Sisters’ post office opened in 1888, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 29% of U.S. towns · #83 of 142 in Oregon. What drives it
Most of Sisters was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2010. Its Register listing is the Sisters High School. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1959 on, and the census since 1950.
Founding year: the first Sisters post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1946.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Sisters’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Sisters is more historic than 29% of U.S. towns, #83 of 142 in Oregon. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Sisters’ 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 Sisters’ 3.3 sits near the middle of its state (50% of Oregon towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.1 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 Sisters’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Human activity before the arrival of the Europeans was present in the area, and the local natives of various clans traversed the regions, creating various trails that passed through Warm Springs, and some crossing the Cascade passes of McKenzie and Santiam. The various ethnic groups that composed the demographic of the area at the time were Paiute, Warm Springs, and Wasco peoples.
The first notable European presence in the area was the construction of Camp Polk, which existed from September 1865 to May 1866, just 3 miles away from the current location of the town. After the site was abandoned, in 1870, Samuel M. Hindman was the first to settle the area properly, even building a shop and a post office.
For the second time in the history of the congregation, the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart succeeded the Sisters of the Holy Cross in taking over a mission from which these latter had withdrawn. In 1864 Saint Paul's School, which was left by the Holy Cross Sisters was assumed by the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart. The school had been opened by the Sisters of the Holy Cross in 1854. Six Sisters of the Immaculate Heart came
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
"Sisters of the Italian Catholic Church, West Scranton, for the past two weeks have been going around among the parishioners in that section of the city.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Sisters, 1888 to 1959
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Sisters’ history
What year was Sisters founded?
The Sisters post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1946.
How does Sisters rank for history?
Sisters is more historic than 29% of U.S. towns, #83 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.
What is on the National Register in Sisters?
One place: the Sisters High School (listed 2006).
How old are the homes in Sisters?
3% of Sisters’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.1 points), against a typical 5.3% for an Oregon town; the median home was built in 2010.
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 (4), the Library of Congress (2), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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 old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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