Valsetz, Oregon
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.[1] It no longer exists.
History edit
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.[2] Company town researcher Linda Carlson says the town was founded by the Cobbs & Mitchell company of Cadillac, Michigan during World War I.[3][4] Valsetz post office was established in 1920.[2]
In 1947, Cobbs & Mitchell sold the town to its sales agent, Herbert Templeton.[3] He operated it as the Valsetz Lumber Company until 1959, when its sawmill and timber stands were sold to the Boise Cascade Corporation.[2][3]
After the depletion of the old growth timber in the area in the 1970s, the railroad was torn up.[2]
In 1983, Boise Cascade announced that all operations at Valsetz would end early the next year.[2] At that time, the town's population was about 300.[5] 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.[2] The site became part of the Valsetz Tree Farm.[1][2]
Valsetz Lake, an artificial lake next to the townsite that was formed by damming the South Fork Siletz River, was drained in 1988.[4][6]
Legacy edit
Former residents of Valsetz gather for an annual reunion in Falls City, which is the site of a Valsetz memorial.[7]
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.[3] 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.[3]
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.[8]
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.[9] 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.[9]
Climate edit
This region experiences warm (but not hot) and dry summers, with no average monthly temperatures above 71.6 °F. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Valsetz has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated "Csb" on climate maps.[10]
| Climate data for Valsetz, Oregon (1160 ft) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 45.3 (7.4) | 49.8 (9.9) | 52.5 (11.4) | 57.9 (14.4) | 65.3 (18.5) | 71.4 (21.9) | 77.6 (25.3) | 77.5 (25.3) | 72.9 (22.7) | 63.5 (17.5) | 52.4 (11.3) | 46.7 (8.2) | 61.1 (16.2) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 38.3 (3.5) | 41.7 (5.4) | 43.2 (6.2) | 46.8 (8.2) | 52.4 (11.3) | 57.9 (14.4) | 62.1 (16.7) | 62.5 (16.9) | 58.6 (14.8) | 51.7 (10.9) | 44.1 (6.7) | 40.1 (4.5) | 50.0 (10.0) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 31.4 (−0.3) | 33.6 (0.9) | 33.9 (1.1) | 35.8 (2.1) | 39.6 (4.2) | 44.5 (6.9) | 46.6 (8.1) | 47.5 (8.6) | 44.4 (6.9) | 40.0 (4.4) | 35.9 (2.2) | 33.6 (0.9) | 38.9 (3.8) |
| Average precipitation inches (mm) | 20.70 (526) | 16.68 (424) | 14.91 (379) | 8.58 (218) | 4.72 (120) | 3.17 (81) | 1.08 (27) | 1.83 (46) | 4.53 (115) | 10.33 (262) | 19.17 (487) | 22.31 (567) | 128.01 (3,252) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 8.2 (21) | 2.6 (6.6) | 4.0 (10) | 0.9 (2.3) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.1 (0.25) | 1.3 (3.3) | 4.3 (11) | 21.4 (54.45) |
| Source: DRI | |||||||||||||
Education edit
Valsetz was served by the Valsetz School which was a public school for 1st through 12th grade students. In 1969 the high school had 31 students, making it one of the smallest high school programs in Oregon.[11] High school graduation for the last class was held May 25, 1984 and Senator Mark Hatfield spoke at the event.[12]
See also edit
References edit
- ^ a b "Valsetz (historical)". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. November 28, 1980. Retrieved January 18, 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f g McArthur, Lewis A.; Lewis L. McArthur (2003) [1928]. Oregon Geographic Names (Seventh ed.). Portland, Oregon: Oregon Historical Society Press. p. 988. ISBN 0-87595-277-1.
- ^ a b c d e Carlson, Linda (2003). . Seattle: University of Washington Press. pp. 139, 238. ISBN 0-295-98332-9. Archived from the original on 2009-01-19. Retrieved 2009-03-31.
- ^ a b 1988 Polk County Itemizer-Observer article cited in Ferrari, Greg (March 22, 2001). (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2021-11-24.
- ^ Friedman, Ralph (1990). In Search of Western Oregon (2nd ed.). Caldwell, Idaho: The Caxton Printers, Ltd. p. 181. ISBN 0-87004-332-3.
- ^ "Valsetz Lake (historical)". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. May 22, 1986. Retrieved January 18, 2010.
- ^ Rouse, Jennifer. "Falls City Honors Valsetz: Gone But Not Forgotten". Polk County Itemizer-Observer. www.fallscity.org. Retrieved March 25, 2008.
- ^ Gault, Roy (November 7, 2003). "Walk among Salem's old-growth trees". Statesman Journal.
- ^ a b "Building - Valsetz Dining Hall". Western Oregon University. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
- ^ Climate Summary for Valsetz, Oregon
- ^ "Desert School Enrolls 2". Statesman Journal. Salem, Oregon. 1969-01-01. p. 5 of Section 1. - Clipping from Newspapers.com.
- ^ Lynn, Capi. "Film recalls a town that has fallen off the maps". Statesman Journal. Retrieved 2023-01-04.
External links edit
- "Valsetz, 1928" image and history from the Oregon Historical Society
- Historic photos of Valsetz from Salem Public Library
- Image of the Valsetz veneer mill being burned in 1984 from Abandonedrailroads.com
- Award-winning feature documentary film about Valsetz