Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 28% of U.S. towns · #86 of 142 in Oregon. What drives it
Most of Redmond was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2002. 6 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 30 buildings between them. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1913 on, and the census since 1910.
The Redmond post office opened in 1905, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1910.
More historic than 28% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Redmond is more historic than 28% of U.S. towns, #86 of 142 in Oregon. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
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 Redmond’s 10.0 sits above most of its state (71% of Oregon towns have fewer) while its 36 historic buildings outnumber those of 83% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Redmond’s history is told.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Redmond.
Redmond was named after Frank T. Redmond, who settled in the area in 1905.
It was platted in 1906 by a company which would become part of Central Oregon Irrigation District building a canal.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltPilot Butte Canal: Downtown Redmond Segment Historic District is built
In the archive1943-08-22 Redmond, Oregon B
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveDecorated Barn2 decades in the archive, from the 1940s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2019General Duffy in Redmond Oregon Pub
2017Solar Eclipse, Redmond, Oregon, 2017
2016Susan Morgan
2016Redmond, United States (Unsplash)
2016Eagle Crest Resort, Redmond (Unsplash)
2016Deer chilling
2014From the air - Miami - Chicago - San Francisco - Vanc…
2014DQ Grill and Chill, Redmond, Oregon (2014)
2004ORMap-doton-RedmondEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Redmond. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Redmond.
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 year, then a sheet.
1913Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Redmond’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 216 people in 1910 to 33,274 in 2020, more than tenfold.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Redmond’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Redmond’s post office has been open since 1905.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Redmond post office opened in 1905, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1910.
Redmond is more historic than 28% of U.S. towns, #86 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.
6 listings: 4 buildings, among them the New Redmond Hotel (listed 1980, the first), and 2 historic districts, the Pilot Butte Canal: Downtown Redmond Segment Historic District and the Redmond Downtown Historic District, with 30 contributing buildings. 36 historic buildings in all.
3% of Redmond’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.3 points), against a typical 5.3% for an Oregon town; the median home was built in 2002.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (6), 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.
