More historic than 2% of U.S. towns · #131 of 142 in Oregon. What drives it
Most of La Pine was built recently: 0.4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2001. Below: 18 old photos and papers and maps from 1963 on.
Founding year: the first La Pine post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 2006.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives La Pine’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, La Pine is more historic than 2% of U.S. towns, #131 of 142 in Oregon. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
D−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of La Pine’s overall grade.
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 La Pine’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 still be D−. The pre-1940 share (±0.7 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 2006.
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 La Pine’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
The area's first European-American settlement was established in the 1800s by French fur trappers. La Pine was founded in the 19th century with Huntington Road as the main street. The original name for the community was Rosland. A post office by that name was started in 1897, followed by a townsite in 1900. Construction on the Oregon Trunk Railroad started in 1908 by the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway at the Columbia River. The route was designed to follow the Deschutes River, and the line later became part of BNSF Railway. The line was built to Bend, with the railroad later buying a line owned by the Shevlin-Hixon Lumber Company that continued to La Pine. What became U.S. 97 was completed in 1917, which used the right of way of the Oregon Trunk Line that had not been built south of Bend.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about La Pine’s history
What year was La Pine founded?
The La Pine post office opened in 1910, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 2006.
How does La Pine rank for history?
La Pine is more historic than 2% of U.S. towns, #131 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.
How old are the homes in La Pine?
0.4% of La Pine’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 5.3% for an Oregon town; the median home was built in 2001.
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 Wikimedia Commons (5), the Library of Congress (14), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
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