Ghost Towns of Oregon

Andrews, OR

County: Harney
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 42°27′51″N 118°36′44″W / 42.46417°N 118.61222°W / 42.46417 -118.61222
Elevation: 4,157 ft (1,267 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Andrews is a ghost town in Harney County, Oregon, United States. It is located south of Steens Mountain and near the Alvord Desert.
Remains: The community was named for Peter Andrews, who settled in the area about 1880. A post office was established on Andrews’ property in 1890. The post office was moved north a short distance in 1900 and called “Wildhorse” or “Wild Horse”. Locals referred to it as “Wild Hog”, however, so the postmaster changed the name to honor his friend Andrews.
Current Status: The population of Andrews slowly declined until only one house remained. When it burned down in 1996, the community became a ghost town.
Remarks:

Antelope, OR

County: Wasco
Zip Code: 97001
Latitude / Longitude: 44°54′39″N 120°43′22″W / 44.91083°N 120.72278°W / 44.91083
Elevation: 2,654 ft (809 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established: 1901
Disestablished: Antelope Valley was probably named by members of Joseph Sherar’s party who were packing supplies to mines in the John Day area. Sherar became known as the operator of a toll bridge across the Deschutes River, on a cut-off of the Barlow Road. There were many pronghorns (often called pronghorn antelope) in the area in the early 19th century. In the mid-19th century, Antelope was along the wagon road connecting The Dalles on the Columbia River with gold mines near Canyon City. After about 1870, the wagon road became known as The Dalles Military Road. The road crossed the Deschutes River on Sherar’s Bridge.
Comments: Antelope is a city in Wasco County, Oregon, United States. It was briefly named Rajneesh in the mid-1980s when followers of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh moved into the city from nearby Rajneeshpuram and voted for the name change. The city is at an elevation of 2,654 feet (809 m) above sea level. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 0.48 square miles (1.24 km2), all of it land.
Remains:
Current Status: On November 6, 1985, the remaining residents, both original and Rajneeshee, voted 34 to 0 to restore the original name, which was never changed by the Postal Service but had been changed and was subsequently restored by the United States Board on Geographic Names. The ranch, 18 miles (29 km) from Antelope, is now owned by Young Life and has been converted into a camp known as the “Washington Family Ranch.” As of the 2010 Census, the population was 46.
Remarks:

Ashwood, OR

County: Jefferson
Zip Code: 97711
Latitude / Longitude: 44°44′01″N 120°45′16″W / 44.73361°N 120.75444°W / 44.73361
Elevation: 2,526 ft (770 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Ashwood is a ghost town in Jefferson County, Oregon, United States, 32 miles (51 km) northeast of Madras.
Remains: Ashwood was named for its proximity to Ash Butte, a butte with volcanic ash deposits on its sides, and to honor Whitfield T. Wood, who settled in the area in the 1870s. Ashwood’s post office was established in 1898.
Current Status: Ashwood is popular with rockhounds, as the area has an abundance of petrified wood, jasper, and thundereggs—Oregon’s state rock.
Remarks: The Ashwood area was first used by the Native American Sahaptin and Northern Paiute people. After the Sahaptin were forced to move to the Warm Springs Indian Reservation in the 1850s, and the Northern Paiute were defeated in the 1870s, settlers moved into the area to raise cattle and sheep. Sheep ranching became an important local industry by 1900 because of the availability of the railroad in nearby Shaniko that facilitated the shipping of wool. Ashwood became a gold and silver mining boomtown in the 1910s. The Oregon King Mine was an important mine that was established during the early boom period. The minerals soon began to play out, however, and local residents turned back to ranching and agriculture as the mainstays of their economy.

Auburn, OR

County: Baker
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 44°41’58″N 117°56’43″W
Elevation: 4,213 ft (1,284 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Auburn was an unincorporated community in rural Baker County, Oregon, United States, now considered a ghost town. Auburn lies off Oregon Route 7 southwest of Baker City and east of McEwen on the edge of the Blue Mountains.
Remains: The post office, the first in northeast Oregon, closed in 1903. It had opened on November 1, 1862, with William F. McCrary as the first postmaster.
Current Status: Auburn is deserted today, but the former gold mining boomtown was once the largest community in Eastern Oregon. Auburn only had one or two buildings until 1861, when gold was discovered in the area. By September 1862, Auburn had grown into a full-fledged town with over 20 stores and 1000 homes to serve the mining industry. In that month the Oregon Legislative Assembly made Auburn the first county seat of Baker County, but by the 1870s Auburn was largely deserted, with a population of 200 people in 1873.
Remarks:

Austin, OR

County: Grant
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 44° 36′ 9.56″ N, 118° 29′ 47.8″ W
Elevation:
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Austin is an unincorporated community, considered a ghost town, in Grant County, Oregon, United States. It is located north of Oregon Route 7, near the Middle Fork John Day River in the Malheur National Forest.
Remains: Austin was named for Minot and Linda Austin, early settlers of the area. The Austins operated a small store and hotel, Austin House. Austin House was started as a hotel and stagecoach station by Mr. Newton. Austin’s post office was established in 1888 and closed in 1950.
Current Status: By 1997, a newer business called Austin House was the only business remaining in the Austin area, at Austin Junction where Oregon Route 7 meets U.S. Route 26. Built in 1959, the business is about 2.5 miles (4.0 km) from the original site of Austin and serves as a combination tavern, grocery store, restaurant, and gas station. As of 2002, fewer than 35 people lived within a 5-mile (8.0 km) radius of Austin.
Remarks: The tracks of the Sumpter Valley Railway reached Austin in 1905. The railway was built by Oregon Lumber Company and Austin became an important railroad logging community. Austin was the hub of the area until Bates, a company town of the Oregon Lumber Company, was built 1 mile (1.6 km) to the west. Austin was also a supply depot for local mining towns, including Susanville and Galena. Austin sawmills supplied lumber for places such as Greenhorn and the Bonanza Mine, higher up in the Blue Mountains. At its height, the population was about 500 (some estimates say it was high as 5,000) and the community had three sawmills. The town also had a substantial jail and the offices of several doctors, lawyers and real estate operators. As the neighboring mining towns disappeared, however, Austin also went into decline.

Bayocean, OR

County: Tillamook
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 45° 31′ 39.37″ N, 123° 57′ 8.47″ W
Elevation:
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Bayocean was a community in Tillamook County, Oregon, United States. Sometimes known as “the town that fell into the sea”, it was a planned resort community founded in 1906 on Tillamook Spit, a small stretch of land that forms one wall of Tillamook Bay. Bayocean’s post office was established on February 4, 1909, and by 1914, the town’s population was 2,000. Only a few decades later, however, Bayocean had become a ghost town, having had many of its attractions destroyed by “man-induced” coastal erosion. The town’s unforeseen destruction is believed by many to have been caused, ironically, by the residents themselves.
Remains: The location of Bayocean was said to have been discovered by co-founder Thomas Irving Potter while sight-seeing and hunting along the Oregon Coast. It was purchased by both T. I. Potter and his father/business partner Thomas Benton Potter, who envisioned the venture as the “Atlantic City of the West”. Believing the site to have an exceptional view of both Tillamook Bay and the Pacific Ocean, the new town’s name was logically derived from both. Bayocean had many features uncommon for a small town of its time, including a dance hall, a hotel with orchestra, a 1000-seat movie theater, a shooting range, a bowling alley, tennis courts, a rail system, and four miles of paved streets.
Current Status: With the addition of a second jetty built in the 1970s, sand began to re-accumulate on the spit. The site is now the location of Bayocean Peninsula County Park and virtually all traces of the town are gone. All that remains of Bayocean is a commemorative sign at the south end of the park.
Remarks: In 1932, waves from a massive storm finally crossed the beach and destroyed the huge natatorium. The spit itself was further damaged by winter storms in 1939, 1942, 1948, and by 1952 what was left of Bayocean had become an island. Bayocean’s post office closed in 1953. What little remained of the town was demolished during the reclamation and dike-building project of 1956. In 1960, Bayocean’s last house was washed away, and in 1971, the last remaining building, a garage, finally fell into the ocean.

Blitzen, OR

County: Harney
Zip Code: 97721
Latitude / Longitude: 42°36’53″N 119°04’10″W
Elevation: 4,576 ft (1,395 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Blitzen is a ghost town in the Catlow Valley of southern Harney County, Oregon.
Remains: It appears that at some point a post office named Blitzen was established about 10 miles south of Narrows, and named for the Donner und Blitzen River, which flowed nearby. Another post office was established in another town called Blitzen on April 10, 1915. A Mr. Stewart served as the first postmaster, and the town’s population gradually declined; there were only three families left in Blitzen in 1924. The Blitzen post office continued to operate as a small rural delivery site until it was closed in February 1943.
Current Status: Today, there is no evidence of habitation at any of these sites except at the ghost town of Blitzen, where there are still a few deteriorated buildings at the townsite, which is now located on the large Roaring Springs Ranch.
Remarks:

Boston, OR

County: Linn
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 44°27′42″N 123°6′33″W / 44.46167°N 123.10917°W / 44.46167
Elevation:
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Boston was platted in 1861 with a New England-style town square. The town became a stagecoach stop, and the Boston Mills post office was established in 1869. Efforts to get the Oregon and California Railroad, which was being built south from Albany, to come through Boston Mills were unsuccessful.
Remains: The railroad was instead built through the nearby land donated by Civil War veteran Captain Frank Shedd and “Shedd’s Station” was created in 1871. The post office was moved soon after. Many of Boston’s buildings, though not the mill itself nor the Farwell DLC homestead, were moved west to the new Shedd’s Station to be near the railroad. In 1899, the railroad changed the name of the station to Shedd, but the name of the post office did not change until 1915.
Current Status:
Remarks: At the former site of Boston Mills, on the Calapooia River, is the National Register of Historic Places-listed Boston Flour Mill (aka Thompson’s Flouring Mill), Oregon’s oldest continuously operating water-powered mill, part of Thompson’s Mills State Heritage Site. It is one of the four remaining gristmills in the state, and one of only two mills still in operation.

