Most of Siletz was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1986. 1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 2 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper from 1999 on.
Founding year: the first Siletz post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1946.
History grade
What drives Siletz’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Siletz is more historic than 46% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Siletz’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 Siletz’s 17.9 sits above most of its state (79% of Oregon towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.2 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1946.
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 Siletz’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Siletz yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Siletz ( suh-LETS, Tolowa: sii-let-ts’i ) is a city in Lincoln County, Oregon, United States. The population was 1,230 at the 2020 census. The city is located next to the Siletz Reservation and is the site of the annual Nesika Illahee Pow Wow in August.
Its first post office opened in 1890. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 1,212 in 2010, 1,230 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
By decade
Siletz, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
The Siletz post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1946.
How does Siletz rank for history?
Siletz is more historic than 46% 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.
What is on the National Register in Siletz?
One place: the Siletz Agency Site (listed 1976).
How old are the homes in Siletz?
7% of Siletz’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.2 points), against a typical 5.3% for an Oregon town; the median home was built in 1986.
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 (3), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
1999
2005
2004
