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History · North Powder

North Powder’s post office opened in 1868, and 65% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the A.B. and Son Hudelson Building.

1868first post office
1on the National Register
65%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How North Powder began

When was North Powder founded?

1868

The North Powder post office opened in 1868, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1902.

2020 census: 504158 years
Founding year: the first North Powder post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1902.The full story ↓

What stands out about North Powder’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 North Powder are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of North Powder’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start North Powder’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How North Powder came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of North Powder.

Read it all →

North Powder was platted in 1885 or 1886 along the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company rail line, having been a stage stop before then.

David Eccles, a Mormon businessman, created the Hall Brothers Lumber Company in the town once the railway arrived.

North Powder prospered because it had an icehouse that supplied the refrigerator cars of Pacific Fruit Express until the icehouse burned down in the 1930s.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

North Powder, decade by decade

Today3 recent
Wanted, Water (Unsplash)2017Wanted, Water (Unsplash)North powder pond swart odfw2010North powder pond swart odfwORMap-doton-North Powder2004ORMap-doton-North Powder
On the National Register

1 historic place in North Powder

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
1999
A.B. and Son Hudelson Building
A.B. and Son Hudelson Building, built 1900
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Italianate1
Vernacular1
A.B. and Son Hudelson BuildingItalianate · Built 1900

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

Famous people

Famous people close to North Powder

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

See all →
Damon KnightAmerican science fiction writer, editor and cri… · b. 1922
Ann A. KiesslingAmerican reproductive biologist involved in ste… · b. 1942
Agnes VernonActress · b. 1895
Elden Francis CurtissCatholic archbishop · b. 1932
Lee MorseAmerican singer · b. 1897
D
Dallas McKennonAmerican actor · b. 1919

Questions about North Powder’s history

What year was North Powder founded?

The North Powder post office opened in 1868, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1902.

What is on the National Register in North Powder?

One place: the A.B. and Son Hudelson Building (listed 1999).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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 (3), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.