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History · Echo

Echo’s post office opened in 1881, and 21% of its homes were built before 1940

10 places in town are on the National Register. Below: maps from 1908 on and the census since 1910.

1881first post office
10on the National Register
21%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Echo began

When was Echo founded?

1881

The Echo post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1904.

First census: 400 in 19102020 census: 632145 years
Founding year: the first Echo post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1904.The full story ↓

What stands out about Echo’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 Echo are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1920 and 1940, then more than doubled.On the map since 19083 editions of the USGS map, 1908 to 1984. Watch Echo change.Landmarks on the Register10 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Echo’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Echo’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

Echo, census by census

0100200300400500600700192019401960198020002020501 in 1920Low: 280

Lost a third of its people between 1920 and 1940, then more than doubled.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

On the map

Echo on the map, 1908 to 1984

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

Echo on the 1908 USGS mapEcho on the 1968 USGS mapEcho on the 1984 USGS map1908Umatilla sheet · 1:125,000

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

The story

How Echo came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Echo.

Read it all →

The original Oregon Trail passed just south of Echo. When the Columbia Plateau Route opened in 1847, it passed directly through Echo, crossing the Umatilla River. This eventually became the primary route of the Oregon Trail. Frequently pioneers would stay in Lower Crossing Camp, also located in Echo (the Upper Crossing being at Pendleton). In the 1860s, settlers began moving into the area, and built a ferry crossing the Umatilla River at Echo. The city of Echo is named after Echo Koontz, daughter of Cynthia and J. H. Koontz. Agriculture was the first draw, with alfalfa and corn being the main crops. A town was platted by 1880, and the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company built a railroad through Echo by 1883, which made the town a shipping point for wool, cattle and sheep during the early 1900s. Echo was incorporated in 1904.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Echo, 1881 to 2010

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1881BuiltArlington Hotel is built
  3. 1881Post officeThe Echo post office opens
  4. 1886BuiltEcho Methodist Church is built
  5. 20th century
  6. 1905BuiltJ.H. Koontz Building is built
  7. 1908On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1915BuiltEcho City Hall is built
  9. 21st century
  10. 2010CensusPopulation peaks at 699
By decade

Echo, decade by decade

Today3 recent
Bank 22512022Bank 2251Framed Picture of George Washington, Umatilla County Masonic Hall no.402020Framed Picture of George Washington, Umatilla County …ORMap-doton-Echo2004ORMap-doton-Echo
Every building

Echo, building by building, 1910

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 sheet.

Echo fire insurance map, 1910, sheet 11910Sheet 1 of 2
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

On the National Register

10 historic places in Echo

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

places listed
10
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
27
each building in a district counts
first listed
1982
Bank of Echo Building
Bank of Echo BuildingEcho City Hall, built 1915Echo Methodist Church, built 1886J.H. Koontz Building, built 1905James Edwards BuildingJames H. and Cynthia Koontz HouseJoseph Cunha FarmsteadSt. Peter's Roman Catholic ChurchUmatilla Masonic Lodge HallArlington Hotel, built 1881
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Vernacular3
Western False Front2
Italianate2
Beaux Arts Classicism1
Beaux Arts Eclecticism1
Arts and Crafts Movement1
Bank of Echo BuildingBeaux Arts Classicism
Echo City HallBeaux Arts Eclecticism · Built 1915
Echo Methodist ChurchGothic Revival · Built 1886
J.H. Koontz BuildingCommercial · Built 1905
James Edwards BuildingWestern False Front
James H. and Cynthia Koontz HouseItalianate
Joseph Cunha FarmsteadQueen Anne
St. Peter's Roman Catholic ChurchSpanish/Portuguese Colonial Revival
All 10 listings
Umatilla Masonic Lodge HallBuilding · listed 1997Arlington HotelBuilding · listed 1997

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Echo

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

See all →
Gordon H. SmithAmerican politician · b. 1952
Dave CockrumAmerican comics artist · b. 1943
George HackathorneActor · b. 1896
Elaine MilesAmerican actress · b. 1960
Frances Moore LappéAmerican researcher and author · b. 1944
C
Cork HubbertAmerican actor · b. 1952

Questions about Echo’s history

What year was Echo founded?

The Echo post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1904.

What is on the National Register in Echo?

10 listings: 10 buildings, among them the Bank of Echo Building (listed 1982, the first). 27 historic buildings in all.

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 (7), the National Register of Historic Places (10), Wikipedia, 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.