Boones Ferry, OR

County: Clackamas, Washington
Zip Code: 97070
Latitude / Longitude: 45°18′24″N 122°45′59″W / 45.30667°N 122.76639°W / 45.30667
Elevation: 154 ft (47 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established: 1969
Disestablished:
Comments: Wilsonville is a city primarily in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States. A portion of the northern section of the city is in Washington County. It was founded as Boones Landing because of the Boones Ferry which crossed the Willamette River at the location; the community became Wilsonville in 1880. The city was incorporated in 1969 with a population of approximately 1,000. The population was 13,991 at the 2000 census and grew to 19,509 as of 2010. Slightly more than 90% of residents at the 2000 census were white, with Hispanics comprising the largest minority group.
Remains: Located within the Portland metropolitan area, the city also includes the planned community of Charbonneau on the south side of the river. The city is bisected by Interstate 5 and includes I-5’s Boone Bridge over the Willamette. Public transportation is provided by the city’s South Metro Area Regional Transit, which includes Wilsonville Station on the Westside Express Service operated by TriMet. Students in public schools attend schools in the West Linn-Wilsonville and Canby school districts, including the only traditional high school, Wilsonville High School. Clackamas Community College and Pioneer Pacific College both have campuses in the city.
Current Status: Wilsonville is located on the southern edge of the Portland metropolitan area sitting at an elevation of 154 feet (47 m) above sea level. Primarily in the southwestern part of Clackamas County, the northern section is in Washington County. It is located on the north side of the Willamette River around where Alphonse Boone established the Boones Ferry.
Remarks: Wilsonville became the name of the community on June 3, 1880, named after the first postmaster, Charles Wilson. That same year the first school, Wilsonville Grade School, was opened as a single-room building. By 1890, the railroad had reached the town and the community contained a depot, several hotels, a saloon, a tavern, a bank, and several other commercial establishments. In 1897, the twelve school districts in the vicinity of Wilsonville up to Lake Oswego merged to create a single district. A railroad bridge was built across the river for the Oregon Electric Railway beginning in 1906. The bridge was completed the next year and service from Wilsonville south to Salem began in 1908.

Bourne, OR

County: Baker
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 44°49’28″N 118°11’51″W
Elevation: 5,374 ft (1,638 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Bourne is a ghost town in Baker County, Oregon, the United States about 7 miles (11 km) north of Sumpter in the Blue Mountains. It lies on Cracker Creek and is within the Wallowa–Whitman National Forest.
Remains: Originally named “Cracker City”, Bourne is named after Senator Jonathan Bourne, Jr., who was interested in Eastern Oregon mines for a time. Bourne’s post office was established in 1895 and closed in 1927.
Current Status: Platted in 1902, the former gold mining boomtown is considered a ghost town today. In 1910 Bourne town was listed as having a population of 77.
Remarks:

Boyd, OR

County: Wasco
Zip Code: 97021
Latitude / Longitude: 45°29′21″N 121°04′56″W / 45.4892875°N 121.0822909°W / 45.4892875
Elevation: 374 m (1,227 ft)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Boyd was a town in Wasco County, Oregon, United States, disincorporated in 1955, and now vacant except for a few abandoned homes, weathered outbuildings, and a derelict wooden grain elevator surrounded by the wheat fields, which still produce the grain that used to fill it. The site of the former settlement is 9.5 miles (15.3 km) southeast of The Dalles, on the east side of U.S. Route 197 from which it is visible at a distance.
Remains: During the western migration, settlers traversing the Barlow Road would have passed through or near Boyd as early as 1847, but the earliest recorded community was established over a decade later when gold was discovered near John Day in 1861, and a larger strike the next year in Canyon City, Oregon.
Current Status: The community still increasing in size, a town plat was drawn in 1895, several businesses sprang up, and a Methodist church established, sharing a pastor with the congregation in Dufur, Oregon. The Boyd school became District #21. The Great Southern Railroad began passing directly through town in 1905 and carrying passengers, freight, mail, and wheat, and Boyd thrived until the 1923 construction of The Dalles – California Highway, now U.S. Route 197, bypassed the town. The following years were difficult for the little town. The Great Depression took its toll on local businesses, already suffering from low wheat prices and decreasing numbers of travelers whom those businesses served. The convenience of trips to nearby Dufur and The Dalles made merchant services in Boyd superfluous. The Post office was closed in 1952.
Remarks: In 1863, a schoolhouse was built on Fifteenmile Creek east of Boyd. The school building was also used for religious services. The community continued to grow. A flour mill was built, ultimately purchased by a T.P. Boyd and his four sons, after whom the town was to be named. The U.S. Government granted a post office under that name, which was located in the general store.

Bridal Veil, OR

County: Multnomah
Zip Code: 97010
Latitude / Longitude: 45°33′33″N 122°10′27″W / 45.55917°N 122.17417°W / 45.55917 -122.17417
Elevation:
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Bridal Veil is a virtual ghost town located in Multnomah County, Oregon, United States. It was established in the 1880s during a logging boom by a logging company as it harvested timber on nearby Larch Mountain to be a company mill town around a sawmill. It had a close relationship with the logging town of Palmer for the first 50 years of its history.
Remains: Bridal Veil was established in 1886. Bridal Veil functioned as the Bridal Veil Falls Lumbering Company and built a sawmill one mile (1.6 km) up Larch Mountain. The company operated in Bridal Veil and the surrounding area from 1886-1936. A mile and half up the timber-rich mountain was the logging town of Palmer. Palmer and Bridal Veil shared common ownership as company mill towns. Together, the two towns produced lumber and were codependent. A V-shaped log flume was built for the rough cut timber to get down the mountain to the planing mill at the railroad tracks in Bridal Veil. After the timber was logged on the mountain, they were brought to the sawmill in Palmer. As the rough-cut lumber exited Palmer’s mill it traveled down the flume the mile and a half to the finishing mill in Bridal Veil. The dependency between the two towns ended in 1936 when the mill at Palmer was shut down.
Current Status: As of November 2011, all that remains of the town is a post office and a cemetery. The site is located near the west end of the Columbia River Gorge. On October 27, 2011, the Bridal Veil Community Church was demolished, leaving only the cemetery and post office as the remnants of the town.
Remarks: On Memorial Day 2006, the Bridal Veil Historical Preservation Society held a service in the Bridal Veil Cemetery. The society had gained the deed to the cemetery, which saw its last burial in 1934. Volunteers, along with society president Geri Canzler and her husband Rod, work to maintain the cemetery. To track down the owners of the cemetery—the heirs to the founders of the Bridal Veil Lumbering Company—the society had to employ the use of volunteer attorneys and title searchers. With possession of the land title, the society now has the exclusive right to preserve the cemetery, whose stones bear witness to diphtheria and smallpox epidemics that swept through Bridal Veil over a century ago. Canzler, together with other area residents, is working to gain the title to the building and land of the Bridal Veil Community Church for the society as well, with aspirations to gain the post office deed one day too.

Buncom, OR

County: Jackson
Zip Code: 97530
Latitude / Longitude: 42°10’26″N 122°59’53″W
Elevation: 1,683 ft (513 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Buncom (also spelled Bunkum or Buncombe) is an abandoned mining town at the confluence of the Little Applegate River and Sterling Creek in Jackson County, Oregon, United States. It is approximately 20 miles (32 km) southwest of Medford, at an elevation of 1,683 feet (513.0 m) above sea level. The site is promoted by the local historical society as a ghost town.
Remains: Buncom was first settled by Chinese miners in 1851 when gold was discovered in nearby Sterling Creek and Jacksonville. Minerals such as cinnabar, chromite, and silver were also mined. A general store was built, and in 1861 J. T. Williams opened a saloon. The Buncom Mining District was created in 1867. Buncom’s post office was established in 1896. By 1918, the gold in the area was depleted, the post office was closed, and the town was abandoned. Most of the buildings were later burned down.
Current Status: Only three buildings from the early 1900s remain the post office (built in 1910), the cookhouse, and the bunkhouse. In 1991, the Buncom Historical Society was created. The society replaced all three of the roofs of the buildings in Buncom. Society has also restored the porch of the post office and the eaves of the cookhouse.
Remarks:

Butteville, OR

County: Marion
Zip Code: 97002
Latitude / Longitude: 45°15′46″N 122°50′27″W / 45.26278°N 122.84083°W / 45.26278
Elevation: 138 ft (42 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Butteville is a census-designated place and unincorporated community in Marion County, Oregon, United States. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined Butteville as a census-designated place (CDP).
Remains: Butteville was founded in the 1840s by members of the Methodist Mission. Butteville was once served by steamboats running on the Willamette River. Butteville saw the peak of its economy in the 1850s, as it competed with neighboring Champoeg, Oregon for shipping business from the surrounding French Prairie. Most of Butteville’s early residents were French-Canadian.
Current Status: The census definition of the area may not precisely correspond to local understanding of the area with the same name. As of the 2010 census the population was 265. It is part of the Salem Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Remarks:

