Merlin’s history is
mostly unwritten
The public archives hold only 3 old photos of Merlin. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.
The story so far
from Wikipedia & the U.S. CensusMerlin is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Josephine County, Oregon, United States. As of the 2020 census, Merlin had a population of 1,690. The area is known for sport fishing and whitewater rafting on the Rogue River. Merlin's ZIP code is 97532. A new railroad station in this location in 1883 was called "Jump Off Joe" for a local stream. The station was renamed "Merlin" in October 1886. The name came from a railroad civil engineer who named it for the merlins (a type of falcon) he saw in the area. "McAllister" post office was established about a mile north of Merlin in 1885, then moved to the vicinity of the railroad station and renamed Merlin in 1891.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,615 to 1,690 (+5%). Half of its homes were built before 1989.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Merlin yet — the old photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Intro from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Population and housing: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowStart Merlin’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Merlin’s history is told.
1 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🗓️Date a photo1 archive item has no date+2 🔁Retake an old viewSouthern Pacific RR Semaphores in…, 1982: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people close to Merlin
See all 19 →
Merlin, decade by decade
1990s
unknown1 item
1 historic place in Merlin
1 place in Merlin is on the National Register of Historic Places, the country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
Where they are
When they were listed
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Southern Pacific RR Semaphores in the Siskiyous by Roger Puta -- 4 Photos (1982) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (2) and the Library of Congress (3). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.