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DHistory
History · Irrigon

Irrigon’s post office opened in 1903

More historic than 10% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Irrigon was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1991. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1970 on, and the census since 1910.

1903first post office
0on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
12old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Irrigon’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Irrigon began

When was Irrigon founded?

1903

The Irrigon post office opened in 1903, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1957. Another post office, Stokes (1897), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 125 in 19102020 census: 2,011123 years

How historic is Irrigon?

D

More historic than 10% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Irrigon post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1957.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Irrigon’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Irrigon is more historic than 10% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Irrigon’s overall grade.
Founding era1903, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 19405.0% of homes (±2.8) · typical OR town 5.3% · U.S. 8.4%CNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical OR town 2.9 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 10%
NewerOlder

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 Irrigon’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (18% of Oregon towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to C−. The pre-1940 share (±2.8 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1957.

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 →

What stands out about Irrigon’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1910 and 1930, then grew more than tenfold.A town in old photos12 old photos, postcards and papers.
★ What stands out · People over time

Irrigon, census by census

05001,0001,5002,000192019401960198020002020125 in 1910Low: 65

Lost half of its people between 1910 and 1930, then grew more than tenfold.

11 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

By decade

Irrigon, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s12 items
Detail of barn in northern Oregon. Irrigon, Morrow County, Oregon1939Detail of barn in northern Oregon. Irrigon, Morrow Co…Type of hay derrick characteristic of Oregon landscape. Irrigon, Morrow County, Oregon1939Type of hay derrick characteristic of Oregon landscap…Detail of railroad station painted "railroad yellow." Irrigon, Morrow County, Oregon1939Detail of railroad station painted "railroad yellow."…Road leading to small farm in northern Oregon. Irrigon, Morrow County, Oregon. General caption number 591939Road leading to small farm in northern Oregon. Irrigo…Couple digging their sweet potatoes in the fall. Irrigon, Morrow County, Oregon1939Couple digging their sweet potatoes in the fall. Irri…Detail of old railroad station. Small farming town, population 108. Irrigon, Oregon1939Detail of old railroad station. Small farming town, p…Detail of old railroad station. Small farming town, population 108. Irrigon, Oregon1939Detail of old railroad station. Small farming town, p…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Type of hay derrick characteristic of Oregon landscape. Irrigon, Morrow County, Or…1939Untitled photo, possibly related to: Type of hay derr…Railroad station. Irrigon, Oregon. Population: 108. Land was opened to settlers here in 19141939Railroad station. Irrigon, Oregon. Population: 108. L…Couple digging their sweet potatoes in the fall. Irrigon, Morrow County, Oregon. General caption 591939Couple digging their sweet potatoes in the fall. Irri…Couple digging their sweet potatoes in the fall. Irrigon, Morrow County, Oregon. General caption number 591939Couple digging their sweet potatoes in the fall. Irri…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Couple digging their sweet potatoes in the fall. Irrigon, Morrow County, Oregon1939Untitled photo, possibly related to: Couple digging t…
1940s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
The story

How Irrigon came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Irrigon.

Read it all →

Native American were the original inhabitants of this region. The Native American tribal communities residing in this area constructed their dwellings from woven reed materials, fashioning them into lodge structures.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Irrigon, 1897 to 2020

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1897Post officeThe Stokes post office opens
  3. 1899Post officeThe Stokes post office closes
  4. 20th century
  5. 1903Post officeThe Irrigon post office opens
  6. 1939In the archiveDetail of barn in northern Oregon. Irrigon, Morrow County, Oregon
  7. 1970On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 21st century
  9. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 2,011
On the map

Irrigon on the map, 1970 to 1993

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

Irrigon on the 1970 USGS mapIrrigon on the 1984 USGS mapIrrigon on the 1993 USGS map1970Irrigon 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 Irrigon.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Detail of barn in northern Oregon. Irrigon, Morrow County, Oregon
Retake this viewDetail of barn in northern Oregon. Irrigon, Morrow County, Oregon, 1939

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Irrigon’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Irrigon’s post office has been open since 1903. Another post office, Stokes, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Stokes
1897–1899
Irrigon
1903–today
18901960today
Gone or out of use
Stokes Post Officepost office

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

Help out

Finish Irrigon’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewDetail of barn in northern Oregon. Irri…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Irrigon’s history

What year was Irrigon founded?

The Irrigon post office opened in 1903, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1957.

How does Irrigon rank for history?

Irrigon is more historic than 10% 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.

How old are the homes in Irrigon?

5% of Irrigon’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.8 points), against a typical 5.3% for an Oregon town; the median home was built in 1991.

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).

From the Library of Congress (12), 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.