 2020.
8 censuses, 1950–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Altamont’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Altamont itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Altamont had its own post office from 1895 to 1902.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Altamont post office opened in 1895, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Altamont is more historic than 24% of U.S. towns, #93 of 142 in Oregon. 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.
8% of Altamont’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.9 points), against a typical 5.3% for an Oregon town; the median home was built in 1972.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 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.
