The story
Read it all →How Cannon Beach came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Cannon Beach.
Cannon Beach and its surrounding coast was previously settled by the Tillamook people.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
B+History
History · Cannon Beach
15% of Cannon Beach’s homes were built before 1940
More historic than 74% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the West, Oswald, Coastal Retreat. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1949 on, and the census since 1930.
1on the National Register
15%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
Quick answers
About Cannon Beach’s history
How historic is Cannon Beach?
B+
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 74% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
History grade
What drives Cannon Beach’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cannon Beach is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Cannon Beach’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 194015.4% of homes (±3.9) · typical OR town 5.3% · U.S. 8.4%BNational Register1 listing, 2 historic buildings, 14.7 per 10,000 residents · typical OR town 2.9 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 74%
NewerOlder
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 Cannon Beach’s 14.7 sits above most of its state (77% of Oregon towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.9 points).
Founding year: our sources. 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 Cannon Beach’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Cannon Beach’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Cannon Beach’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Places that used to be
Lost post offices and old corners
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Ecola
Tolovana Park
19101970today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Tolovana Park
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Timeline
Cannon Beach, 1900 to 1980
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 20th century
- 1900
In the archiveCannon Beach on the Oregon Coast - 1910Post officeThe Ecola post office opens
- 1922Post officeThe Ecola post office closes
- 1933Post officeThe Tolovana Park post office opens
- 1949
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1953
In the archive1953. 8 year old spruce plantation near Tillamook Head. Spruce weevil beginning to cause … - 1974Post officeThe Tolovana Park post office closes
- 1980
In the archiveRocky Oregon coast [Haystack Rock]
By decade
Cannon Beach, decade by decade
3 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1900s1 item
1910s–1940snothing 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 album1950s–1980s3 items
![Oregon's rocky Pacific coast [Haystack Rock]](https://images.townratings.com/story/14452/990ba5097cc7fe8d1f01-s.jpg)
19801990snothing 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 albumToday7 recent
2018Tidal rock columns known as "sea stacks," off Cannon …
2018Tidal rock columns known as "sea stacks," off Cannon …
2018View of the Oregon Pacific Coastline town of Cannon B…
2018Mist descends upon beachwalkers near Cannon Beach on …
2018Mist descends upon beachwalkers near Cannon Beach on …
2018Mist descends upon beachwalkers near Cannon Beach on …
2018Driftwood on the sand below the Oregon Coast town of …On the map
Cannon Beach on the map, 1949 to 1973
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Cannon Beach. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1949Tillamook Head sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Cannon Beach.
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.
Retake this viewCannon Beach on the Oregon Coast, 1900
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Cannon Beach’s page.
Retake this view · +15On the National Register
1 historic place in Cannon Beach
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1992
West, Oswald, Coastal Retreat
Buildings
Architectural styles listings
Early 20th Century American Movements1
Craftsman/Rustic1
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Cannon Beach, census by census
Between 125 and 1,690 people in every census since 1930.
10 censuses, 1930–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Cannon Beach’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Cannon Beach
Nobody well known was born in Cannon Beach itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
K
Karl MarlantesAmerican businessman and novelist · b. 1944
C
Consuelo KanagaAmerican photographer and writer · b. 1894Questions about Cannon Beach’s history
How does Cannon Beach rank for history?
Cannon Beach is more historic than 74% 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 Cannon Beach?
One place: the West, Oswald, Coastal Retreat (listed 1992).
How old are the homes in Cannon Beach?
15% of Cannon Beach’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.9 points), against a typical 5.3% for an Oregon town; the median home was built in 1977.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (1), the Library of Congress (10), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.