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History · Monroe

Monroe’s post office opened in 1874, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Monroe State Bank Building. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1911 on, and the census since 1880.

1874first post office
1on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Monroe’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Monroe began

When was Monroe founded?

1874

The Monroe post office opened in 1874, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1914. Another post office, Forks Of Mary's River (1850), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 135 in 18802020 census: 647152 years
Founding year: the first Monroe post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1914.The full story ↓

What stands out about Monroe’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19116 editions of the USGS map, 1911 to 1969. Watch Monroe change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Monroe’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewOregon: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Monroe on the map, 1911 to 1969

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

Monroe on the 1911 USGS mapMonroe on the 1922 USGS mapMonroe on the 1939 USGS mapMonroe on the 1942 USGS mapMonroe on the 1957 USGS mapMonroe on the 1969 USGS map1911Monroe sheet · 1:31,680

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Monroe.

The story

How Monroe came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Monroe.

Read it all →

The city was formed around a small sawmill established by Joseph White in 1852. By 1853, there was a small settlement known as White's Mill. Around the same time, Roland Hinton formed the town of Starr Point north of White's Mill. In 1857, Starr Point combined with White's Mill to form the town of Monroe. The city quickly became a center for paddle boat traffic.

It was one of the largest cities in the state for many years. Monroe High School was built in the 1920s. Since the construction of the Interstate 5 highway in the 1960s, the city has turned into a rural farming community. It is the site of the historic Hull-Oakes Lumber Mill, the only steam-powered sawmill operating in the U.S.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Monroe, 1850 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1850Post officeThe Forks Of Mary's River post office opens
  3. 1852Post officeThe Forks Of Mary's River post office closes
  4. 1864Born hereWillis C. Hawley is born here
  5. 1874Post officeThe Monroe post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1911On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1939In the archiveOregon
  9. 1980In the archiveBarber shop
By decade

Monroe, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1930s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s1 item
Oregon1939Oregon
1940s–1970snothing 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
1980s2 items
Barber shop1980Barber shopMcCallum's Museum1980McCallum's Museum
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
Today9 recent
Monroe 93432025Monroe 9343Downtown Monroe and Highway 99W-16x92020Downtown Monroe and Highway 99W-16x9Monroe State Bank Building2017Monroe State Bank BuildingMonroe Community Library2017Monroe Community LibraryMonroe, Oregon farm2016Monroe, Oregon farmWildwood Seed - Bird Product Labels (From Page 31 of noted PDF)2012Wildwood Seed - Bird Product Labels (From Page 31 of …Monroe, Oregon2011Monroe, OregonMonroe High School2011Monroe High SchoolHouse2011House
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.

Oregon
Retake this viewOregon, 1939

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Monroe

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1992
Monroe State Bank Building
Monroe State Bank Building
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements1
Commercial Style1
Vernacular1
Monroe State Bank BuildingLate 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Monroe, census by census

010020030040050060070018801900192019401960198020002020647

Grew from 135 people in 1880 to 647 in 2020, 4 times over.

12 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Monroe’s post office has been open since 1874. Another post office, Forks Of Mary's River, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Forks Of Mary's River
1850–1852
Monroe
1874–today
18501940today
Gone or out of use
Forks of Marys River Post Officepost office

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

Questions about Monroe’s history

What year was Monroe founded?

The Monroe post office opened in 1874, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1914.

What is on the National Register in Monroe?

One place: the Monroe State Bank Building (listed 1992).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (11), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.