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History · Arlington

Arlington’s post office opened in 1885, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1888 on, and the census since 1890.

1885first post office
0on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Arlington’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Arlington began

When was Arlington founded?

1885

The Arlington post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Alkali (1881), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 356 in 18902020 census: 628141 years
Founding year: the first Arlington post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Arlington’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Mapped building by building4 fire insurance maps, 1888 to 1922, drew every building in Arlington.On the map since 19163 editions of the USGS map, 1916 to 1980. Watch Arlington change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Arlington’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Arlington’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewMountain Gem ad 04091906 MO: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Every building

Arlington, building by building, 1888–1922

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Arlington fire insurance map, 1888, sheet 11888Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

On the map

Arlington on the map, 1916 to 1980

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Arlington. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Arlington on the 1916 USGS mapArlington on the 1971 USGS mapArlington on the 1980 USGS map1916Arlington sheet · 1:125,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Arlington.

The story

How Arlington came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Arlington.

Read it all →

The account of how the city received its name varies; one tradition claims it was named after the lawyer Nathan Arlington Cornish, while another tradition claims that the Southern inhabitants of the city had enough clout to rename the city after Arlington, Virginia, home of general Robert E. Lee. Originally named Alkali, Arlington came into existence as a place for shipping cattle down the Columbia River. It was incorporated as Arlington by the Oregon Legislative Assembly on November 20, 1885.

The original townsite was demolished beginning in 1965 due to the scheduled inundation of Arlington by the rising waters of the Columbia River to form Lake Umatilla behind the John Day Dam. A new townsite was completed two years earlier.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Arlington, 1881 to 1939

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1881Post officeThe Alkali post office opens
  3. 1885Post officeThe Alkali post office closes
  4. 1885Post officeThe Arlington post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1906In the archiveMountain Gem ad 04091906 MO
  7. 1916On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1927Born hereDoc Severinsen is born here
  9. 1939In the archiveOn transportation outskirts of small Oregon town on the Columbia River. Arlington, Gillia…
By decade

Arlington, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s–1930s4 items
Mountain Gem ad 04091906 MO1906Mountain Gem ad 04091906 MOOn transportation outskirts of small Oregon town on the Columbia River. Arlington, Gilliam County, Oregon1939On transportation outskirts of small Oregon town on t…Untitled photo, possibly related to: On transportation outskirts of small Oregon town on the Columbia River. Arlington,…1939Untitled photo, possibly related to: On transportatio…The town of Arlington, Oregon, on the Columbia River 112 miles from Bonnville Dam. Population: 601. Railway division po…1939The town of Arlington, Oregon, on the Columbia River …
1940s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today8 recent
Arlington (west)2015Arlington (west)Arlington (east)2015Arlington (east)Aerial view of Arlington, OR 022015Aerial view of Arlington, OR 02Aerial view of Arlington, OR 012015Aerial view of Arlington, OR 01Truck Carries Windmill Blade2011Truck Carries Windmill BladeA Union Pacific train south of Arlington, Oregon on the former Condon Branch2010A Union Pacific train south of Arlington, Oregon on t…Arlington Oregon2009Arlington OregonArlington Municipal Airport2009Arlington Municipal Airport
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Mountain Gem ad 04091906 MO
Retake this viewMountain Gem ad 04091906 MO, 1906

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Arlington’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Arlington, census by census

01002003004005006007001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 686

Between 317 and 686 people in every census since 1890.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Arlington’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Arlington’s post office has been open since 1885. Another post office, Alkali, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Alkali
1881–1885
Arlington
1885–today
18801950today
1cemetery inside Arlington
Arlington Masonic

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Arlington’s history

What year was Arlington founded?

The Arlington post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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 Wikimedia Commons (9), the Library of Congress (3), 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 and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.