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Warm Springs Indian Reservation1Photo: Mat783 · CC BY-SA 3.0
DHistory
History · Warm Springs

Warm Springs’ post office opened in 1873

More historic than 15% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Warm Springs was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1990. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1928 on, and the census since 1930.

1873first post office
0on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Warm Springs’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Warm Springs began

When was Warm Springs founded?

1873

The Warm Springs post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Warmspring (1894), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 50 in 19302020 census: 2,435153 years

How historic is Warm Springs?

D

More historic than 15% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Warm Springs post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade

What drives Warm Springs’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Warm Springs is more historic than 15% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Warm Springs’ overall grade.
Founding era1873, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19401.7% of homes (±2.5) · typical OR town 5.3% · U.S. 8.4%C−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical OR town 2.9 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 15%
NewerOlder

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 Warm Springs’ 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 C−. The pre-1940 share (±2.5 points) is firm at this size. 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 →

The story so far

Warm Springs, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Warm Springs yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Warm Springs is a census-designated place (CDP) and an unincorporated community in Jefferson County, Oregon, United States. Located on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation, the community is also known as the "Warm Springs Agency". As of the 2020 census, Warm Springs had a population of 2,435.

Its first post office opened in 1873. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 2,945 to 2,435 (-17%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Warm Springs, 1873 to 1937

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1873Post officeThe Warm Springs post office opens
  3. 1894Post officeThe Warmspring post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1928On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1929Post officeThe Warmspring post office closes
  7. 1937In the archiveWarm Springs Indian Agency
By decade

Warm Springs, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s6 items
Warm Springs Indian Agency1937Warm Springs Indian AgencyMrs. Dougherty in doorway of basement house. Warm Springs, Malheur County, Oregon1939Mrs. Dougherty in doorway of basement house. Warm Spr…Mrs. Dougherty in doorway of basement house. Warm Springs, Malheur County, Oregon1939Mrs. Dougherty in doorway of basement house. Warm Spr…The Daughtery family, FSA (Farm Security Administration borrowers). Warm Springs district, Malheur County, Oregon1939The Daughtery family, FSA (Farm Security Administrati…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Mrs. Dougherty in doorway of basement house. Warm Springs, Malheur County, Oregon1939Untitled photo, possibly related to: Mrs. Dougherty i…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Mrs. Dougherty in doorway of basement house. Warm Springs, Malheur County, Oregon1939Untitled photo, possibly related to: Mrs. Dougherty i…
1940s–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
On the map

Warm Springs on the map, 1928 to 1983

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

Warm Springs on the 1928 USGS mapWarm Springs on the 1931 USGS mapWarm Springs on the 1963 USGS mapWarm Springs on the 1983 USGS map1928Madras sheet · 1:125,000

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

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.

Warm Springs Indian Agency
Retake this viewWarm Springs Indian Agency, 1937

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Warm Springs, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,00019401960198020002020Peak: 2,945

Between 50 and 2,945 people in every census since 1930.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Warm Springs

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

See all →
River PhoenixAmerican actor and musician (1970–2026 · b. 1970
Jacoby EllsburyAmerican baseball player · b. 1983
G
George M. CampbellUnited States Navy Navy Cross recipient · b. 1907
R
Rex T. BarberUSAAF and USAF officer · b. 1917
S
Samuel Marion DriverUnited States federal judge · b. 1892
W
Willie KelsayJockey · b. 1892
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Warm Springs’s post office has been open since 1873. Another post office, Warmspring, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Warm Springs
1873–today
Warmspring
1894–1929
18701950today
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Warm Springs
BrunoDry CreekTenino

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

Help out

Finish Warm Springs’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewWarm Springs Indian Agency: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Warm Springs’ history

What year was Warm Springs founded?

The Warm Springs post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Warm Springs rank for history?

Warm Springs is more historic than 15% 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 Warm Springs?

2% of Warm Springs’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.5 points), against a typical 5.3% for an Oregon town; the median home was built in 1990.

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 Wikimedia Commons (1), the Library of Congress (5), 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.