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History · Fossil

Fossil’s post office opened in 1876, and 32% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listings are the Thomas Benton Hoover House and the Fossil Public School. Below: maps from 1910 on and the census since 1880.

1876first post office
2on the National Register
32%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Fossil began

When was Fossil founded?

1876

The Fossil post office opened in 1876, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1891.

First census: 100 in 18802020 census: 447150 years
Founding year: the first Fossil post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1891.The full story ↓

What stands out about Fossil’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 Fossil are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 672 in 1960; 447 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Fossil’s homes were built before 1957.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Fossil’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Fossil’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

Fossil, census by census

010020030040050060070018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 672

Peaked at 672 in 1960; 447 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

The story

How Fossil came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Fossil.

Read it all →

The Fossil post office was established on February 28, 1876, on Thomas Benton Hoover's ranch along Hoover Creek. He named the place Fossil after finding fossils in a clay-like rock formation on his ranch. In 1881, Hoover and Thomas Watson opened a store near the confluence of Butte and Cottonwood creeks and moved the post office to the store. When the city was incorporated in 1891, Hoover became the first mayor.

After creating Wheeler County in 1899, the Oregon Legislature chose Fossil as the temporary county seat. A county-wide election held in 1900 to determine the permanent county seat yielded 436 votes for Fossil, 267 for Twickenham, and 82 for Spray.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Fossil, decade by decade

Today2 recent
2017-07-15 Fossil 0120172017-07-15 Fossil 01ORMap-doton-Fossil2004ORMap-doton-Fossil
Every building

Fossil, 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.

Fossil fire insurance map, 1910, sheet 11910Sheet 1 of 1
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

2 historic places in Fossil

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
first listed
1978
Thomas Benton Hoover House
Thomas Benton Hoover HouseFossil Public School
Buildings
Thomas Benton Hoover HouseBuilding
All 2 listings
Fossil Public SchoolBuilding · listed 2013

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Fossil

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

See all →
Staryl C. AustinAmerican military personnel · b. 1920
J
John David BurnsAmerican politician · b. 1936
W
Willie KelsayJockey · b. 1892
T
Terry CooneyUnited States Marine · b. 1933

Questions about Fossil’s history

What year was Fossil founded?

The Fossil post office opened in 1876, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1891.

What is on the National Register in Fossil?

Two places: the Thomas Benton Hoover House (listed 1978) and the Fossil Public School (2013).

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 (2), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, 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.