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History · Granite

Granite was first counted by the census in 1870, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1972 on and the census since 1870.

1870first census
0on the National Register
15%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Scott Catron from Sandy, Utah, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0
Quick answers

How Granite began

When was Granite founded?

1870

Granite first appears in the census in 1870.

First census: 448 in 18702020 census: 32156 years
Founding year: the first census.The full story ↓

What stands out about Granite’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 Granite are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1870 and 1960, then grew more than tenfold.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Granite’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Granite’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

Granite, census by census

010020030040050018801900192019401960198020002020448 in 1870Low: 3

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1870 and 1960, then grew more than tenfold.

16 censuses, 1870–2020.

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

The story

How Granite came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Granite.

Read it all →

First established by miners after the discovery of gold along Granite Creek on July 4, 1862, the area was originally called Granite Creek Falls. During the following year, a settlement called Granite City was established about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) downstream of where Granite City is now. It was moved to its current location in 1867 and renamed Independence after the date—July 4, or Independence Day—of the earlier gold discovery. However, when the community's post office was established in 1878, it could not use the name Independence because that name was already used by another Oregon city. Instead, the name Granite was chosen. The post office closed in 1957, but the city retained the name. The creek takes its name from the granite rocks that are common to the area.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Granite, 1870 to 1972

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1870CensusPopulation peaks at 448
  3. 1878Post officeThe Granite post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1957Post officeThe Granite post office closes
  6. 1972On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Granite, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Granite Oregon2013Granite OregonGranite Oregon 22013Granite Oregon 2Allen Hall2013Allen HallGranite182010Granite18Granite Oregon ghost town 20082008Granite Oregon ghost town 2008ORMap-doton-Granite2004ORMap-doton-Granite
On the map

Granite on the map, 1972 to 1995

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Granite. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Granite on the 1972 USGS mapGranite on the 1983 USGS mapGranite on the 1995 USGS map1972Granite sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Granite.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Granite had its own post office from 1878 to 1957.

Granite
1878–1957
18701950today
Gone or out of use
Granite Post Officepost office

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Granite’s history

What year was Granite founded?

The Granite post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1900.

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 (6), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.