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DHistory
History · Cedar Mill

Cedar Mill’s post office opened in 1874

More historic than 12% of U.S. towns · #116 of 142 in Oregon. What drives it

Most of Cedar Mill was built recently: 0.5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1992. Below: maps from 1915 on.

1874first post office
0on the National Register
0.5%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Steve Morgan · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Cedar Mill began

When was Cedar Mill founded?

1874

The Cedar Mill post office opened in 1874, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 17,259152 years

How historic is Cedar Mill?

D

More historic than 12% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Cedar Mill post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Cedar Mill’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cedar Mill is more historic than 12% of U.S. towns, #116 of 142 in Oregon. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Cedar Mill’s overall grade.
Founding era1874, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19400.5% of homes (±0.5) · typical OR town 5.3% · U.S. 8.4%DNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical OR town 2.9 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 12%
NewerOlder
Oregon towns of 2,500+ (142)Ahead of 18%

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 Cedar Mill’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.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to D. The pre-1940 share (±0.5 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

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 Cedar Mill’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Cedar Mill are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19157 editions of the USGS map, 1915 to 1990. Watch Cedar Mill change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Cedar Mill’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Cedar Mill on the map, 1915 to 1990

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

Cedar Mill on the 1915 USGS mapCedar Mill on the 1940 USGS mapCedar Mill on the 1954 USGS mapCedar Mill on the 1961 USGS mapCedar Mill on the 1970 USGS mapCedar Mill on the 1984 USGS mapCedar Mill on the 1990 USGS map1915Hillsboro 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 Cedar Mill.

The story

How Cedar Mill came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Cedar Mill.

Read it all →

Before white settlement, the land was inhabited by the Atfalati, a subgroup of the Kalapuya, called the "Tualatin" or "Wapato Lake Indians" by settlers. Nearby Beaverton was known by the Natives as "Cha Kepi", meaning "Place of the Beaver". While in 1782 the native population exceeded several thousand, due to diseases brought by the settlers sixty years later, in 1842, the population was merely six hundred. By 1890, the members of the tribe had been reduced to 28 and the last known speaker of the Tualatin language, Louis Kenoyer, died in 1936. Early settlers in the area would recall Native Americans passing through the area, visiting their former lands.

ChaptersEarly historyMill and post office20th century

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Cedar Mill, 1874 to 1915

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1874Post officeThe Cedar Mill post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1904Post officeThe Cedar Mill post office closes
  5. 1915On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Cedar Mill, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Larry Vincent Memorial Bridge2012Larry Vincent Memorial BridgeCedar Mill history2012Cedar Mill historyCedar Mill Creek boardwalk 20122012Cedar Mill Creek boardwalk 2012Cornell Road at 129th in Cedar Mill in 20092009Cornell Road at 129th in Cedar Mill in 2009Yellow stop sign in2006Yellow stop sign inORMap-doton-Cedar Mill2004ORMap-doton-Cedar Mill
Famous people

Famous people close to Cedar Mill

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

See all →
Linus PaulingAmerican scientist · b. 1901
Douglas EngelbartAmerican engineer and inventor · b. 1925
Matt GroeningAmerican cartoonist · b. 1954
Mary E. BrunkowAmerican molecular biologist and immunologist · b. 1961
John ReedAmerican journalist, poet, and communist activi… · b. 1887
Dick FosburyAmerican athletics competitor, high jumper · b. 1947
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Cedar Mill had its own post office from 1874 to 1904.

Cedar Mill
1874–1904
18701950today

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Beaverton5 historic placesB−Portland596 historic placesA+BethanyIts storyDWest Haven-SylvanIts storyD−Oak Hills1 historic placeC

Questions about Cedar Mill’s history

What year was Cedar Mill founded?

The Cedar Mill post office opened in 1874, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Cedar Mill rank for history?

Cedar Mill is more historic than 12% of U.S. towns, #116 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.

How old are the homes in Cedar Mill?

0.5% of Cedar Mill’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 5.3% for an Oregon town; the median home was built in 1992.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, 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.