Cascadia, OR

County: Linn
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 44°23′51″N 122°28′50″W / 44.39750°N 122.48056°W / 44.39750
Elevation:
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Cascadia is an unincorporated community that was established in 1892 on the South Santiam River, 14 miles (23 km) east of the current city of Sweet Home, in Linn County, Oregon, United States. Originally a stage stop on the Santiam Wagon Road, then a summer resort also known as Cascadia Mineral Springs, Cascadia had a post office established in 1898. It still maintains a zip code of 97329. The resort had a hotel established by George Geisendorfer, who was also the first postmaster. People were attracted to Cascadia because of its mineral spring water.
Remains:
Current Status: The property was sold to the state in 1940 and now is the site of the 300-acre (1.2 km2) Cascadia State Park.
Remarks:

Champoeg, OR

County: Marion
Zip Code: 97137
Latitude / Longitude: 45°14′56″N 122°53′49″W / 45.24889°N 122.89694°W / 45.24889
Elevation:
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Champoeg (/”æm’pu”i”/ sham-POO-ee, historically /”æm’pu” g/ sham-POO-eg) is a former town in the U.S. state of Oregon. Now a ghost town, it was an important settlement in the Willamette Valley in the early 1840s. Located halfway between Oregon City and Salem, it was the site of the first provisional government of the Oregon Country. The townsite is on the south bank of the Willamette River in northern Marion County, approximately 5 mi (8 km) southeast of Newberg. The town is now part of Champoeg State Heritage Area, an Oregon state park. The Champoeg State Park Historic Archeological District is within the heritage area.
Remains: Champoeg is best known as the site of a series of meetings held in the town during the 1840s. On February 7, 1841, Willamette Valley settlers convened there for the first time. They selected Oregon missionary, Jason Lee, as their chairman and considered measures to deal with the problem of wolves menacing their settlements. It was to be the first in a series of “Wolf Meetings” at the townsite that would establish the basis of civil codes.
Current Status: Also located in the park is the Historic Butteville Store, which was founded in 1863. Considered the oldest operating store in Oregon, it is the last remaining commercial building of the nearby community of Butteville. A series of weekend interpretive programs are available late June through Labor Day weekend, and the Champoeg Promise program provides an interactive living history program for schoolchildren. The site is open year-round and is available for camping (tent, yurt, cabin, and RV), hiking, bicycling, bird watching, picnicking, fishing and boating.
Remarks: The town continued to exist after Oregon statehood. However, on December 2, 1861, the adjacent Willamette River rose 55 feet (17 m) above its normal summer stage, flooding the town with seven feet (2 m) of water. The great flood destroyed most of the structures in the town, barring two saloons. Panicked residents found shelter at the Newell House, which was built upon a hill. Robert Newell went nearly bankrupt in caring for the flood victims. Champoeg was never rebuilt after the disaster. The townsite is now preserved as Champoeg State Heritage Area. A 1901 monument records the names of the 52 settlers who voted to establish the provisional government at the 1843 meeting. Dams installed since the 1930s make another catastrophic flood unlikely.

Copperfield, OR

County: Baker
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 44°58′22″N 116°51′27″W
Elevation: 1,722 ft (525 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established: 1898
Disestablished:
Comments:
Remains:
Current Status:
Remarks:

Cornucopia, OR

County: Baker
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 45° 0′ 29.52″ N, 117° 11′ 33.72″ W
Elevation: 4,741 ft (1,445 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Cornucopia is a ghost town built during the gold mining boom of the 1880s in Eastern Oregon, United States. The town was officially platted in 1886 and was a mining town with various levels of success until it was abandoned in 1942. It is now primarily a tourist attraction as a ghost town. It is located east of Baker City high in the mountains of Pine Valley almost due north of Halfway, Oregon, on Oregon Route 86.
Remains: In 1884 a man by the name Lon Simmons discovered gold on the far east edge of Oregon. By July 1885 there were at least 500 men living in the area, forming a town that became known as Cornucopia. The name means “Horn of Plenty,” which was appropriate due to a large amount of gold discovered. The town only continued to grow as wealth flowed out of the area. The primary mining companies were Last Chance, Queen of the West, Union-Companion, and the Red Jacket. In 1902 the Oregon Daily Journal claimed that “the Cornucopia group of gold mines contains what is probably the largest ore body in the Pacific Northwest, if not in the United States”. Around the same time, there were up to 700 men working for the mining company Cornucopia Mines of Oregon, making it the 6th largest mining operation in the United States at the time. However, the mixture of old equipment and horses being the only form of transportation greatly hindered the town’s success. In the same year, for unknown reasons, the mining companies neglected to pay a collective $40,122 dollar engineering bill. This caused foreclosure proceedings and affected the mine’s success until the claim was settled on February 7, 1905, allowing the mine to grow again.
Current Status: Cornucopia, Oregon is only accessible from the South along the Cornucopia Highway, beginning in Halfway, Oregon. The Cornucopia Highway is the main road connecting Halfway, Jimtown, and Carson, Oregon along the valley before entering Cornucopia 5.5 miles after Carson, Oregon. Cornucopia has become a tourist attraction in Oregon due to its reputation as a ghost town and due to deaths that have occurred there. In response to the growing popularity of the town, the Cornucopia Lodge was built in 2008.
Remarks: During most of Cornucopia’s time, the people in the town were separated from the rest of the world, thus they relied on each other for entertainment. Many people in the town learned to play instruments such as fiddle, piano, and drums. The miners also loved to dress up for the town’s Saturday night dances. Miners worked 10 hour days while in later times mill workers worked 12 hours a day, both working 7 days a week. Because of the constant work, holidays were very important to the townsfolk. The most important ones were Christmas and the Fourth of July, however, Labor Day was also celebrated with a town-wide picnic that consisted of many contests, such as tug-of-war. At the peak of its existence, Cornucopia had multiple general stores, a boardinghouse, saloons, a hotel, a post office, and a school.

Danner, OR

County: Malheur
Zip Code: 97910
Latitude / Longitude: 42°56’40″N 117°20’25″W
Elevation: 4,232 ft (1,290 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Danner is an unincorporated community located in Malheur County, Oregon, United States. It lies along Danner Road off U.S. Route 95 west of Jordan Valley. Jordan Creek flows by Danner. The old Idaho-Oregon-Nevada highway ran through Danner, following the route of the Skinner Toll Road which opened the area for settlement in 1863.
Remains: Danner is the location of Jean Baptiste Charbonneau’s resting place. He was the youngest member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition as the infant son of Sacagawea. Charbonneau died here in 1866 at the age of 61 after developing pneumonia while passing through the area. His burial site was located, marked, and fenced off through the efforts of Danner residents Kirt and Johanna Skinner, and it was entered into the National Register of Historic Places on March 14, 1973. Charbonneau’s resting place lies among five other resting places near the “Inskip Station”, a fortified stone ranch house that operated as a stage station in the 1860s. Inskip’s property was later known as the Ruby Ranch. A plaque marks the remains of Inskip Station within sight of the resting place of Charbonneau.
Current Status: The name of the community comes from John H. Danner, an early area settler. The Postal Service denied an application to call the post office Ruby for the nearby Ruby Ranch, but in 1920 the post office name Danner was approved. The post office operated until 1942. By the 1930s, Danner had a general store run by Jesse Anderson, a Danish immigrant. The building he constructed is still standing today, a half-mile south of the site of Inskip Station.
Remarks: A town had been platted and promoted as Ruby Townsite by Harley J. Hooker, who sold the land for $1.25 per acre when the Jordan Valley Irrigation District began constructing an irrigation dam and canal system near Danner about 1910. The proposed agricultural town never grew as anticipated, however, since the high desert’s harsh climate did not allow farmers to produce a wide enough range of crops. Hooker built a single-story lava rock office building in Danner about 1915. After his death in 1919, it was used as the Danner community hall for a number of years. It became unsafe and was demolished a few years ago.

