Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Shaniko

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 · Shaniko

Shaniko’s post office opened in 1900, and 72% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listings are the Columbia Southern Hotel and the Shaniko Historic District. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1910 on, and the census since 1900.

1900first post office
2on the National Register
72%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Shaniko’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Shaniko began

When was Shaniko founded?

1900

The Shaniko post office opened in 1900, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1901.

First census: 72 in 19002020 census: 30126 years
Founding year: the first Shaniko post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1901.The full story ↓

What stands out about Shaniko’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Shaniko’s homes were built before 1938.Boom and bustPeaked at 495 in 1910; 30 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Shaniko’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewShaniko stages crossing Grizzly Mts., O…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Shaniko came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Shaniko.

Read it all →

The first European Americans came to the Shaniko area after the discovery of gold in Canyon City, Oregon, in 1862. The route to Canyon City started at the early settlement of The Dalles, 190 miles (310 km) away. Camps were made wherever water could be found. One camp, which became the farming community of Bakeoven, was closely associated with the future town of Shaniko, while another camp, Cross Hollow, was within the present Shaniko city limits. In 1867, following complaints of hostile Indians and fear of robbery of those transporting gold, the State of Oregon received a grant from the United States government to build a military wagon road from The Dalles to Fort Boise in what was then Washington Territory, (now Idaho). Following this road, homesteaders began claiming land in Central Oregon that previously had been fairly inaccessible.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

People over time

Shaniko, census by census

01002003004005001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 495

Peaked at 495 in 1910; 30 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Shaniko’s Wikipedia page.

Timeline

Shaniko, 1900 to 1910

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1900Post officeThe Shaniko post office opens
  3. 1910In the archiveShaniko stages crossing Grizzly Mts., Oregon
  4. 1910CensusPopulation peaks at 495
By decade

Shaniko, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s4 items
Shaniko stages crossing Grizzly Mts., Oregon1910Shaniko stages crossing Grizzly Mts., OregonShaniko stages in Cow Canyon, Oregon1910Shaniko stages in Cow Canyon, OregonShaniko stages in summit of Grizzly Mtns., Oregon1910Shaniko stages in summit of Grizzly Mtns., OregonPrineville stages leaving Shaniko, Ore1910Prineville stages leaving Shaniko, Ore
1920s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today8 recent
Old truck2018Old truckOld building2018Old buildingScene2018SceneAn old jail wagon2018An old jail wagonScene2018SceneCarved cowboys on the porch of the Shaniko Hotel2018Carved cowboys on the porch of the Shaniko HotelThe old Shaniko Hotel2018The old Shaniko HotelLandscape near Shaniko in Wasco County, Oregon2018Landscape near Shaniko in Wasco County, Oregon
Every building

Shaniko, building by building, 1910

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 sheet.

Shaniko fire insurance map, 1910, sheet 21910Sheet 2 of 2
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Shaniko stages crossing Grizzly Mts., Oregon
Retake this viewShaniko stages crossing Grizzly Mts., Oregon, 1910

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Shaniko’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Shaniko

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
19
each building in a district counts
first listed
1979
Columbia Southern Hotel
Columbia Southern HotelShaniko Historic District
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Commercial Italianate1
Wood Frame Construction1
Columbia Southern HotelCommercial Italianate
Shaniko Historic DistrictWood Frame Construction

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

Questions about Shaniko’s history

What year was Shaniko founded?

The Shaniko post office opened in 1900, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1901.

What is on the National Register in Shaniko?

Two places: the Columbia Southern Hotel (listed 1979) and the Shaniko Historic District (1982).

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 the Library of Congress (12), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, 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.