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History · Cove

Cove’s post office opened in 1868, and 24% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Ascension Episcopal Church and Rectory. Below: maps from 1965 on and the census since 1890.

1868first post office
1on the National Register
24%homes built before 1940
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Cove began

When was Cove founded?

1868

The Cove post office opened in 1868, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1904. Another post office, Forest Cove (1863), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 223 in 18902020 census: 620158 years
Founding year: the first Cove post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1904.The full story ↓

What stands out about Cove’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 Cove are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1910 and 1950, then more than doubled.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Cove’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Cove’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
People over time

Cove, census by census

01002003004005006001900192019401960198020002020433 in 1910Low: 282

Lost a third of its people between 1910 and 1950, then more than doubled.

13 censuses, 1890–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Cove’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How Cove came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Cove.

Read it all →

This area was well known to the Cayuse and Nez Perce Tribes who referred to it as Wiweeletitpe (wee-walla-tit-puh), meaning "Many creeks flowing at that place". Euro-Americans first settled here in 1862, and in 1863 they established a post office named Forest Cove. Samuel G. French was the first postmaster. To avoid confusion between Forest Cove and another Oregon community, Forest Grove in Washington County, post office authorities changed the name to Cove in 1868. Cove was platted in the 1870s along Ruckles Road, only the second road over the Blue Mountains.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Cove, 1863 to 2020

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1863Post officeThe Forest Cove post office opens
  3. 1868Post officeThe Forest Cove post office closes
  4. 1868Post officeThe Cove post office opens
  5. 1874BuiltAscension Episcopal Church and Rectory is built
  6. 1887Born hereFrank E. Childs is born here
  7. 1897Born hereLee Morse is born here
  8. 1899Born hereDean Smith is born here
  9. 20th century
  10. 1965On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  11. 21st century
  12. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 620
By decade

Cove, decade by decade

Today3 recent
Cove Warm Springs Pool2013Cove Warm Springs PoolCove Leopards2013Cove LeopardsORMap-doton-Cove2004ORMap-doton-Cove
On the map

Cove on the map, 1965 to 1993

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

Cove on the 1965 USGS mapCove on the 1984 USGS mapCove on the 1993 USGS map1965Cove sheet · 1:24,000

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

On the National Register

1 historic place in Cove

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
1974
Ascension Episcopal Church and Rectory
Ascension Episcopal Church and Rectory, built 1874
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Gothic Revival1
Ascension Episcopal Church and RectoryGothic Revival · Built 1874

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

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Cove

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Lee MorseAmerican singer · b. 1897
Dean SmithAmerican pilot · b. 1899
F
Frank E. ChildsAmerican racehorse trainer · b. 1887
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Cove’s post office has been open since 1868. Another post office, Forest Cove, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Forest Cove
1863–1868
Cove
1868–today
18601940today

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

Questions about Cove’s history

What year was Cove founded?

The Cove post office opened in 1868, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1904.

What is on the National Register in Cove?

One place: the Ascension Episcopal Church and Rectory (listed 1974).

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), 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) 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.