Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 31% of U.S. towns · #81 of 142 in Oregon. What drives it
Most of Florence was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1989. Its Register listings are the Edwin E. Benedict House, the Kyle, William, and Sons, Building and the Siuslaw River Bridge No. 01821. Its Register listings are the Edwin E. Benedict House, the Kyle, William, and Sons, Building and the Siuslaw River Bridge No. 01821. Below: maps from 1920 on and the census since 1880.
The Florence post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1893.
More historic than 31% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Florence is more historic than 31% of U.S. towns, #81 of 142 in Oregon. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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 Florence’s 3.2 sits near the middle of its state (49% of Oregon towns have fewer) while its 3 listings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Florence’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Florence. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Florence.
From Wikipedia’s history of Florence.
The Florence area was originally inhabited by the Siuslaw tribe of Native Americans. Some claim that the city was named after state senator A. B. Florence, who represented Lane County from 1858 to 1860; another claim is that Florence was named after a French vessel that was wrecked at the mouth of the Siuslaw River on February 17, 1875.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
1920Sheet 1 of 3Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Grew from 68 people in 1880 to 9,396 in 2020, more than tenfold.
14 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Florence’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Florence itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Florence’s post office has been open since 1879.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Florence post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1893.
Florence is more historic than 31% of U.S. towns, #81 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.
Three places: the Edwin E. Benedict House (listed 1979), the Kyle, William, and Sons, Building (1981) and the Siuslaw River Bridge No. 01821 (2005).
2% of Florence’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.0 points), against a typical 5.3% for an Oregon town; the median home was built in 1989.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 the Library of Congress (3), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.
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