Divide, OR

County: Lane
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 43°45′04″N 123°07′11″W / 43.75111°N 123.11972°W / 43.75111
Elevation: 745 ft (227 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established: 1900
Disestablished:
Comments: The divide is a ghost town in Lane County, Oregon, United States, located southwest of Cottage Grove, near Interstate 5. A post office in Douglas County near a train station on the Southern Pacific Railroad was established on May 31, 1900, and it was closed on January 15, 1921. In 1909, the post office was relisted as a Lane County post office. It may have been moved across county borders, or its county may have changed during a shift in the border between Lane and Douglas counties.
Remains: Divide got its name because it is very near the boundary between the Umpqua River watershed on the west and the Willamette River watershed on the east. On the west side, water flows into Pass Creek, and on the east side it flows into the Coast Fork Willamette River. Additionally, the southeast edges of the Siuslaw River watershed are immediately north of Divide.
Current Status:
Remarks:

Ellendale, OR

County: Polk
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 44° 55′ 48″ N, 123° 21′ 18″ W
Elevation:
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Ellendale is a ghost town in Polk County, Oregon, United States, about two and a half miles west of Dallas. It was the first White settlement in present-day Polk County. The community’s name changed over the years, with the first post office in Polk County being opened in this locality as “O’Neils Mills” in 1850. The post office was renamed “Nesmith’s” (Or “Nesmiths Mills”) in 1850 and discontinued in 1852. The community was eventually renamed Ellendale.
Remains: James A. O’Neil built the county’s first gristmill at the confluence of La Creole Creek (now Rickreall Creek) and O’Neils Creek over the winter of 1844–1845. The site was chosen for its proximity to water power for the mill, timber, and a rock quarry that could provide millstones. The most important factor for sitting the mill at this location, however, was its proximity to the Siskiyou Trail.[citation needed] A community formed around the mill as it was one of only two gristmills on the west side of the Willamette River at the time and it served settlers from as far away as northern Yamhill County and south as far as Linn and Benton counties. O’Neil offered lodging and a store for people who had made the long trip to his mill. Miners on their way to the California Gold Rush would also stop at the community for flour for the journey.
Current Status: In 1860, one of Oregon’s earliest woolen mills was started in Ellendale by Boise and several others, who had bought and converted a sawmill that had been built upstream from the gristmill in 1854. The sawmill had the only planer in that part of Oregon, most boards still being hand-dressed at the time. In 1870 Boise’s mill burned down. Nothing is left at the site today. The Pumping Station Bridge in the Ellendale area was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, however, it collapsed in 1987 and was removed from the list.
Remarks: In 1849, a flood destroyed the mill and O’Neil sold his interest to James W. Nesmith and Henry Owen, who rebuilt it as “Nesmith’s Mill”. In 1856 the mill was sold again to Hudson & Company but in November 1857 it was closed because more mills had been built in the area and it was no longer needed. In 1863, the mill site, water power, and land were sold to judge Reuben P. Boise, whose donation land claim adjoined the property. La Creole Creek was renamed “Ellen’s Dale” after Boise’s wife, and soon both the creek and the community were renamed “Ellendale”.

Flora, OR

County: Wallowa
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 45°54’01″N 117°18’36″W
Elevation: 4,350 ft (1,330 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Flora is an unincorporated community in Wallowa County, Oregon, United States. It is located about 35 miles north of Enterprise, just off Oregon Route 3, and is considered a ghost town. Its elevation is 4350 ft.
Remains: Flora was platted on April 7, 1897. By 1910, it had a population of 200 residents and an eight-room school. It is considered “the most substantial town to fail” in the Northeast Oregon region.
Current Status: The community was named after the daughter of the first postmaster, A. D. Buzzard. Flora’s post office operated from 1890–1966. The Flora School, built in 1915, is on the National Register of Historic Places. Now known as the Flora School Education Center, the schoolhouse has been restored as a pioneer arts education center.
Remarks:

Friend, OR

County: Wasco
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 45°20′48″N 121°16′02″W / 45.34667°N 121.26722°W / 45.34667
Elevation: 2,447 ft (746 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Friend is an unincorporated community in Wasco County in the U.S. state of Oregon. Considered a ghost town, little remains of the community except for the Friend Store, a one-room schoolhouse, and a cemetery.
Remains: Friend was named after George J. Friend. The first post office in the community, established in 1903, was on his homestead.
Current Status: Friend was the end of the line on the Great Southern Railroad. The line was built in 1908 from Dufur, which connected to The Dalles. The depot was closed and service ended on January 5, 1928; the line was abandoned in 1935. Few signs of the track still exist.
Remarks:

Galena, OR

County: Grant
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 44° 42′ 37.56″ N, 118° 48′ 58.85″ W
Elevation:
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Galena is an unincorporated community in Grant County, Oregon, United States, about 20 miles (32 km) from Austin Junction in the Blue Mountains. It is on the Middle Fork John Day River in the Malheur national forest. The former gold mining camp is considered a ghost town.
Remains: The locale was settled in 1865 as a mining community on the Middle Fork John Day River near its confluence with Elk Creek. The town was named Susanville after one of the earliest inhabitants, Susan Ward.
Current Status: Galena post office was established in 1901 when a group of miners was able to get the Susanville post office moved from the current site of Galena two miles up Elk Creek to their mine. The new post office was named for a body of galena ore in the area, and the town was renamed as well. The mines were worked extensively in the 1860s and were still active in 1940.
Remarks:

Golden, OR

County: Josephine
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 42°40′57.9″N 123°19′49.5″W / 42.682750°N 123.330417°W / 42.682750 -123.330417
Elevation:
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Golden is an abandoned mining town located at Coyote Creek in Josephine County, Oregon, United States.
Remains: Coyote Creek was first settled in the late 1840s when gold was discovered. However, most of the settlers left when gold was found in the nearby Salmon River in 1850. The abandoned town was eventually used by Chinese miners, who took over the abandoned mines. Several years later, they were driven out as the previous occupants returned from the Salmon River.
Current Status: A hydraulic mine was built, and in 1885, a schoolhouse was built about a 1/2-mile (0.80 km) downstream from Golden. By 1892, over 150 people lived along Coyote Creek. A Campbellite church and general store were constructed, and in 1896 the Golden post office established. In 1915, a stamp mill was built. In 1920, the post office closed. The church was rebuilt in 1950. The general store, carriage house, and several homes are still standing today.
Remarks: The Golden Historic District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. As of 2011, Golden has become an Oregon State Heritage Site.

Granite, OR

County: Grant
Zip Code: 97877
Latitude / Longitude: 44°48′32″N 118°25′13″W / 44.80889°N 118.42028°W / 44.80889
Elevation: 695 ft (1 431 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established: 1900
Disestablished:
Comments: Granite is a city in Grant County, in the U.S. state of Oregon. The city had a population of 38 in 2010, up from 24 in 2000. In 2010, it was the fourth-smallest incorporated city by population in Oregon. The smaller cities were Shaniko (36 people), Lonerock (21), and nearby Greenhorn (0).
Remains: First established by miners after the discovery of gold along Granite Creek on July 4, 1862, the area was originally called Granite Creek Mines. During the following year, a settlement called Granite City was established about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) downstream of where Granite City is now. It was moved to its current location in 1867 and renamed Independence after the date—July 4, or Independence Day—of the earlier gold discovery. However, when the community’s post office was established in 1878, it could not use the name Independence because that name was already taken by another Oregon city. Instead, the name Granite was chosen. The post office closed in 1957, but the city retained the name. The creek takes its name from the granite rocks that are common to the area.
Current Status: Granite is an elevation of 4,695 feet (1,431 m) in the Blue Mountains of eastern Oregon. It is 47 miles (76 km) west of Baker City by the highway and 346 miles (557 km) east-southeast of Portland. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 0.37 square miles (0.96 km2), all land. The Elkhorn Drive Scenic Byway, a 106-mile (171 km) closed-loop route mainly through forests in the Elkhorn Mountains, passes through Granite. Other communities along the route are Baker City, Haines, and Sumpter, the latter about 11 miles (18 km) southeast of Granite.
Remarks: In 1878, miner and business owner A. G. Tabor became the first postmaster. Grant Thornburg became the first mayor after the city incorporated in 1900. A 1939 interview “Occupational and Social Life of Granite” recorded by William “Bill” Haight as part of the Federal Writers’ Project, described the town and surroundings of Granite. In September 2017 the population remains at 24. The Outback and the Lodge also remain in business.

Greenback, OR

County: Josephine
Zip Code: 97497
Latitude / Longitude: 42°39’9″N 123°18’43″W
Elevation: 1,903 ft (580 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Greenback is a ghost town and former mining town in Josephine County, Oregon.
Remains: Greenback was named for the nearby Greenback Mine, a gold and quartz mine that was once the richest mine in Oregon by feet of tunnel mined. The Greenback Mine was established by Len Browning and Edward Hanum in 1897. It was sold to banker William Brevoot in 1902, and he founded the town. The post office was established in August 1902 and disestablished in June 1908. Carey W. Thompson was the first postmaster.
Current Status:
Remarks:

Greenhorn, OR

County: Baker, Grant
Zip Code: 97360
Latitude / Longitude: 44°42′31″N 118°29′48″W / 44.70861°N 118.49667°W / 44.70861
Elevation: 6,306 ft (1,922 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established: 1903
Disestablished:
Comments: Greenhorn is a non-populated city in Baker and Grant counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. It straddles the Blue Mountain ridge so that it is located in both Grant County and Baker County. As most of the city is situated in Baker County, and the early residents considered Baker City to be more convenient, for administrative purposes it is considered to be in Baker County.
Remains: Greenhorn was first populated in the 1860s as miners prospected for gold in the area. It was platted in 1904, though it lost two-thirds of its population between 1900 and 1910. The mining district was composed first of placer mines, but soon many lode gold mines developed. The city was incorporated in 1903 and had a population of 28 in 1910. It continued as a viable community until 1942 when gold mining was made illegal by Federal Public Law 208 during World War II.
Current Status: As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 0, with 7 housing units. As of the 2010 census, the population was 0, with 10 housing units
Remarks: The city is surrounded by the Malheur National Forest and Wallowa–Whitman National Forest. At 6,306 feet (1,922 m) above sea level, Greenhorn is the highest incorporated city in Oregon. It is also unique in that the city was established on land that was originally patented from the United States for the purpose of platting the city (rather than being homesteaded by individuals). (See Town of Greenhorn v. Baker County, 596 F2D 349.)

