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
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
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
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
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
References
- ^ 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). Company Towns of the Pacific Northwest. 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). "Valsetz" (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
- "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
44°50′18″N 123°39′14″W / 44.83833°N 123.65389°W
Municipalities and communities of
Polk County, Oregon, United States | ||
|---|---|---|
| Cities |  | |
| CDPs | ||
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Unincorporated communities | ||
| Indian reservation | ||
| Ghost towns | ||
| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |