The Pacific City post office opened in 1909, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Woods (1886), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 1,109117 years
How historic is Pacific City?
D
More historic than 7% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Pacific City post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Pacific City’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Pacific City is more historic than 7% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Pacific City’s overall grade.
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 Pacific City’s 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 D. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.8 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 Pacific City’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
In 1845, Mr. Johnson, a cook on an English ship sailing along the Columbia River, deserted and traveled down the Willamette Valley. Establishing a land claim in Champoeg, he began removing brush and that summer set off a burn to clear debris. The Champoeg Fire got out of control and spread eastward. Unfortunately, the wind then reversed direction and strengthened, blowing the blaze around the previous burn and fanning it into the dry Coast Range, where it burned in the Yamhill basin for weeks, consuming 1,500,000 acres (6,100 km2) of old growth forest – the largest such area destroyed in a single forest fire in the United States. Settlers did not live west of the Coast Range, but the small tribes of Native Americans in the area, already depleted by 80% due to malaria and other epidemics from 1830 to 1841, were driven from their lands.
Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone
Pacific City’s post office has been open since 1909. Another post office, Woods, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Woods
1886–1935
Pacific City
1909–today
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Woods
Gone or out of use
Woods Post Officepost office
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Pacific City’s history
What year was Pacific City founded?
The Pacific City post office opened in 1909, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Pacific City rank for history?
Pacific City is more historic than 7% 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 Pacific City?
2% of Pacific City’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.8 points), against a typical 5.3% for an Oregon town; the median home was built in 1994.
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 (6), 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.
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