Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 35% of U.S. towns · #75 of 142 in Oregon. What drives it
Most of West Linn was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1988. 7 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 38 buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1914 on, and the census since 1920.
West Linn dates its founding to 1913 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1920.
More historic than 35% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, West Linn is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns, #75 of 142 in Oregon. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
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 West Linn’s 16.0 sits above most of its state (78% of Oregon towns have fewer) while its 43 historic buildings outnumber those of 84% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 →
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 West Linn’s history is told.
West Linn’s post office has been open since 1914. Two other post offices 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 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.
From Wikipedia’s history of West Linn.
Before its settlement by Oregon pioneers, the area that became West Linn was home to ancestors of some of the present-day Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon.
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.
In the archiveConvent of the Holy Names, Marylhurst, OregonBuiltLewthwaite-Moffatt House is built
In the archiveOregon City 1858
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereChael Sonnen is born here
Born hereAnthony Mathis is born here
Born hereAlex Forsyth is born here2 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of West Linn. 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 West Linn.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on West Linn’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 1,628 people in 1920 to 27,373 in 2020, more than tenfold.
11 censuses, 1920–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on West Linn’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1913, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. West Linn’s post office opened in 1850, and the census of 1920 counted 1,628 people here.
West Linn is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns, #75 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.
7 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Nicholas O. Walden House (listed 1984, the first), 1 historic district, the Willamette Historic District, with 38 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 43 historic buildings in all.
5% of West Linn’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.5 points), against a typical 5.3% for an Oregon town; the median home was built in 1988.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (8), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (7), 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.
2006
2006
2006
2006
2006
2006
2004
