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History · Knappa

Knappa’s post office opened in 1872, and 16% of its homes were built before 1940

1872first post office
0on the National Register
16%homes built before 1940
1famous people
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Photo: Clark Kinsey · Public domain
Quick answers

How Knappa began

When was Knappa founded?

1872

The Knappa post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 1,007154 years
Founding year: the first Knappa post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Knappa’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 Knappa are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Knappa’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Knappa’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story so far

Knappa, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Knappa yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Knappa is an unincorporated community and census-designated place located on the south bank of the Columbia River in Clatsop County, Oregon, United States, approximately 12 miles (19 km) directly east of Astoria. Knappa faces the Columbia River, where several islands comprise the Lewis and Clark National Wildlife Refuge. As of the 2020 census, Knappa had a population of 1,007. The community is named after Aaron Knapp Jr., an early settler. There was a post office in Knappa from 1872 to 1943. Logging and fishing are the primary economic activities in Knappa.

Its first post office opened in 1872.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Knappa, 1872 to 1991

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1872Post officeThe Knappa post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1943Post officeThe Knappa post office closes
  5. 1991Born hereGustave Benthin is born here
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Knappa had its own post office from 1872 to 1943.

Knappa
1872–1943
18701950today
Gone or out of use
Knappa Post Officepost office
1cemetery inside Knappa
Prairie

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

Questions about Knappa’s history

What year was Knappa founded?

The Knappa post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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 Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.