Founding year: the first Umapine post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Umapine’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Umapine is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Umapine’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 Umapine’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (18% of Oregon towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% 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 is a Census survey estimate (±28.6 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 Umapine’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
It was established as a railroad stop on the Walla Walla Valley Railway with an active lumber yard and large population of dairies in the early 1900s. The railway was abandoned in 1942 and became the Umapine Highway. Umapine was originally named Vincent, Oregon, until the community acted to get its own post office. Since there was already a post office by that same name in Wallowa County, the place was renamed for a prominent Indian chief who had once lived in the area, Chief Umapine, who was either of the Cayuse or Umatilla people. The post office was established in June 1916. After several fires in the post office building, Umapine post office, ZIP code 97881, was closed in December 1966. Umapine now has a Milton-Freewater mailing address, whose ZIP code is 97862.
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.
Umapine had its own post office from 1916 to 1966.
Umapine
1916–1966
19101970today
Gone or out of use
Umapine High and Elementary SchoolschoolUmapine Post Officepost office
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Umapine’s history
What year was Umapine founded?
The Umapine post office opened in 1916, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Umapine rank for history?
Umapine is more historic than 37% 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.
How old are the homes in Umapine?
41% of Umapine’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±28.6 points), against a typical 5.3% for an Oregon town; the median home was built in 1960.
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 (5), the Library of Congress (1), 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.
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