Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Its Register listing is the Columbia Southern Railroad Passenger Station and Freight Warehouse. Below: maps from 1957 on and the census since 1900.
The Wasco post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1901. Another post office, Spanish Hollow (1870), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Wasco’s history is told.
Peaked at 701 in 1920; 417 people lived here in 2020.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Wasco’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Wasco.
On July 16, 1883, Wasco townsite was platted by Clark Dunlap; the southeast corner of southwest half of section 4, township 1, north range 17 E.W.M. The quarter located due east by Bill Armsworthy, where the cistern is located. The parcel of land where the depot is situated by W.H. Biggs and the last parcel platted on McPhereson's quarter, where the warehouses stand.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereGladys Stone Wright is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Wasco. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Wasco.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Wasco’s post office has been open since 1882. Another post office, Spanish Hollow, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Wasco post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1901.
One place: the Columbia Southern Railroad Passenger Station and Freight Warehouse (listed 1991).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
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