Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Myrtle Creek

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
C+History
History · Myrtle Creek

Myrtle Creek’s post office opened in 1854, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 36% of U.S. towns · #72 of 142 in Oregon. What drives it

Most of Myrtle Creek was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1972. Its Register listing is the Rice Brothers and Adams Building. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1912 on, and the census since 1880.

1854first post office
1on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Myrtle Creek’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Myrtle Creek began

When was Myrtle Creek founded?

1854

The Myrtle Creek post office opened in 1854, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1893.

First census: 119 in 18802020 census: 3,481172 years

How historic is Myrtle Creek?

C+

More historic than 36% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Myrtle Creek post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1893.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Myrtle Creek’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Myrtle Creek is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns, #72 of 142 in Oregon. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Myrtle Creek’s overall grade.
Founding era1854, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19407.2% of homes (±6.7) · typical OR town 5.3% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register1 listing, 2.9 per 10,000 residents · typical OR town 2.9 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 36%
NewerOlder
Oregon towns of 2,500+ (142)Ahead of 50%

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 Myrtle Creek’s 2.9 sits near the middle of its state (48% of Oregon towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.7 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1893 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.

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 Myrtle Creek’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.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Myrtle Creek’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view18630617 Application: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Myrtle Creek came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Myrtle Creek.

Read it all →

Myrtle Creek was named for the groves of Oregon myrtle (also known as California laurel), growing nearby. A Myrtle Creek post office was established in 1854 with Lazarus Wright as postmaster. In 1862, Wright sold the land for a town site to John Hall, who laid out Myrtle Creek in 1865.

In 1868, Letitia Carson received a certificate of ownership for her homestead claim near Myrtle Creek, making her one of the first 71 people in the country to secure a claim under the Homestead Act. She was the only Black woman to do so in Oregon.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Myrtle Creek, 1854 to 1982

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1854Post officeThe Myrtle Creek post office opens
  3. 1863In the archive18630617 Application
  4. 20th century
  5. 1915BuiltRice Brothers and Adams Building is built
  6. 1955On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1956Born hereJeff Merkley is born here
  8. 1982In the archiveSP 8233 in the Siskiyou Mountains between Riddle and Myrtle Creek, OR on July 30, 1982
By decade

Myrtle Creek, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s1 item
18630617 Application186318630617 Application
1980s2 items
SP 8233 in the Siskiyou Mountains between Riddle and Myrtle Creek, OR on July 30, 19821982SP 8233 in the Siskiyou Mountains between Riddle and …SP 8233 in the Siskiyou Mountains between Riddle and Myrtle Creek, OR on July 30, 19821982SP 8233 in the Siskiyou Mountains between Riddle and …
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
Today8 recent
Donkey Punch & Tell2011Donkey Punch & TellMyrtle Creek - DPLA - d1e354dc28a50756bed6634dced3c6b92010Myrtle Creek - DPLA - d1e354dc28a50756bed6634dced3c6b9Myrtle Creek - DPLA - be7d5b81b7399b948b15a6ef741ca63f2010Myrtle Creek - DPLA - be7d5b81b7399b948b15a6ef741ca63fMyrtle Creek - DPLA - b700125a750bfa847adcb419759160242010Myrtle Creek - DPLA - b700125a750bfa847adcb41975916024Myrtle Creek - DPLA - 5ce1787f9154ecd94eb8c874eb8094b62010Myrtle Creek - DPLA - 5ce1787f9154ecd94eb8c874eb8094b6Myrtle Creek - DPLA - 185d297883ddcd76799da2b51c5574052010Myrtle Creek - DPLA - 185d297883ddcd76799da2b51c557405Timber Rattlesnake2008Timber RattlesnakeORMap-doton-Myrtle Creek2004ORMap-doton-Myrtle Creek
On the map

Myrtle Creek on the map, 1955 to 1987

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

Myrtle Creek on the 1955 USGS mapMyrtle Creek on the 1987 USGS map1955Roseburg 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 Myrtle Creek.

Every building

Myrtle Creek, building by building, 1912

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a sheet.

Myrtle Creek fire insurance map, 1912, sheet 11912Sheet 1 of 2
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

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.

18630617 Application
Retake this view18630617 Application, 1863

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Myrtle Creek

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
1983
Rice Brothers and Adams Building
Rice Brothers and Adams Building, built 1915
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Commercial Style1
Rice Brothers and Adams BuildingCommercial Style · Built 1915

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

People over time

Myrtle Creek, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,500188019001920194019601980200020203,481

Grew from 119 people in 1880 to 3,481 in 2020, more than tenfold.

14 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Tri-CityIts storyD

Questions about Myrtle Creek’s history

What year was Myrtle Creek founded?

The Myrtle Creek post office opened in 1854, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1893.

How does Myrtle Creek rank for history?

Myrtle Creek is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns, #72 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.

What is on the National Register in Myrtle Creek?

One place: the Rice Brothers and Adams Building (listed 1983).

How old are the homes in Myrtle Creek?

7% of Myrtle Creek’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.7 points), against a typical 5.3% for an Oregon town; the median home was built in 1972.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (11), Wikidata (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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.