Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 3% of U.S. towns · #130 of 142 in Oregon. What drives it
Most of Shady Cove was built recently: 0.7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1998. Below: maps from 1943 on and the census since 1980.
The Shady Cove post office opened in 1939, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1972. Another post office, Etna (1882), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
More historic than 3% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Shady Cove is more historic than 3% of U.S. towns, #130 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 Shady Cove’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.
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 Shady Cove’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Shady Cove.
The city of Shady Cove was incorporated in 1973. Before that, the nearby towns of Trail to the north and Eagle Point to the south were the historic population centers. Etna, the town's precursor, lay between.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Shady Cove. 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 Shady Cove.
Grew from 1,097 people in 1980 to 3,081 in 2020.
5 censuses, 1980–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Shady Cove’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Shady Cove itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Shady Cove’s post office has been open since 1939. Another post office, Etna, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Shady Cove post office opened in 1939, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1972.
Shady Cove is more historic than 3% of U.S. towns, #130 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.
0.7% of Shady Cove’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.6 points), against a typical 5.3% for an Oregon town; the median home was built in 1998.
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 (8), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via 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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