Most of Tangent was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1996. Its Register listing is the Gus and Emma Stellmacher Farmstead. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1911 on, and the census since 1880.
Founding year: the first Tangent post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1893.
History grade
What drives Tangent’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Tangent is more historic than 49% 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 Tangent’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 Tangent’s 38.8 sits above most of its state (89% of Oregon towns have fewer) while its 5 historic buildings outnumber those of 70% 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 (±4.2 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1893 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
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 Tangent’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Tangent. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1911Tangent sheet · 1:31,680
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Tangent.
The story so far
Tangent, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Tangent yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Tangent is a city in Linn County, Oregon, United States. The population was 1,231 at the 2020 census. Tangent was the site of a railway station on the Southern Pacific line south of Albany. Its name referred to a straight stretch of the line with no curves for more than 20 miles (32 km). The federal government established a post office in Tangent on September 17, 1872.
Its first post office opened in 1872. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,164 to 1,231 (+6%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
The Tangent post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1893.
How does Tangent rank for history?
Tangent is more historic than 49% 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 Tangent?
One place: the Gus and Emma Stellmacher Farmstead (listed 1998).
How old are the homes in Tangent?
5% of Tangent’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.2 points), against a typical 5.3% for an Oregon town; the median home was built in 1996.
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), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
Date?
Date?
2004
