Its Register listings are the Sea Lyft and the Latourette, Charles, David, House. Below: 8 old photos and papers, maps from 1921 on, and the census since 1910.
Founding year: the first Gearhart post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1918.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Gearhart’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Gearhart is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Gearhart’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 Gearhart’s 10.1 sits above most of its state (72% of Oregon towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.3 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1918.
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 →
The city is named for Phillip Gearhart, a settler who in 1848 set out from Independence, Missouri, with his family and arrived in Oregon City in October of that year. He rented a log cabin on Clatsop Plains. At that time, other farmers had already settled primarily on the northern Plains. The first farmer to settle there was Solomon Smith. In 1851, Gearhart bought a squatter's right in the south Plains for $1,000. He used it to create a 640-acre (2.6 km2) donation land claim; the US patent was granted in 1874. Gearhart increased his holdings by 537 acres (2.17 km2) in 1859 through a purchase from Obadiah C. Motley, and again in 1863 by 571 acres (2.31 km2) purchased from Jefferson J. Louk. The entire parcel encompassed all of what is now called Gearhart, as well as a portion of Seaside across the Necanicum River estuary. Gearhart built a home and farm for his family near a grist mill …
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Gearhart. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1927Astoria 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 Gearhart.
Every building
Gearhart, building by building, 1921–1928
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.
The Gearhart post office opened in 1897, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1918.
How does Gearhart rank for history?
Gearhart is more historic than 54% 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 Gearhart?
Two places: the Sea Lyft (listed 2001) and the Latourette, Charles, David, House (1984).
How old are the homes in Gearhart?
12% of Gearhart’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.3 points), against a typical 5.3% for an Oregon town; the median home was built in 1985.
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 (11), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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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