Whitney, Oregon facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Whitney, Oregon
|
|
|---|---|
Post office in Whitney, about 1900–1910
|
|
 Whitney, Oregon
Location in Oregon
Whitney, Oregon
Location in the United States
|
|
| Country | United States |
| State | Oregon |
| County | Baker |
| Elevation | 4,160 ft (1,270 m) |
| Time zone | UTC-8 (Pacific (PST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-7 (PDT) |
| Area code(s) | 458 and 541 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1152282 |
Whitney is a small, quiet place in Baker County, Oregon, in the United States. It's known as an unincorporated community, which means it's not officially part of a city or town. Many people also call Whitney a ghost town because most of its residents have moved away over time. You can find Whitney on Oregon Route 7, southwest of Sumpter. It's located near the North Fork Burnt River, close to the beautiful Blue Mountains and the large Wallowa-Whitman National Forest.
Contents
How Whitney Got Its Name
Whitney was named after a person named C.H. Whitney. He was a pioneer who helped explore and settle the area a long time ago. The community even had its own post office, which helped people send and receive mail, from 1901 until 1943.
Whitney's Logging History
Whitney started as a busy logging town. Logging is when people cut down trees to use the wood for building and other things. The town was officially planned out, or platted, in the year 1900.
It became a very important stop on the Sumpter Valley Railway. This was a special kind of train track called a narrow gauge line, which means the tracks were closer together than regular train tracks.
The Oregon Lumber Company built the first sawmill in Whitney. A sawmill is a factory where logs are cut into lumber. Sadly, this first sawmill burned down in 1918. This was a big problem for the town, and many people left.
However, the Oregon Lumber Company rebuilt the sawmill in 1939. They wanted to cut down more trees from new areas they had bought nearby. Another company, the Nibley Lumber Company, also built a second sawmill in Whitney between 1910 and 1911. This second sawmill's ruins were still visible for many years, but by 2008, they were completely gone.
What Happened to Whitney?
In the 1940s, there wasn't as much logging happening in the area. Because logging was the main reason Whitney existed, the town started to shrink. The railroad also became less important. This is why Whitney slowly turned into the quiet ghost town it is today.
Interesting Places Nearby
Even though Whitney is mostly a ghost town, there's an interesting historical place nearby. The Antlers Guard Station is located in the Whitney area. This building is so important that it's listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
