Vesper, Oregon facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Vesper, Oregon
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 Vesper, Oregon
Location in Oregon
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| Country | United States |
| State | Oregon |
| County | Clatsop |
| Vesper | 1876 |
| Founded by | Clatsop people (before establishment); William Johnston |
| Named for | Hesperus |
| Elevation | 486 ft (148 m) |
| Time zone | UTC-8 (Pacific (PST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-7 (PDT) |
| ZIP code |
97138
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| Area code(s) | 503 and 971 |
Vesper is a small community in Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. It is an unincorporated community, which means it does not have its own local government. The Nehalem River flows right through the town.
Vesper was settled in 1876 by William Johnston. He was important because he started the town's first post office and church. Vesper is located near Jewell and the border of Columbia County. William Johnston was also the first person to manage the post office. For a long time, before 1901, Vesper was hard to reach by land. People had to travel by ferry on the Nehalem River to get there. Later, the county built wagon roads, and by 1908, car roads were available. Today, Oregon Route 202 goes through Vesper.
Contents
Vesper's Story: A Look Back
How Vesper Got Started
William Johnston and his family, who came from Ireland, settled Vesper in 1876. The name Vesper comes from Hesperus. In Greek mythology, Hesperus is the name for the planet Venus when it appears in the evening sky. We don't know why Johnston chose this name.
Johnston opened the first post office in Vesper in the winter of 1879. He was also the first postmaster, which means he was in charge of the post office. By 1895, E. A. Carl became the new postmaster. William Johnston also built the town's first church with his family. They used wood from local Douglas-fir trees to build it. The Emmanuel Episcopal Church used this building until the late 1980s. The church building is still standing today.
Building Roads and Bridges
The first wagon road that connected Astoria, Oregon to the Nehalem Valley, ending in Vesper, was built in 1901. This road was 42 miles long. These roads were fixed and improved many times, including in 1908, 1911, and 1914. The 1914 road project was the most expensive road project in Clatsop County at that time.
Vesper was part of an early automobile trip from Portland, Oregon on July 15, 1915. Two people, Frank L. Parker and C. S. Brown, drove 129 miles. Their trip took them 13 hours.
The first bridge in Vesper, which crossed the Nehalem River, was built in 1914. Three years later, Clatsop County approved building two more bridges. These bridges connected Vesper and Jewell, Oregon. They were steel bridges with a single truss design. Today, Oregon Route 202 runs through Vesper. Another interesting road in town is Old 77 Vesper Lane. It's a gravel road that runs along the Nehalem River.
Nature and Farming in Vesper
Much of the land around Vesper is covered by forested timberland and used for agriculture (farming). In the 1920s, a person named H. A. Scullen, who lived in Vesper, ran an apiary. An apiary is a place where bees are kept, usually for making honey.
