Oxbow | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 44°58′30″N 116°51′47″W / 44.9748786°N 116.8629359°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Oregon |
County | Baker |
Elevation | 1,982 ft (604 m) |
Time zone |
UTC-7 (
Mountain; de facto) UTC-8 Pacific (de jure) |
• Summer ( DST) | UTC-6 (MDT) |
ZIP code | 97840 |
Area codes | 541 and 458 |
GNIS feature ID | 1167700 [1] |
Oxbow is an unincorporated community in Baker County, Oregon, United States. [1] Oxbow is along Oregon Route 86 next to the Snake River near the Oxbow Dam on the Oregon- Idaho border, about 17 miles (27 km) northeast of Halfway. [2] Oxbow is just south of the site of the former mining town of Copperfield. [2] Oxbow has a post office with a ZIP code 97840. [3]
There was once a station named Oxbow on a portion of the Oregon Short Line Railroad now inundated by Oxbow Reservoir. [4] [5] It was named for The Oxbow, a U-shaped bend in the Snake River named for the agricultural implement. [4] [6] The present-day community of Oxbow was established in the early 1960s near the former site of Copperfield during the building of the Oxbow Dam by the Idaho Power Company. [4] Oxbow post office was established on May 1, 1965, after moving the office from Homestead six miles to the north. [4] At one time, Oxbow had a school. [7]
This region experiences warm (but not hot) and dry summers, with no average monthly temperatures above 71.6 °F (22 °C). According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Oxbow has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated "Csb" on climate maps. [8]