The Athena post office opened in 1889, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1904. Another post office, Centerville (1878), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 495 in 18902020 census: 1,209137 years
How historic is Athena?
B
More historic than 63% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Athena post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1904.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Athena’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Athena is more historic than 63% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Athena’s overall grade.
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 Athena’s 14.5 sits above most of its state (76% of Oregon towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.7 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1904.
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 →
What stands out about Athena’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
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.
1890Sheet 1 of 1
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Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Athena, about halfway between Pendleton, Oregon, and Walla Walla, Washington, was originally called Centerville. However, confusion about the name sometimes arose because Oregon had another Centerville, in Washington County, and the state of Washington had a Centerville, in Klickitat County. In 1889, local government officials asked the Centerville school principal, D. W. Jarvis, to recommend a different name. He chose Athena after the Greek goddess, and they agreed.
Centerville got its first post office on October 11, 1878. The first postmaster was William T. Cook. The post office name was changed to Athena on May 16, 1889.
The Athena post office opened in 1889, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1904.
How does Athena rank for history?
Athena is more historic than 63% of U.S. towns. 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.
What is on the National Register in Athena?
One place: the M. L. Watts House (listed 1988).
How old are the homes in Athena?
19% of Athena’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.7 points), against a typical 5.3% for an Oregon town; the median home was built in 1974.
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 the Library of Congress (17), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
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