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History · Halfway

Halfway’s post office opened in 1887, and 24% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1957 on and the census since 1910.

1887first post office
0on the National Register
24%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Hussain Sekha · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Halfway began

When was Halfway founded?

1887

The Halfway post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1909.

First census: 186 in 19102020 census: 351139 years
Founding year: the first Halfway post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1909.The full story ↓

What stands out about Halfway’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 Halfway are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 505 in 1960; 351 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Halfway’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Halfway’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

Halfway, census by census

0100200300400500192019401960198020002020Peak: 505

Peaked at 505 in 1960; 351 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

The story

How Halfway came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Halfway.

Read it all →

The community was named for the fact it is roughly halfway between Pine and Cornucopia. While a post office was established in 1887, the town was platted in another location in 1907, the post office moved there in 1908, and it incorporated in 1909.

ChaptersHalf.com name change

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Halfway, 1887 to 1960

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1887Post officeThe Halfway post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1914Born hereBarnaby Keeney is born here
  5. 1933Born hereRobert S. Summers is born here
  6. 1957On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1960CensusPopulation peaks at 505
By decade

Halfway, decade by decade

Today5 recent
Halfway-Oregon2022Halfway-OregonUntitled photo2021Untitled photoHighway 86 from Halfway to Richland2014Highway 86 from Halfway to RichlandORMap-doton-Halfway2004ORMap-doton-Halfway2000. Sign - "Douglas Fir Tussock Moth Headquarters.". Douglas-fir tussock moth control project. Halfway, Oregon20002000. Sign - "Douglas Fir Tussock Moth Headquarters."…
On the map

Halfway on the map, 1957 to 1987

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

Halfway on the 1957 USGS mapHalfway on the 1987 USGS map1957Halfway 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 Halfway.

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Halfway

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
B
Barnaby KeeneyAmerican academic administrator · b. 1914
R
Robert S. SummersAmerican legal scholar · b. 1933
Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Halfway’s post office has been open since 1887.

Gone or out of use
Halfway Elementary SchoolschoolUnion High Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Halfway
Pine Haven

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

Questions about Halfway’s history

What year was Halfway founded?

The Halfway post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1909.

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 (5), 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) 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.