Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Mount Vernon

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Mount Vernon

Mount Vernon’s post office opened in 1877

Most of Mount Vernon was built recently: 0.9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1975. Below: maps from 1940 on and the census since 1950.

1877first post office
0on the National Register
0.9%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Orygun · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Mount Vernon began

When was Mount Vernon founded?

1877

The Mount Vernon post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1948. Another post office, Grant (1870), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 451 in 19502020 census: 548149 years
Founding year: the first Mount Vernon post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1948.

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

Start Mount Vernon’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Mount Vernon, in brief

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

Mount Vernon is a city in Grant County, Oregon, United States. Its post office was established in 1877 and named after a black stallion that belonged to settler David W. Jenkins. The stallion's stable, a small stone building, is still standing in a field on the north side of U.S. Highway 26 about 2.2 miles (3.5 km) east of the main intersection in town. In 1915 the ranching community had a population of 60 and a hotel at a hot springs resort approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) north. The population had grown to 451 by the 1950 census. There are a few motels and restaurants in Mount Vernon. As of the 2020 census, Mount Vernon had a population of 548.

Its first post office opened in 1877. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 527 to 548 (+4%).

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

Timeline

Mount Vernon, 1870 to 1940

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1870Post officeThe Grant post office opens
  3. 1873Post officeThe Grant post office closes
  4. 1877Post officeThe Mount Vernon post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1940On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Mount Vernon, decade by decade

Today11 recent
2017-07-14 Mount Vernon 1020172017-07-14 Mount Vernon 102017-07-14 Mount Vernon 0920172017-07-14 Mount Vernon 092017-07-14 Mount Vernon 0820172017-07-14 Mount Vernon 082017-07-14 Mount Vernon 0720172017-07-14 Mount Vernon 072017-07-14 Mount Vernon 0620172017-07-14 Mount Vernon 062017-07-14 Mount Vernon 0520172017-07-14 Mount Vernon 052017-07-14 Mount Vernon 0420172017-07-14 Mount Vernon 042017-07-14 Mount Vernon 0320172017-07-14 Mount Vernon 032017-07-14 Mount Vernon 0220172017-07-14 Mount Vernon 022017-07-14 Mount Vernon 0120172017-07-14 Mount Vernon 01City Hall2016City Hall
On the map

Mount Vernon on the map, 1940 to 1998

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

Mount Vernon on the 1940 USGS mapMount Vernon on the 1972 USGS mapMount Vernon on the 1983 USGS mapMount Vernon on the 1998 USGS map1940Mount Vernon sheet · 1:62,500

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

People over time

Mount Vernon, census by census

01002003004005006001960198020002020Peak: 595

Between 423 and 595 people in every census since 1950.

8 censuses, 1950–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Mount Vernon

Nobody well known was born in Mount Vernon itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Joseph PoindexterAmerican judge · b. 1869
LaVonne Griffin-ValadeAmerican politician · b. 1953
D
Donald GilmanAmerican politician · b. 1934
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Mount Vernon’s post office has been open since 1877. Another post office, Grant, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Grant
1870–1873
Mount Vernon
1877–today
18701950today
Gone or out of use
GrantlocaleGrant Post Officepost office

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

Questions about Mount Vernon’s history

What year was Mount Vernon founded?

The Mount Vernon post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1948.

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), 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.