–Not graded

History · Cascadia

Cascadia’s post office opened in 1898, and 16% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Short Bridge. Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1955 on.

1898first post office

1on the National Register

16%homes built before 1940

1old photo or paper

Add an old photo Share a memory

From Cascadia’s archive · credits on each photo

Quick answers

How Cascadia began

When was Cascadia founded?

1898

The Cascadia post office opened in 1898, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 134128 years

Founding year: the first Cascadia post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Cascadia’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 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Cascadia’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2 Retake an old viewShort Bridge, Spanning South Santiam Ri…: stand where they stood+15 Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

The story so far

Cascadia, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Cascadia yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Cascadia is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) that was established in 1892 on the South Santiam River, 14 miles (23 km) east of the current city of Sweet Home, in Linn County, Oregon, United States. As of the 2020 census, Cascadia had a population of 134. Originally a stage stop on the Santiam Wagon Road, then a summer resort also known as Cascadia Mineral Springs, Cascadia had a post office established in 1898. It maintains a ZIP code of 97329. The resort had a hotel established by George Geisendorfer, who was also the first postmaster. People were attracted to Cascadia because of its mineral spring water. The property was sold to the state in 1940 and now is th…

Its first post office opened in 1898. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 147 to 134 (-9%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

Cascadia, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date

Short Bridge, Spanning South Santiam River at High Deck Road

Date?Short Bridge, Spanning South Santiam River at High De…

Today3 recent

2016MapOfCascadiaOregonUSA

2016HowToGetToCascadiaFromPortlandOregonUSA

2009Cascadia, Oregon

On the map

Cascadia on the map, 1955 to 1994

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

1955Cascadia sheet · 1:62,500

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

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 viewShort Bridge, Spanning South Santiam River at High Deck Road

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

Retake this view · +15

On the National Register

1 historic place in Cascadia

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed

National Historic Landmarks

none yet

historic buildings protected

each building in a district counts

first listed

1979

Short Bridge

Structures

Architectural styles listings

Howe Truss1

Short BridgeHowe Truss

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Cascadia

Nobody well known was born in Cascadia itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →

Howard HessemanAmerican actor · b. 1940

Joe KentAmerican former federal intelligence official, … · b. 1980

Carol Menken-SchaudtAmerican basketball player · b. 1957

Dave WolvertonAmerican speculative fiction writer · b. 1957

Gladys LehmanAmerican screenwriter · b. 1892

Frederick SteiwerLawyer, Politician and United States Army offic… · b. 1883

Places that used to be

Places now gone

Cascadia’s post office has been open since 1898.

Gone or out of use

Cascadia Ranger StationbuildingCascadia Schoolschool

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

Questions about Cascadia’s history

What year was Cascadia founded?

The Cascadia post office opened in 1898, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Cascadia?

One place: the Short Bridge (listed 1979).

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 (3), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.

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