Hardman, OR

County: Morrow
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 45°10’11″N 119°40’55″W
Elevation: 3,563 ft (1,086 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Hardman is a historic community located in southern Morrow County, in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is on Oregon Route 207 about 20 miles (32 km) southwest of Heppner and 32 miles (51 km) north of Spray. Hardman is at an elevation of about 3,600 feet (1,100 m) in an agricultural area slightly west of the Blue Mountains of northeastern Oregon. Rock Creek, a tributary of the Columbia River, flows northwest by Hardman and to its south to meet the river at Lake Umatilla. A former social and commercial center for surrounding farm communities, Hardman became a ghost town following the completion of a railroad to Heppner in the 1920s. The main surviving commercial building, the Hardman IOOF Lodge Hall, was added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 2012.
Remains: Mr. Hardman served as postmaster for a number of years, but ultimately asked to be relieved of the “pressing cares of mercantile life.” He subsequently closed out a large stock of goods and sent in his resignation as postmaster. Mr. Hardman filled public positions with “great credit,” and was the Republican nominee for county commissioner at one time. In an 1892 article detailing Hardman, Mr. Hardman called the area, “this is the easiest country on the coast in which to make a good living.” According to the NRHP nomination form for the IOOF hall, a history of Umatilla and Morrow counties that was published in 1902 said that Hardman at that time had three general stores, two hotels, two feed stables, two blacksmiths, a saloon, a barbershop, a church, schools, a post office, a newspaper, and a telephone office. Other infrastructure included two meeting halls, a skating rink, and a racetrack.
Current Status: At the same time, David N. Hardman, who arrived in the county in 1878 after “crossing the plains some forty-two years ago with an ox train.” He started a settlement a mile to the southeast and became a prominent civic leader in the nascent community. A post office named Hardman was established there in 1881 with Hardman as postmaster after “the people demanded a post office and Mr. Hardman circulated a petition and did other work necessary to effect the location of a post office, which was named in honor of its originator.” In 1882, the Hardman post office was moved to Dairyville but retained the Hardman name. Adamsville post office was established in 1884 and closed in 1885, and thereafter, all activity centered on what is now Hardman, where the post office ran intermittently until 1968.
Remarks: The first settlers in the area were John F. Royse and his brother. Royse was described as a “thoroughbred rustler” in a 3 June 1892 article detailing the community of Hardman. Royse first settled in the Willamette Valley, but circa 1872 he moved to the “bunch grass hills” in present-day Hardman. Royse started a school in 1879 at a place called Dairyville, which locals referred to as “Rawdog”. A mile to the northwest of Dairyville was the community of Adamsville, known to the locals as “Yallerdog”. Locals called the place “Dogtown” after its two predecessors. Why the locals named these communities after dogs is unknown.

Horse Heaven, OR

County: Jefferson
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 44°42′56″N 120°30′26″W / 44.71556°N 120.50722°W / 44.71556
Elevation: 3,150 ft (960 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Horse Heaven is a ghost town in Jefferson County in the U.S. state of Oregon. The settlement, which had a post office from 1938 to 1946, is 46 miles (74 km) east of Madras and 18 miles (29 km) east of Ashwood.
Remains: According to a letter written in 1946 by the Horse Heaven postmaster, Frank E. Lewis, the name for the settlement stemmed from herds of horses that thrived on the local grasses and drank from unfenced springs. Mary E. Finnall, the first postmaster, received the Horse Heaven mail twice a week from Ashwood. Homesteaders settled in the general vicinity, but most had moved away by 1946 when the post office closed. Horse Heaven Mountain and Horse Heaven Creek take their name from the settlement.
Current Status: The Horse Heaven Mine site covers about 40 acres (16 ha). A seasonal residential cabin, as well as outbuildings and historic structures related to the mining era, are nearby. Most of the mining and processing equipment is gone. In 2005 the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality recommended remedial action involving mercury and arsenic in mine wastes at the site.
Remarks: After two men discovered cinnabar, an ore of mercury, in the area in 1933, mercury production began there in 1934. Two years later, Horse Heaven Mines, a subsidiary of Sun Oil Company, took over and continued mining until 1944, when a fire destroyed the ore-processing furnace, power plant, and other structures. The mine closed in 1945 but re-opened in 1955 with a new furnace. Much of the mine collapsed between then and 1958, when the mine closed again.

Idiotville, OR

County: Tillamook
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 45°37′10″N 123°25′5″W / 45.61944°N 123.41806°W / 45.61944 -123.41806
Elevation: 1,200 ft (400 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Idiotville is a near ghost town in Tillamook County, Oregon, United States, near the mouth of Idiot Creek on the Wilson River, on the route of Oregon Route 6. Idiotville’s elevation is 1,200 feet (400 m).
Remains: It is in the Tillamook State Forest, along the Tillamook-Washington county line, approximately 50 miles (80 km) west-northwest of Portland. Nothing remains at the site.
Current Status: The nearby stream was named Idiot Creek after the community and was added to the official United States Board on Geographic Names list in 1977. About a half-mile (800 m) up Idiot Creek was a logging camp called Ryan’s Camp, which was part of the salvage operations following the Tillamook Burn. Since the spot was so remote, it was said that only an idiot would work there, so the camp was popularly known as Idiotville. The name was eventually applied to the stream. Idiotville has been noted for its unusual name.
Remarks:

Jawbone Flats, OR

County: Marion
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 44.84669°N 122.20993°W
Elevation:
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments:
Remains:
Current Status:
Remarks:

Jimtown, OR

County: Baker
Zip Code: 97834
Latitude / Longitude: 44°54′18″N 117°08′42″W / 44.905°N 117.145°W / 44.905
Elevation: 2,930 ft (890 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Jimtown is an unincorporated community in Baker County, Oregon, United States. It is about two miles northwest of Halfway, on Oregon Route 413.
Remains: Jimtown was originally named Langrell, after early resident Richard T. Langrell, a sawmill owner who opened a store in the community in 1904. In 1910 Langrell sold the store to James H. Chandler, who ran it until 1916. He is the “Jim” for whom the town was renamed. Jimtown became the official name in a 1987 United States Board on Geographic Names decision.
Current Status:
Remarks:

Kernville, OR

County: Lincoln
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 44° 53′ 57.98″ N, 124° 0′ 11.99″ W
Elevation:
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Kernville is an unincorporated community in Lincoln County, Oregon, United States. It is located near the intersection of U.S. Route 101 and Oregon Route 229, where the Siletz River enters Siletz Bay. There are two communities, known as “old” and “new” Kernville, in close proximity. Old Kernville is considered a ghost town.
Remains: The “old” Kernville was the first European community in the area. It was started in 1896 by Daniel and John H. Kern, who operated a salmon cannery, Kern Brothers Packing Company, on the north bank of the Siletz River. At the time, the isolated location was only accessible by boat. In 1907 the cannery was sold and the new owners dismantled the building and rebuilt it on the south bank of the river. The sawmill, post office, and original community of Kernville were also located on the more accessible south bank. Eventually, the old townsite, including what remained on the north side of the river, was abandoned. As of 1945, “new” Kernville was located about a mile downstream from its original location, near the old Oregon Coast Highway bridge. Since the rerouting of U.S. Route 101 and the completion of a new Siletz River Bridge in the 1980s, new Kernville is no longer on the main highway. Kernville post office ran intermittently from 1896-1968.
Current Status: After the decline in the fishing industry that started in the 1920s, the Kernville economy was increasingly based on logging. For a time, Kernville was the site of an important spruce mill, and during World War I it supplied wood for the airplanes being built by the U.S. Army Spruce Production Division for the war effort. At this time Kernville was known as “Millport”.
Remarks: The 1971 film about a logging family in Oregon, Sometimes a Great Notion, based on the novel by Ken Kesey, was filmed in Kernville. A local Victorian house served as the set for the “Stamper House”.

Kinzua, OR

County: Wheeler
Zip Code: 97830 (Fossil Post Office box)
Latitude / Longitude: 44°59′22″N 120°03′32″W / 44.98944°N 120.05889°W / 44.98944
Elevation: 3,402 ft (1,037 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Kinzua is a ghost town or former townsite in Wheeler County, Oregon, United States. It existed as a company town from 1927 to 1978. Kinzua lies directly east of Fossil and uses a Fossil mailing address.
Remains: The community was founded by Pennsylvania lumberman Edward D. Wetmore to support the sawmill operations of the Kinzua Pine Mills Company, which was named for the Kinzua Township in Pennsylvania. At one time Kinzua was the most populous community in Wheeler County and 330 people worked at the mill.
Current Status: In 1965, Kinzua included 125 homes, a community hall, church, library, store, and the golf course. When the mill closed in 1978, the buildings were removed and the townsite was planted with trees, mainly ponderosa pine. The six-hole golf course of the Kinzua Hills Golf Club occupies part of the site. The nearby Kinzua landing strip and Kinzua Mountain retain the name as well.
Remarks: In 1929, the company built the Kinzua & Southern Railroad to ship forest products from the mill to Condon, 30 miles (48 km) to the north. From Condon, a Union Pacific feeder line went north to Arlington on the Columbia River. Through 1952, the Kinzua & Southern carried mail and passengers via a self-powered railbus called “The Goose”. The line closed entirely in 1976.

