Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Photo: 46percent · Public domainMore historic than 25% of U.S. towns · #91 of 142 in Oregon. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Harrisburg Odd Fellows Hall. Most of Harrisburg was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. Below: maps from 1884 on and the census since 1880.
The Harrisburg post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1866. Another post office, Thurston (1853), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
More historic than 25% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Harrisburg is more historic than 25% of U.S. towns, #91 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 Harrisburg’s 2.7 sits near the middle of its state (47% of Oregon towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 Harrisburg’s history is told.
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.
1884Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Harrisburg. 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 Harrisburg.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Harrisburg yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Harrisburg is a city in Linn County, Oregon, United States. As of the 2020 census, Harrisburg had a population of 3,652.
Its first post office opened in 1855. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 3,567 to 3,652 (+2%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
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 422 people in 1880 to 3,652 in 2020, 8 times over.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Harrisburg’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Harrisburg itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Harrisburg’s post office has been open since 1855. Another post office, Thurston, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Harrisburg post office opened in 1855, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1866.
Harrisburg is more historic than 25% of U.S. towns, #91 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.
One place: the Harrisburg Odd Fellows Hall (listed 1992).
1% of Harrisburg’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.6 points), against a typical 5.3% for an Oregon town; the median home was built in 1980.
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 National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
