Cornelius’ post office opened in 1871, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 24% of U.S. towns · #92 of 142 in Oregon. What drives it
Most of Cornelius was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1992. Its Register listing is the Albert S. Sholes House. Its Register listing is the Albert S. Sholes House. Below: maps from 1888 on and the census since 1900.
Founding year: the first Cornelius post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1893.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Cornelius’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cornelius is more historic than 24% of U.S. towns, #92 of 142 in Oregon. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Cornelius’ 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 Cornelius’ 0.7 sits near the middle of its state (37% of Oregon towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C. The pre-1940 share (±1.7 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1893 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
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 Cornelius’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost a third of its people between 1910 and 1930, then grew more than tenfold.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Cornelius’ Wikipedia page.
Every building
Cornelius, building by building, 1888–1928
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.
1888Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
In 1845, Benjamin Cornelius immigrated to Oregon with his family, traveling with Joseph Meek. The Cornelius family settled on the Tualatin Plains, near what is now North Plains. The same year, Benjamin Q. Tucker and Solomon Emerick staked land claims and established farms on the land that would eventually become Cornelius. At that time, the area was called Free Orchards; there was no actual community, but the name referred to the orchards on the 107 acres (0.43 km2) of land.
The Cornelius post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1893.
How does Cornelius rank for history?
Cornelius is more historic than 24% of U.S. towns, #92 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.
What is on the National Register in Cornelius?
One place: the Albert S. Sholes House (listed 1982).
How old are the homes in Cornelius?
2% of Cornelius’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.7 points), against a typical 5.3% for an Oregon town; the median home was built in 1992.
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 (2), 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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