Latourell, OR

County: Multnomah
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 45°32′26″N 122°13′1″W / 45.54056°N 122.21694°W / 45.54056 -122.21694
Elevation: 140 ft (40 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Latourell is an unincorporated community located in Multnomah County, Oregon, United States, on the Historic Columbia River Highway about eight miles (13 km) east of Troutdale and 5.5 miles (9 km) west of Multnomah Falls. Compared to its peak in the 1880s, it is now virtually a ghost town.
Remains: Latourell Falls and the town of Latourell were named for Joseph “Frenchy” Latourell who immigrated to Oregon in the 1850s. Latourell owned a mercantile and a fish wheel, and he was a boatman on the Columbia River. The first post office in the area was called Rooster Rock after the natural feature; it was established in May 1876. Joseph Latourell became postmaster in August 1876, and the name of the post office was changed to Latourell Falls a year later. The office closed in 1964. The name of the local railroad station was “Latourell”.
Current Status: The falls are on property formerly owned by Guy W. Talbot and now part of Guy W. Talbot State Park. Latourell Prairie, on the bluffs above the river and east of the falls, is also named for Joseph Latourell. The Latourells had eight children and were known to Portlanders who visited by steamboat to sing, dance, dine and listen while the family played musical instruments.
Remarks: At its height, Latourell was a working timber town and had five saloons and a well-known brass band. Large-scale commercial logging did not arrive until the 1880s. Before that, many Columbia River Gorge residents cut and delivered cordwood to Columbia River steamships.

Lime, OR

County: Baker
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 44°24’24″N 117°18’41″W
Elevation: 2,234 ft (681 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Lime is an unincorporated community in Baker County, Oregon, United States, 5 miles (8 km) north of Huntington on U.S. Route 30/Interstate 84. It is near the confluence of Marble Creek and the Burnt River on the Union Pacific Railroad. The Oregon Trail passes through Lime.
Remains: Lime’s post office was established in 1899 and closed in 1964. In 1940, the community had a population of 18. The deposits of limestone in the area were manufactured into lime that supplied a large area of Eastern Oregon and western Idaho. The Acme Cement Plaster Company built a plant at Lime in 1916 to produce plaster. The Sun Portland Cement Company bought the plant in 1921 and built another facility for producing Portland cement. In 1926, the company merged with Oregon Portland Cement Company from Portland; by the 1960s, the Lime facility produced 1,200,000 barrels a year.
Current Status: As the nearby limestone deposits were depleted, limestone was brought from the Nelson area near Durkee. A new plant was built at Nelson in 1979 and the facility at Lime was closed in 1980. Oregon Portland Cement Company merged with the Ash Grove Cement Company in 1983.
Remarks:

Lonerock, OR

County: Gilliam
Zip Code: 97823
Latitude / Longitude: 45°5′22″N 119°53′3″W / 45.08944°N 119.88417°W / 45.08944
Elevation: 2,800 ft (853.4 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established: 1901
Disestablished:
Comments: Lonerock is a city in Gilliam County, Oregon, United States. The population was 21 at the 2010 census. Lonerock was founded in 1881 as a service center for the surrounding ranches. It was named for an unusual, 35-foot (11 m)-a high lone rock which still stands in the town near the old Methodist church. The city’s population grew from 68 in 1900 to 70 in 1910, 73 in 1920, and then to a high of 82 in 1930. By the 1940 census, Lonerock’s population dwindled to 46, and continued to drop to 38 in 1950, 31 in 1960, and then bottomed out to 12 residents in 1970. The city grew to 26 citizens in 1980, before falling to 11 in the 1990 census.
Remains: Lonerock is a small town in Gilliam County, Oregon, about 19 miles from Condon. Lonerock got its name from the giant rock that can be found on the outer edge of the small town. The first settlers came to Lonerock in 1871, looking for a place to homestead. After a few years, a handful of homesteaders had begun to plant roots in the small valley community. Lonerock had become a popular landing spot for these journeymen because of the small stream and abundance of bunch grass growing in the area. This area was also popular with the big game and provided the homesteaders an opportunity to hunt for their families’ food. Many of these first settlers planted crops and raised various types of livestock to survive. However, in 1874, a homesteader by the name of Edward Wineland built a sawmill, powered by a water wheel in the stream. This gave Lonerock a great opportunity to grow and prosper as a community — which is exactly what the community did, signified by the post office that was built in November of the very next year. However, in the year 1878, Lonerock began to have struggled with the Indians in the area, causing many settlers to flee to The Dalles, while the remaining members of the community gathered together in the most fortified settlement, for protection.
Current Status: From 1930 to 1940, the population was nearly cut in half. This decrease was very hard on the town and reduced its economy dramatically. Within a short time- the only in town employers were agricultural farms and ranches, while the rest of the citizens were comfortably retired. This economic and cultural balance has continued to the present day.
Remarks: The vast amounts of bunchgrass in the hills around Lonerock have become a major asset in raising the cattle that have replaced the sheep production. This cattle production accounts for nearly all of the citizens’ income and a majority of the land is utilized as rangeland. Without the income and production of cattle, sheep, and the bunchgrass on which they grazed, Lonerock as a town, would most likely not have survived. The other half of the agricultural economy in Lonerock is hay production. Originally, Lonerock’s climate was not capable of producing a yield worthy of planting up keeping each year. However, with the introduction of multiple irrigation methods in the Lonerock valley, the yield of the alfalfa increased greatly, providing ranchers in the area with hay to feed their cattle through the winter, without needing to rely on outside producers.

Ordnance, OR

County: Umatilla
Zip Code: 97882
Latitude / Longitude: 45°47′48″N 119°25′01″W / 45.79667°N 119.41694°W / 45.79667 -119.41694
Elevation: 587 ft (179 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Ordnance is a ghost town in Umatilla County, Oregon, United States, southwest of Hermiston on Interstate 84/U.S. Route 30, near the intersection with Interstate 82. In 1941, the United States Department of War commissioned the establishment of Umatilla Ordnance Depot in northern Umatilla County; it was later renamed Umatilla Army Depot and then Umatilla Chemical Depot. The town was named after the depot, and an Ordnance post office was established in 1943. By the 1960s
Remains:
Current Status: Ordnance was no longer a community.
Remarks:

Orodell, OR

County: Union
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 45° 20′ 34.48″ N, 118° 6′ 48.79″ W
Elevation:
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Orodell, also known as Oro Dell, is an unincorporated historic community in Union County, Oregon, United States, on the Grande Ronde River at the northwest edge of La Grande. It is considered a ghost town. Either Charles Fox or Stephen Coffin started the first sawmill in the Grande Ronde Valley there in the summer of 1862 after a joint-stock company between Coffin and other local settlers failed to materialize in 1861.
Remains: A townsite was platted in 1868. Orodell post office was established in 1867 and named by taking part of the Greek word oros, meaning “a mountain”, and combining it with the English word “dell”.
Current Status: The post office closed in 1878, and although the place is still known as Orodell, there has not been a community there for many years.
Remarks:

Ortley, OR

County: Wasco
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 45° 39′ 21.43″ N, 121° 17′ 17.26″ W
Elevation:
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Ortley is a former town in Wasco County, Oregon, in the United States. It was about 1 mile (2 km) south of Rowena and about 7 miles (11 km) southeast of Mosier; the site is now on private land and no evidence of the townsite exists today. It is still classed as a populated place by the USGS.
Remains: Ortley was originally developed by the Hood River Orchard & Land Company[citation needed] which filed a plat for the townsite in 1911, naming it for the ‘Ortley’, a variety of apple. The company sold town lots and small orchard parcels, and Ortley quickly grew to a population of 300. The community included a post office, several shops, and a hotel.[citation needed] However, the land proved unsuitable for apple production because of the prevailing high winds and scarcity of water.
Current Status: By 1922, the town was all but abandoned, and in that year the post office closed.
Remarks:

Placer, OR

County: Josephine
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 42°37′55″N 123°18′55″W / 42.63194°N 123.31528°W / 42.63194 -123.31528
Elevation:
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Placer is an unincorporated community in Josephine County, Oregon, the United States on Grave Creek a few miles east of Interstate 5. Established during the local gold mining boom, it is considered a ghost town.
Remains: Placer was unofficially established in 1885 as “Tom East” and platted in 1898 by pioneer landowner L. M. Browning, who had arrived in the area in 1870. Tom East was an early southwest Oregon miner, who came to the U.S. from England as a young man. He was mining in Josephine County by 1855, and at least three Tom East Creeks and one East Creek were named for him. In the 1870s, he prospected and mined along the Rogue River, eventually settling on Brushy Bar near the future site of the community of Marial, where he lived until his death in 1897.
Current Status: Placer was established as a supply center for the Tom East and Upper Grave Creek mines and was on the stagecoach line between New Leland and the Greenback Mine. In its heyday, Placer had two large hotels, two large mercantiles, and three saloons—the only ones on Upper Grave Creek—as well as other small businesses, including a newspaper edited by Nellie Anderson. Placer grew rapidly with the development of the Columbia placer mine and the Greenback quartz mine, which was the richest mine in Oregon by feet of tunnel mined.
Remarks: The first post office at this locale was applied for in 1893 by Newell Fillmore Inman with the name Tom East, but the Post Office Department changed the name to “Placer”. Placer was named for the placer mines in the area. Placer post office ran from 1894 to 1924, with mail then going to Leland.

