Eugene dates to 1846, and 64 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 70% of U.S. towns · #24 of 142 in Oregon. What drives it
Most of Eugene was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. 64 places in town are on the National Register, among them 2 National Historic Landmarks and two historic districts with 46 buildings between them. Below: maps from 1884 on and the census since 1860.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1850.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Eugene’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Eugene is more historic than 70% of U.S. towns, #24 of 142 in Oregon. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Eugene’s overall grade.
Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Eugene ranks #172 on History.
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 Eugene’s 6.7 sits near the middle of its state (60% of Oregon towns have fewer) while its 120 historic buildings outnumber those of 90% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1846.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A−. The pre-1940 share (±0.6 points) is firm at this size.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Eugene’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Eugene’s post office has been open since 1889. Five other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Skinner's
1850–1853
Eugene City
1853–1889
McKenzie
1854–1859
Eugene
1889–today
Fairmount
1891–1904
Harris
1898–1901
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BethelCollege HillDanebo
Gone or out of use
Balboa Park Drag StriplocaleBlairlocaleBohemia Incorporated AirfieldairportChildren Hospital SchoolschoolCollege Crest Post Officepost officeCondon SchoolschoolE and S CrossinglocaleEugene Junior AcademyschoolEugene SpeedwaylocaleFairmount Post Officepost officeLane CollegeschoolLane Community CollegeschoolLasenlocaleLaurel Hill SchoolschoolLincoln SchoolschoolMagladry SchoolschoolMayardlocaleMcKenzie Post Officepost office
9cemeteries and burying grounds inside Eugene
Eugene MasonicEugene PioneerGillespieLane Memorial Gardens - Lane Memorial Funeral HomeMount Calvary CatholicMulkeyResthaven Memorial ParkSunset Hills Memorial GardensWest Lawn Memorial Park
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Eugene’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Eugene’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
The first people to settle in the Eugene area were the Chifin band of the Kalapuyans, also written Calapooia or Calapooya. They made "seasonal rounds", moving around the countryside to collect and preserve local foods, including acorns, the bulbs of the wapato and camas plants, and berries. They stored these foods in their permanent winter village. When crop activities waned, they returned to their winter villages and took up hunting, fishing, and trading. They were known as the Chifin Kalapuyans and called the Eugene area where they lived "Chifin", sometimes recorded as "Chafin" or "Chiffin".
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Eugene. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1910Eugene 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 Eugene.
Every building
Eugene, building by building, 1884–1925
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.
1884Sheet 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.
People over time
Eugene, census by census
Grew from 1,183 people in 1860 to 176,654 in 2020, more than tenfold.
17 censuses, 1860–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Eugene’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
37 famous people were born in Eugene
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
In 1846, according to Wikidata. Eugene’s post office opened in 1850, and the census of 1860 counted 1,183 people here.
How does Eugene rank for history?
Eugene is more historic than 70% of U.S. towns, #24 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 Eugene?
64 listings, 2 of them National Historic Landmarks: 58 buildings, among them the Deady Hall (a National Historic Landmark since 1977), 2 historic districts, the East Skinner Butte Historic District and the Eugene Blair Boulevard Historic Commercial Area, with 46 contributing buildings, 2 sites, and 2 objects. 120 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Eugene?
6% of Eugene’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 5.3% for an Oregon town; the median home was built in 1980.
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 Wikidata (6), the National Register of Historic Places (64), 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.
★ Landmark
★ Landmark
