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CHistory
History · Troutdale

Troutdale’s post office opened in 1880, and 3 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 33% of U.S. towns · #78 of 142 in Oregon. What drives it

Most of Troutdale was built recently: 0.8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1992. Its Register listings are the Fred Harlow House, the Multnomah County Poor Farm and the Troutdale Methodist Episcopal Church. Below: maps from 1941 on and the census since 1910.

1880first post office
3on the National Register
0.8%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Troutdale began

When was Troutdale founded?

1880

The Troutdale post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1907.

First census: 309 in 19102020 census: 16,300146 years

How historic is Troutdale?

C

More historic than 33% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Troutdale post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1907.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Troutdale’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Troutdale is more historic than 33% of U.S. towns, #78 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 Troutdale’s overall grade.
Founding era1880, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19400.8% of homes (±0.6) · typical OR town 5.3% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register3 listings, 11 historic buildings, 6.9 per 10,000 residents · typical OR town 2.9 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 33%
NewerOlder
Oregon towns of 2,500+ (142)Ahead of 45%

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 Troutdale’s 6.9 sits near the middle of its state (61% of Oregon towns have fewer) while its 11 historic buildings outnumber those of 76% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B−. The pre-1940 share (±0.6 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1907.

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 Troutdale’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Troutdale are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1910 and 1920, then grew more than tenfold.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Troutdale’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Troutdale, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00014,00016,00018,000192019401960198020002020309 in 1910Low: 191

Lost a third of its people between 1910 and 1920, then grew more than tenfold.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

The story

How Troutdale came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Troutdale.

Read it all →

The community was once known as Sandy, after the nearby Sandy River; the post office in Sandy was established in 1854 and closed in 1868. In 1873, the current city of Sandy in Clackamas County, which was formerly named "Revenue", established a different Sandy post office that is still in operation. Troutdale was named by pioneer John Harlow for the trout pond in a dale near his house. Troutdale post office was founded in 1880. In 1925, a company, the Bissinger Wool Pullery, was moved from Sellwood, Oregon, and opened for business on Macadam Road along the west bank of the Sandy River. An iconic water tower stands nearby. The company was featured in a Ripley's Believe it or Not! column because a cat was reportedly found in a stack of animal hides that the company was going to use for its products. The cat was taken care of and became the company's mascot, and was said to have lived a lon…

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Troutdale, 1880 to 2020

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880Post officeThe Troutdale post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1941On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 21st century
  6. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 16,300
By decade

Troutdale, decade by decade

Today12 recent
Sign for Shirley's Tippy Canoe restaurant and bar along the Historic Columbia River Higway, near Troutdale in Multnomah…2018Sign for Shirley's Tippy Canoe restaurant and bar alo…Welcome sign entering Troutdale, a city in Multnomah County, Oregon, that serves as the western gateway to the Historic…2018Welcome sign entering Troutdale, a city in Multnomah …Old gas pump inside the Troutdale Historical Society's Barn Museum2018Old gas pump inside the Troutdale Historical Society'…A re-created arch from the local landmark "Lovers' Oak" outside the Troutdale Historical Society's Barn Museum2018A re-created arch from the local landmark "Lovers' Oa…A re-created arch from the local landmark "Lover's Oak" outside the Troutdale Historical Society's Barn Museum2018A re-created arch from the local landmark "Lover's Oa…Setting for one of the art pieces at the Caswell Sculpture Garden2018Setting for one of the art pieces at the Caswell Scul…Troutdale Historical Society's Barn Museum in The Troudale Historical Society's Barn Museum2018Troutdale Historical Society's Barn Museum in The Tro…Portion of the Caswell Sculpture Garden2018Portion of the Caswell Sculpture GardenArchway at the Caswell Sculpture Garden2018Archway at the Caswell Sculpture GardenPond at the Caswell Sculpture Garden2018Pond at the Caswell Sculpture GardenPond at the Caswell Sculpture Garden2018Pond at the Caswell Sculpture GardenPond at the Caswell Sculpture Garden2018Pond at the Caswell Sculpture Garden
On the map

Troutdale on the map, 1941 to 1993

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Troutdale. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Troutdale on the 1941 USGS mapTroutdale on the 1954 USGS mapTroutdale on the 1975 USGS mapTroutdale on the 1993 USGS map1941Camas sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Troutdale.

On the National Register

3 historic places in Troutdale

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

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
11
each building in a district counts
first listed
1984
Fred Harlow House
Fred Harlow HouseMultnomah County Poor FarmTroutdale Methodist Episcopal Church
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Late 19th and Early 20th Century Revivals1
Georgian Revival1
Late 19th and Early 20th American Movements1
Bungalow/Craftsman1
Gothic Revival1
Fred Harlow HouseBuilding
Multnomah County Poor FarmLate 19th and Early 20th Century Revivals
Troutdale Methodist Episcopal ChurchGothic Revival

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Troutdale

Nobody well known was born in Troutdale itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Linus PaulingAmerican scientist · b. 1901
Douglas EngelbartAmerican engineer and inventor · b. 1925
Matt GroeningAmerican cartoonist · b. 1954
Mary E. BrunkowAmerican molecular biologist and immunologist · b. 1961
John ReedAmerican journalist, poet, and communist activi… · b. 1887
Dick FosburyAmerican athletics competitor, high jumper · b. 1947
Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Troutdale’s post office has been open since 1880.

Gone or out of use
Multnomah County Farm and Homelocale
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Troutdale
DouglasMountain View

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Gresham10 historic placesCWood VillageIts storyC−Fairview1 historic placeD

Questions about Troutdale’s history

What year was Troutdale founded?

The Troutdale post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1907.

How does Troutdale rank for history?

Troutdale is more historic than 33% of U.S. towns, #78 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 Troutdale?

Three places: the Fred Harlow House (listed 1984), the Multnomah County Poor Farm (1990) and the Troutdale Methodist Episcopal Church (1993).

How old are the homes in Troutdale?

0.8% of Troutdale’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 5.3% for an Oregon town; the median home was built in 1992.

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).

From the Library of Congress (12), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.