Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Parkdale

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 · Parkdale

Parkdale’s post office opened in 1910, and 18% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listings are the Parkdale Ranger Station, the Valley Theater and the Ries-Thompson House. Below: maps from 1957 on.

1910first post office
3on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Parkdale began

When was Parkdale founded?

1910

The Parkdale post office opened in 1910, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 299116 years
Founding year: the first Parkdale post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

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

Start Parkdale’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Parkdale’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

How Parkdale came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Parkdale.

Read it all →

Parkdale was founded by David Eccles and R. J. McIsaac in 1910 to serve as a terminus for the Mount Hood Railroad.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Parkdale, 1910 to 1976

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1910Post officeThe Parkdale post office opens
  3. 1937BuiltValley Theater is built
  4. 1939BuiltParkdale Ranger Station is built
  5. 1957Born hereMark Johnson is born here
  6. 1957On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1976Post officeThe Parkdale post office closes
By decade

Parkdale, decade by decade

Today10 recent
Mount Hood Parkdale post office2023Mount Hood Parkdale post officeMount Hood Parkdale Post Office corner view2023Mount Hood Parkdale Post Office corner viewParkdale, Oregon2014Parkdale, OregonMount Hood from2011Mount Hood fromParkdale Oregon grange hall2010Parkdale Oregon grange hallValley Theater2009Valley TheaterRies-Thompson House2009Ries-Thompson HouseParkdale Ranger Station2009Parkdale Ranger StationParkdale-lava2008Parkdale-lavaMt. Hood Scenic Byway - Hutson Museum2002Mt. Hood Scenic Byway - Hutson Museum
On the map

Parkdale on the map, 1957 to 1994

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

Parkdale on the 1957 USGS mapParkdale on the 1974 USGS mapParkdale on the 1994 USGS map1957Hood River 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 Parkdale.

On the National Register

3 historic places in Parkdale

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

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
12
each building in a district counts
first listed
1986
Parkdale Ranger Station
Parkdale Ranger Station, built 1939Valley Theater, built 1937Ries-Thompson House
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Western False Front1
Vernacular1
Late Victorian1
Queen Anne Cottage1
Parkdale Ranger StationBuilt 1939
Valley TheaterWestern False Front · Built 1937
Ries-Thompson HouseLate Victorian

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Parkdale had its own post office from 1910 to 1976.

Parkdale
1910–1976
19101970today
Gone or out of use
Parkdale Post Officepost office

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

Questions about Parkdale’s history

What year was Parkdale founded?

The Parkdale post office opened in 1910, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Parkdale?

Three places: the Parkdale Ranger Station (listed 1986), the Valley Theater (1990) and the Ries-Thompson House (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 (10), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.