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History · Tumalo

Tumalo’s post office opened in 1904, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 2 old photos and papers and maps from 1962 on.

1904first post office
0on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Tumalo’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Tumalo began

When was Tumalo founded?

1904

The Tumalo post office opened in 1904, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Laidlaw (1904), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 558122 years
Founding year: the first Tumalo post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Tumalo’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 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Tumalo’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Tumalo’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 viewCountry above Laidlaw: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Tumalo came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Tumalo.

Read it all →

The town was originally called "Laidlaw", after W. A. Laidlaw, the town promoter. The Tumalo Irrigation Project and Tumalo post office had been established in 1904. Although the project ended and the Tumalo post office closed in 1913, by 1915 residents of Laidlaw changed the town name to "Tumalo".

Due to population growth in the Bend area a new zip code was added effective July 1, 2015. The new zip code, 97703, changed the zip code of Tumalo from 97701 to 97703.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Tumalo, 1904 to 1962

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1904Post officeThe Laidlaw post office opens
  3. 1904Post officeThe Tumalo post office opens
  4. 1910In the archiveCountry above Laidlaw
  5. 1915Post officeThe Laidlaw post office closes
  6. 1924Post officeThe Tumalo post office closes
  7. 1962On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Tumalo, decade by decade

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

1910s2 items
Country above Laidlaw1910Country above LaidlawLaidland and vicinity1910Laidland and vicinity
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
Today4 recent
2017-07-12 Tumalo 0220172017-07-12 Tumalo 022017-07-12 Tumalo 0120172017-07-12 Tumalo 01Tumalo Church, Oregon, 20152015Tumalo Church, Oregon, 2015Black-tailed jackrabbit in2015Black-tailed jackrabbit in
On the map

Tumalo on the map in 1962

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Tumalo.

Tumalo on the 1962 USGS map1962Tumalo sheet · 1:24,000

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

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.

Country above Laidlaw
Retake this viewCountry above Laidlaw, 1910

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Tumalo

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

See all →
Ian BoswellAmerican racing cyclist · b. 1991
Bill PearlAmerican bodybuilder · b. 1930
William A. NiskanenAmerican economist · b. 1933
D
Dan GauthierActor · b. 1963
William WeigandCatholic bishop · b. 1937
C
Charles ScrivenAmerican theologian · b. 1945
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Tumalo had its own post office from 1904 to 1924. Another post office, Laidlaw, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Laidlaw
1904–1915
Tumalo
1904–1924
19001960today
Gone or out of use
Tumalo Post Officepost office
1cemetery inside Tumalo
Tumalo

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

Questions about Tumalo’s history

What year was Tumalo founded?

The Tumalo post office opened in 1904, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 Wikimedia Commons (4), the Library of Congress (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.