Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1887.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Enterprise’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Enterprise is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Enterprise’s 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 Enterprise’s 46.9 sits above most of its state (90% of Oregon towns have fewer) while its 10 historic buildings outnumber those of 76% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±11.2 points). Two sources give 1886.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Enterprise’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
1890Sheet 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.
On the National Register
8 historic places in Enterprise
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
places listed
8
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
10
each building in a district counts
first listed
1984
William P. Warnock House
Buildings
Architectural styles listings
Queen Anne2
Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals2
Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements: Commercial Style2
Enterprise was platted in 1886, and in 1887 residents considered Bennett Flat, Wallowa City, Franklin, and other possibilities before voting for Enterprise during a community meeting in a tent owned by a mercantile company. The name was meant to reflect "the policy of its inhabitants". In November 1887, a post office was established in the community, and Catherine Akin became the first postmaster. The city was incorporated by the Oregon Legislative Assembly on February 21, 1889.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
In 1886, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Enterprise’s post office opened in 1887, and the census of 1890 counted 242 people here.
How does Enterprise rank for history?
Enterprise is more historic than 84% of U.S. towns. 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 Enterprise?
8 listings: 8 buildings, among them the William P. Warnock House (listed 1984, the first). 10 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Enterprise?
42% of Enterprise’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±11.2 points), against a typical 5.3% for an Oregon town; the median home was built in 1952.
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 (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (8), 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.
2005
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