Richmond, OR

County: Wheeler
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 44°43′51″N 119°59′32″W / 44.73083°N 119.99222°W / 44.73083
Elevation: 3,215 ft (980 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Richmond is an unincorporated community in Wheeler County, in the U.S. state of Oregon. Richmond lies on Richmond Road southeast of its intersection with Oregon Route 207 between Mitchell and Service Creek. The community had a post office from 1899 to 1952.
Remains: R. N. Donnelly gave the community its name in response to an argument with another pioneer resident, William Walters, about where to build a school. Donnelly called Walters “Jeff Davis” because he viewed Walters as rebellious and associated him with the rebels of the Confederate States of America and their president Jefferson Davis. Donnelly named the site “Richmond” after the capital city of the Confederacy.
Current Status: Buildings in Richmond included the school, a store, a Methodist Church, an Independent Order of Odd Fellows hall, and several homes, all later abandoned. In 1901 nearly 450 people attended the annual meeting of the Wheeler County Pioneer Association in Richmond.
Remarks:

Shaniko, OR

County: Wasco
Zip Code: 97057
Latitude / Longitude: 45°0′11″N 120°45′11″W / 45.00306°N 120.75306°W / 45.00306
Elevation: 3,343 ft (1,019 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established: 1901
Disestablished:
Comments: Shaniko (/'”æn”ko”/, SHAN-i-koh) is a city located in Wasco County, Oregon, United States, on U.S. Route 97 and about 8 miles (13 km) north of Antelope. The population was 36 at the 2010 census. Shaniko is in Wasco County, in north-central Oregon, at the intersection of U.S. Route 97 and Oregon Route 218. The city is 69 miles (111 km) north of Redmond and 131 miles (211 km) east of Portland. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 0.50 square miles (1.29 km2), all of it land.
Remains: The city is at an elevation of 3,343 feet (1,019 m). On the high plateau on which Shaniko was built, the soil is thin and the vegetation sparse, consisting mainly of sagebrush, bunchgrass, and occasional junipers. Many peaks of the Cascade Range, including Hood, Jefferson, Adams, St. Helens, and Rainier, are visible from the city. The first European Americans came to the Shaniko area after the discovery of gold in Canyon City, Oregon, in 1862. The route to Canyon City started at the early settlement of The Dalles, 190 miles (310 km) away. Camps were made wherever water could be found. One camp, which became the farming community of Bakeoven, was closely associated with the future town of Shaniko, while another camp, Cross Hollow, was within the present Shaniko city limits. In 1867, following complaints of hostile Indians and fear of robbery of those transporting gold, the State of Oregon received a grant from the United States government to build a military wagon road from The Dalles to Fort Boise, Idaho. Following this road, homesteaders began claiming land in Central Oregon that had been fairly inaccessible.
Current Status: By 1911, the Oregon–Washington Railroad and Navigation Company, another Union Pacific subsidiary, began using an alternate route linking Portland to Bend by way of the Deschutes River canyon. The new line, advertised as the “direct, quick and natural route”, diverted traffic from the Columbia Southern, and Shaniko begins to decline. Passenger service to Shaniko ended in the early 1930s, and the entire line was shut down by 1966. By 1982 Shaniko was nearly a ghost town.
Remarks: The residents of Shaniko voted to incorporate Shaniko and elected a mayor, F. T. Hurlbert, and other city officials on January 1, 1902. It was Wasco County’s fifth-largest city, boasting the largest wool warehouse in the state, from which 4 million pounds (1.8 kt) (2,000 tons) were marketed in 1901. It was surrounded by cattle ranches, which produced livestock for shipment that filled 400 railroad cars that year.

Southport, OR

County: Coos
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 43°17′53″N 124°13′13″W / 43.29806°N 124.22028°W / 43.29806
Elevation: 30 ft (9 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Southport is an unincorporated locale in Coos County, Oregon, United States. It was located along Southport Creek, near where the creek flows into Isthmus Slough, 6.5 miles (10 km) south of the city of Coos Bay, at an elevation of 30 feet (9 m). The former community is now a ghost town. The Southport townsite is located on Southport Lane, off of US Highway 101, south of the city of Coos Bay in Coos County.
Remains: Sometime between 1875 and 1877 B. B. Jones opened a coal mine named the Southport Mine, and the village of Southport sprang up next to the mine. It was a company town of the Black Diamond Coal Mining Company, headquartered in San Francisco, California. (Nortonville, California and Black Diamond, Washington, were two of the company’s other towns.) In 1882 the town had a population of 100, with a general merchandise store, a variety store, and a hotel/saloon. A 2,000-foot-long makeshift railroad ran from the mine to the slough. Southport never had a post office; instead, it was served by the post office at Coos City (also now a ghost town), which was located on the other side of Isthmus Slough from Southport.
Current Status: In 1885, the Black Diamond Coal Mining Company opened a new mine at Black Diamond, Washington, and many of the miners at Southport and Nortonville moved to the new mine. In about 1885, the owners of a competing mine, the Newport Mine, leased the Southport Mine property but kept the mine closed. This led to a decline of the town, although it was still shown on an 1896 USGS topographic map.
Remarks:

Sparta, OR

County: Baker
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 44°52’16″N 117°19’27″W
Elevation: 4,111 ft (1,253 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Sparta is an unincorporated community in Baker County, Oregon, United States. It was named for Sparta, Illinois, by William H. Packwood, a prominent Oregon pioneer who visited the gold diggings at the Powder River there in 1871.
Remains: By 1873, the population was 300 and the town had a general store, a hotel, a meat market, and a brewery; food came from the nearby Eagle Valley. The town was platted in 1872, and the post office was established in 1872 and ran until 1952. The post office was originally named “Gem” in 1871 and was moved about a mile east when it was renamed Sparta to match the established community. The locale was also known as “Eagle City”.
Current Status:
Remarks:

Sterlingville, OR

County: Jackson
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 42°13′29″N 122°56′34″W / 42.22472°N 122.94278°W / 42.22472 -122.94278
Elevation: 2,726 ft (831 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Sterlingville was a boomtown along on Sterling Creek in Jackson County, Oregon, United States, once home to the largest hydraulic mine in Oregon.
Remains: Sterlingville was founded in 1854 when two miners named James Sterling and Aaron Davis discovered gold in nearby Sterling Creek. Word leaked out that gold had been found, and within two years Sterlingville was home to over 800 people. Buildings in the town included general stores, a warehouse, boarding houses, a bakery, a casino, a dance hall, saloons, a blacksmith shop, a barbershop, and many houses. At its peak, Sterlingville had a population of over 1,500. The Sterlingville School District was created in 1869. In 1877, the newly founded Sterling Mine Company built the Sterling Ditch, diverting water 23 miles (37 km) from Little Applegate River for hydraulic mining of gold and chromite. Sterling Mine quickly became the largest hydraulic mine in Oregon, and possibly the entire western United States. As the source of Sterling Ditch was 120 feet (37 m) above the mine, it used gravity to propel water through three 5-inch (13 cm) nozzles. Captain A. P. Ankeny, the owner of the Sterling Mine Company, collected over $64,000 from gold. The Sterlingville post office was built in 1879, but as the gold ran out, the population of the town declined. In 1883, the post office closed, by 1910, hydraulic mining had stopped, and in 1937, the school district closed down.
Current Status: It has since been abandoned and destroyed.
Remarks: During the Great Depression, Sterlingville saw a revival of hydraulic mining. The mines operated from 1933 to 1957. The mines devastated the surrounding landscape, washing away nearly all the soil, and moving piles of rocks downstream. After the mines closed, the town was abandoned and destroyed.

Sumpter, OR

County: Baker
Zip Code: 97877
Latitude / Longitude: 44°44′46″N 118°11′57″W / 44.74611°N 118.19917°W / 44.74611
Elevation: 4,429 ft (1,350 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established: 1898
Disestablished:
Comments: Sumpter is a city in Baker County, Oregon, United States. The population was 204 at the 2010 census. Sumpter is named after Fort Sumter by its founders. The name was inspired by a rock as smooth and round as a cannonball, which reminded a local resident of the American Civil War and Fort Sumter.
Remains: Baker County was named for Edward Dickinson Baker, a U.S. Senator from Oregon who was killed in the Battle of Ball’s Bluff during the American Civil War. Sumpter, first settled by Euro-Americans during this war, was named after Fort Sumter in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The fort was often mentioned in war dispatches read by the settlers. An account in the Baker Democrat–Herald many decades later reported that around rock found in the area in the early 1860s had looked to residents like a cannonball and, reinforced by the war news, had reminded them of Fort Sumter.
Current Status: In 2013, the area was the location for the reality television show Ghost Mine. The plot involves a team of people looking for gold and ghosts in the “Crescent Mine” near Sumpter. According to a Baker City Herald story picked up by the Associated Press and Portland television station KATU, most of the filming was done at the Buckeye Mine group near Bourne, about 6 miles (10 km) north of Sumpter along Cracker Creek.
Remarks: Shortly after the SVR arrived, the city expanded near a set of deep-shaft gold mines with a combined total of 12 miles (19 km) of tunnels. The population grew to more than 2,000. Sumpter had electric lights, churches, saloons, a brewery, sidewalks, three newspapers, and an opera house. However, as the mines played out, the city declined even before a devastating fire in 1917. Dynamite was used to helping put out the fire, which destroyed 12 blocks of the town’s buildings. A few of the surviving structures remain in the 21st century and are occupied by retail shops.

