According to several historians, the U.S. state of Oregon contains over 200 ghost towns.[1][2] Professor and historian Stephen Arndt has counted a total of 256 ghost towns in the state, some well known, others "really obscure."[3] The high number of ghost towns and former communities in the state is largely due to its frontier history and the influx of pioneers who emerged in the area during the 19th century.[2] Many of the ghost towns in Oregon were once mining or lumber camps that were abandoned after their respective industries became unprosperous.[2]
This list includes towns and communities that have been described as ghost towns, and may be abandoned, unpopulated, or have populations that have declined to significantly small numbers;[a] some may still be classified as unincorporated communities. As of 2019[update], some of the towns included may have small residual populations; others may retain few physical remnants of their existence, but are broadly considered ghost towns under prevailing definitions in the United States.[b]
Classifications
Many historians and enthusiasts of ghost towns use a classification system to distinguish ghost towns by types. This classification, which breaks towns into numerous different types, was established by photographer Gary Speck, and has been adapted here.[6][7]
No apparent remains of former settlement exist. In some cases, site may be marked and/or contain a cemetery.
B
Dilapidated buildings and/or remnants of buildings present, along with rubble and debris.
C
No population, but structures are still mostly intact; may be actively preserved by a caretaker.
D
Area is sparsely populated and may boast period structures (of varied physical condition) and/or a cemetery, but no operative town proper.
E
Has retained a small population and historic structures, though typically not as substantive as in its heyday.
F
Not a stand-alone classification, but an addition to any of the above. It usually designates a restored town, state park, or indicates some other “additional” status.
As more Rajneeshees moved to Antelope, more of the town's original residents sold their lots and left. The old-timers panicked, and held a vote to disincorporate.
on June 25, 1963 the mill & entire town was sold at auction into private hands. A major fire in 1965 destroyed the mill & much of the remaining buildings, and another fire in 1984 took care of what buildings remained.
It was located near the mouth of Walker Gulch on Althouse Creek before being moved in 1876. The flat on which the town stood has been long since sluiced away, and no trace of the old townsite remains.
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.
In 1968 Lake Umatilla inundated the railroad bed and the adjacent highway. The railroad station was subsequently moved to a higher elevation about a mile south and renamed Castle.
In 1916–1917, a new public road was built from the Little Nestucca road over Sourgrass Summit to join the old road, Because the new route to the coast was free, there was no longer a need to collect tolls and the town no longer had a reason to exist.
In 1910, a railroad line to Tillamook was built to the north of Glencoe with much of the community relocating one mile west to the new community of North Plains. Whole buildings were moved to the new town.
Linn City was a community that existed from 1843 to 1861 and was destroyed in the Great Flood of 1862. The former site of Linn City was incorporated into the city of West Linn.
It was home to approximately 200 people at its height. While none of the structures remain, a trace of this settlement can be seen at the Orchard Picnic Shelter, where the apple and pear trees date back to the Volz family homestead.
Residents originally wanted to name the post office Lost Creek. However, the United States postal system already had a post office with that name, so it was named after Charles Stauffer, who was the community's first postmaster.
On September 8, 2020, the Riverside Fire tore through the area, destroying all but five of the Three Lynx houses. The remaining buildings were removed in 2022, and the land returned to a more natural state.
Vanport was destroyed on May 30, 1948 due to the Columbia River Flood. The city was underwater by nightfall, leaving around 18,000 of its inhabitants homeless.
Eliminated by irrigation and drainage projects, what was once White Lake is bisected by California State Route 161, connecting U.S. Highways 139 and 97.
By the beginning of World War II, Toledo was the western terminus of the rail line, and the tracks from there to Yaquina were removed. Roughly 20 years later, the former seaport's population dropped to zero.
^According to T. Lindsay Baker, a "ghost town" can refer to either an unpopulated town or a town that, though still populated (albeit in small numbers), has seen a significant decline in population since its establishment.[4]
^American author Lambert Florin's preferred definition of a ghost town is simply "a shadowy semblance of a former self,"[5] while historian T. Lindsey Baker defines a ghost town as simply "a town for which the reason for being no longer exists." Based on the definitions, Sherman County has the most ghost towns with 14 while Klamath County has the fewest with zero.[4]
^ abcMcArthur, Lewis A. (1928). Oregon Geographic Names (7th ed.). Portland, Oregon: Oregon Historical Society Press. pp. 341, 1018. ISBN978-0875952772.
^Nguyen, Tran (September 5, 2017). "The Pinehurst way". Mail Tribune. Medford, Oregon. Archived from the original on August 20, 2019. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
^Battistella, Maureen (December 1, 2016). "Wine with a View". Oregon Wine Press. Archived from the original on August 20, 2019. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
^Highberger, Mark (September 20, 2002). "Westfall". The Observer. La Grande, Oregon. Archived from the original on August 20, 2019. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
^Halvorsen, Douglass (January 15, 2018). "White Lake City". The Historical Marker Database.
McArthur, Lewis A.; McArthur, Lewis L. (1974) [1928]. Oregon Geographic Names (4th ed.). Portland, Oregon: Oregon Historical Society Press. OCLC1135868.
Metzler, Ken (1986). Best of Oregon. Portland, Oregn: Timber Press. ISBN978-0-881-92028-4.
Miller, Donald C. (1977). Ghost Towns of Washington and Oregon. Boulder, Colorado: Pruett Pub. Co. ISBN978-0-871-08500-9.
Miller, George R. (2017). Grant County. Charleston South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN978-1-467-12568-0.
Romaine, Garret (2015). Gold Panning the Pacific Northwest: A Guide to the Area's Best Sites for Gold. Guilford, Connecticut: Falcon Guides. ISBN978-1-493-01483-5.
Varney, Phillip (2013). Ghost Towns of the Pacific Northwest: Your Guide to the Hidden History of Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia (2nd ed.). Minneapolis, Minnesota: Voyageur Press. ISBN978-0-760-34316-6.
Weis, Norman D. (1971). Ghost Towns of the Northwest (1st ed.). Caldwell, Idaho: Caxton Press. ISBN978-0-870-04201-0.
Weis, Norman D. (2006) [1971]. Ghost Towns of the Northwest (10th ed.). Caldwell, Idaho: Caxton Press. ISBN978-0-870-04358-1.