The story
Read it all →How Lyons came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Lyons.
Some homes in the town were destroyed in the 2020 Santiam Fire.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
CHistory
History · Lyons
Lyons’ post office opened in 1891
More historic than 25% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Lyons was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1991. Below: maps from 1951 on and the census since 1960.
1891first post office
0on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Lyons began
When was Lyons founded?
1891
The Lyons post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1958.
First census: 463 in 19602020 census: 1,202135 years
How historic is Lyons?
C
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 25% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Lyons post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1958.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Lyons’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lyons is more historic than 25% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lyons’ overall grade.
Founding era1891, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19408.9% of homes (±11.7) · typical OR town 5.3% · U.S. 8.4%C+National 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 25%
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 Lyons’ 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 is a Census survey estimate (±11.7 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1958.
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 Lyons’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Lyons’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lyons’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.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.
Add from your albumOn the map
Lyons on the map, 1951 to 1985
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lyons. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1951Lyons sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Lyons.
People over time
Lyons, census by census
Grew from 463 people in 1960 to 1,202 in 2020.
7 censuses, 1960–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Lyons’ Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Lyons
Nobody well known was born in Lyons itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
D
Debbie ArmstrongAmerican alpine skier · b. 1963Places that used to be
Places now gone
Lyons’s post office has been open since 1891.
Gone or out of use
FawnlocaleWeatberylocale
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Lyons’ history
What year was Lyons founded?
The Lyons post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1958.
How does Lyons rank for history?
Lyons is more historic than 25% 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 Lyons?
9% of Lyons’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±11.7 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.
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 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.