Susanville, OR

County: Grant
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 44° 42′ 47.56″ N, 118° 47′ 1.85″ W
Elevation:
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Susanville is an unincorporated community in Grant County, Oregon, United States, in the Blue Mountains about two miles up Elk Creek from Galena. The place was started as a gold mining camp in 1862 or 1864 and is now considered a ghost town.
Remains: Susanville was originally where Galena is now. Susanville’s post office was established in 1888 but was moved by miners two miles up Elk Creek in 1901, and Galena’s post office replaced the one at Susanville’s original location. The story goes that the miners of the “New Susanville” actually stole the post office, including its mailboxes, canceling stamps, inkpad. The Susanville office ran until 1952, after which mail went to Bates.
Current Status: Susanville only had one street because Elk Creek canyon was too narrow for more. In its heyday, the camp had a store and a ten-stamp stamp mill. As many as 1000 miners would come to town on Saturday nights.
Remarks: In 1913, the 80-oz Armstrong Nugget was found in the Susanville area.

Valsetz, OR

County: Polk
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 44° 50′ 17.99″ N, 123° 39′ 14″ W
Elevation:
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Valsetz was an unincorporated community and timber company town in Polk County, Oregon, United States, west of Falls City in the Central Oregon Coast Range. It no longer exists. Oregon Geographic Names says that the William W. Mitchell Company started the town in 1919 and named it as a portmanteau of Valley and Siletz Railroad, whose terminus was at that location. Company town researcher Linda Carlson says the town was founded by the Cobbs & Mitchell company of Cadillac, Michigan during World War I. Valsetz post office was established in 1920.
Remains: In 1947, Cobbs & Mitchell sold the town to its sales agent, Herbert Templeton. He operated it as the Valsetz Lumber Company until 1959 when its sawmill and timber stands were sold to the Boise Cascade Corporation. After the depletion of the old-growth timber in the area in the 1970s, the railroad was torn up. In 1983, Boise Cascade announced that all operations at Valsetz would end early the next year. At that time, the town’s population was about 300. In 1984, the town and most of its structures were removed, as everything in the community, property, and streets included, was owned by the corporation. The post office closed the same year. The site became part of the Valsetz Tree Farm.
Current Status: Near the site of the former community is the “Valley of the Giants”, 51 acres (210,000 m2) of Bureau of Land Management-protected old-growth Douglas-fir and Western Hemlock forest on the North Fork of the Siletz River. The valley was set aside for protection in 1976. The Valsetz Dining Hall at Western Oregon University (WOU) in Monmouth, east of Valsetz, was built in 1970 and rededicated in 1991 in tribute to the former community. Between 1926 and 1931, WOU, then known as the Oregon Normal School, sent 16 to 20 student teachers for six-week sessions in the Valsetz elementary school.
Remarks: Valsetz Lake, an artificial lake next to the townsite that was formed by damming the South Fork Siletz River, was drained in 1988. Former residents of Valsetz gather for an annual reunion in Falls City, which is the site of a Valsetz memorial. The place was nationally known for its record rainfalls and for its newspaper, the Valsetz Star, which was started in the 1930s by 9-year-old Dorothy Anne Hobson. At one time the population of Valsetz was over one thousand, and served by its own elementary and high school, which fielded championship basketball teams.

Waldo, OR

County: Josephine
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 42°3′40″N 123°38′49″W / 42.06111°N 123.64694°W / 42.06111 -123.64694
Elevation:
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Waldo is a ghost town located in Josephine County, Oregon, United States, about three miles from the California border. It was settled in 1852 as a gold mining camp called Sailor’s Diggings. The place was later renamed “Waldo” in honor of William Waldo, who in 1853 was the Whig candidate for governor of California. This was apparently because, believing the settlement was in California, William Waldo campaigned there and convinced the populace that they should vote for him. The town was the first county seat of Josephine County.
Remains:
Current Status:
Remarks:

Whitney, OR

County: Baker
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 44°39’34″N 118°17’27″W
Elevation: 4,160 ft (1,270 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Whitney is an unincorporated community, also considered a ghost town, in Baker County, Oregon, United States, on Oregon Route 7 southwest of Sumpter. It is on the North Fork Burnt River, near the Blue Mountains and Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. Whitney was named for a pioneer in the county, C.H. Whitney. The community of Whitney had a post office from 1901 to 1943.
Remains: Founded as a logging town and platted in 1900, Whitney was the primary station on the narrow gauge Sumpter Valley Railway. The Oregon Lumber Company built the first sawmill. It burned down in 1918, causing the town to severely decline. It was rebuilt in 1939 by the Oregon Lumber Company to harvest some nearby newly purchased timber stands. The Nibley Lumber Company built a second sawmill in 1910–11 on the south side of town. It was a picturesque ruin well into the 21st century, but as of 2008 was completely gone. Logging declined in the area in the 1940s, which caused the town and the railroad to fade.
Current Status: According to a United States Forest Service sign on the road: A Town Named Whitney ~ Rails of the Sumpter Valley R. R. reached Whitney Valley June 1, 1901. Originally a timber company town, Whitney grew to become the main head of the Stage Lines to mining and cattle towns such as Unity, Bridgeport, and Malheur City. Logging railroads were built in all directions out of Whitney during the next 20 years. Nibley Lumber Company set up a large sawmill south of town in 1911 as loggers “Daylighted” the large stands of pine nearby. At one time over 150 people called Whitney their home. When the railway was abandoned in 1947, the town closed its doors. The Antlers Guard Station, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, is in the Whitney area.
Remarks:

Yanquina, OR

County: Lincoln
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 44°36′07″N 124°00′31″W / 44.60194°N 124.00861°W / 44.60194
Elevation: 36 ft (11 m)
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Yaquina (/j”‘kw”n”/ y”-KWIN-“), at one time a thriving port called Yaquina City, is an unincorporated community in Lincoln County, in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is near the mouth of the Yaquina River, on the east side of Yaquina Bay, and is a 3-to-4-mile (5 to 6 km) drive from Newport. The Oregon Press Association, which became the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association, was founded in Yaquina City in 1887.
Remains: In the late 19th century, Yaquina City was the western terminus of the Oregon Pacific Railroad, linking the harbor there to Corvallis and Albany. Thomas Egenton Hogg, the rail line’s chief promoter, and his Eastern financial backers believed that a steamship–railroad combination using Yaquina Bay could compete successfully with the usual Columbia River route to Portland. The first train moved over the line in 1885, making connections at Yaquina City with a steamer to San Francisco. However, the Yaquina–Albany line and a partly completed extension from Albany toward the Cascade Range, became too expensive to continue. After the Oregon Pacific failed financially, it fell into receivership and went through 17 years of financial and legal complications before becoming a branch line of the Southern Pacific in 1907.
Current Status: In 1911, the city had a railroad station, a roundhouse and associated railroad shops, a bank, a three-story hotel, other commercial establishments, and many homes. As many as eight trains were needed on weekends to carry beach-goers from the Willamette Valley to Yaquina City and the steamer Yaquina, which carried them across the bay to Newport. However, Newport and nearby Toledo, more accessible by highway, grew larger over time while Yaquina City shrank. By the beginning of World War II, Toledo was the western terminus of the rail line, and the tracks from there to Yaquina City were removed. Roughly 20 years later, the former seaport’s population dropped to zero. Historian Edwin Culp writes: “Today one can drive along the bay from Newport to Toledo, pass through Yaquina City, and never know that such a town existed.”
Remarks: The city, the bay, and the river are all named for the Yaquina people, a small Native American tribe of Yakonan speakers who lived near the bay.

Zena, OR

County: Polk
Zip Code:
Latitude / Longitude: 45° 0′ 32″ N, 123° 7′ 41.99″ W
Elevation:
Time Zone: Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
Established:
Disestablished:
Comments: Zena is a former community (now considered a ghost town) approximately 10 miles northwest of Salem, Oregon, United States, in Polk County. The community was established in 1858, originally called “Spring Valley”. It was renamed “Zena” by Daniel Jackson Cooper and his brother Jacob Calvin Cooper, pioneers from Missouri. In 1866 they built a store and obtained the post office there, renaming the community in tribute to their wives (and sisters), Arvazena Spilman Cooper and Melzena Spilman Cooper. Zena is home to the historic Spring Valley Presbyterian Church. The 1992 novel The Road to Zena by Joel Redon is set in Zena and nearby Lincoln.
Remains: Arvazena was born in 1846 in Cherokee County, North Carolina. She spent many years in Missouri and married Daniel Jackson Cooper in May 1861. Two years later, the family moved west and settled in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. She and her husband had 15 children born in Missouri, Oregon, and on the journey to Oregon. Arvazena died in 1929 and is buried in The Dalles, Oregon.
Current Status:
Remarks: According to Arvazena Cooper: Grandpa [Elbert Emmerson Cooper] went over into Polk County during this week and got a place to stop at from Bolivar Walker. Afterward, he bought a place from Nels Walling, paying for it with his outfit he crossed the plains with. It was at a place afterward called Zena, near a church where Grandpa preached for several years.”

How Many Ghost Towns Are In Oregon?