Halfway, Oregon

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Coordinates: 44°52′42″N, 117°6′38″W
Halfway, Oregon
Location in Oregon
County	Baker County
Incorporated	1909
Mayor	Gordon Kaesemeyer
Area
- City	1.1 km² (0.4 sq mi)
- Land	1.1 km² (0.4 sq mi)
- Water	0 km² (0 sq mi)
Elevation	808.02 m (2,651 ft)
Population
- City (2000)	337
- Density	302.6/km² (789.5/sq mi)
Time zone	Pacific (UTC-8)
- Summer (DST)	Pacific (UTC-7)

Halfway is a city in Baker County, Oregon, United States. This town took its name from the fact that the post office, located on the Alexander Stalker ranch, was halfway between Pine and Cornucopia. The population was 337 at the 2000 census.

1 History
2 Geography
3 Demographics
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History

The area was originally used as hunting territory by the Nez Perce, Umatilla, Shoshone and Snake Indian tribes.

It was explored and mapped by Benjamin Bonneville in the 1830s, and first settled by white people in the 1860s. The smaller national forests now combined into the local Wallowa-Whitman National Forest were created in 1908. Halfway was incorporated in 1909.

The town has always been primarily a farming and ranching community. There was a small gold rush to nearby Cornucopia, now a ghost town, and some timber industry in the early 20th century. Major employer the Idaho Power Company now operates three hydroelectric dams on the Snake River.

Halfway earned a place in the history of the dot-com experience when it received, and accepted in December, 1999, an offer to rename itself Half.com, Oregon in exchange for $100,000, computers for the school, and other financial subsidies. Since the company half.com was bought by eBay in February, 2001, it has not been made clear whether eBay would honor the numerous financial considerations.

The financial conditions that led to the city accepting half.com's offer returned in 2004, when the company owning a promissary note secured by its fairgrounds and improvements demanded payment of over $530,000. Foreclosure of the 83-year-old fairgrounds would endanger the future of the yearly Pine Valley Fair and the annual rodeo.

[edit] Geography

Halfway is located at 44°52′42″N, 117°6′38″W (44.878209, -117.110659)^GR1. It is 34 miles east of Baker City, located on Oregon Highway 86.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.1 km² (0.4 mi²), all land.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 337 people, 159 households, and 86 families residing in the city. The population density was 302.6/km² (789.5/mi²). There were 196 housing units at an average density of 176.0/km² (459.1/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 95.25% White, 2.97% Native American, 0.30% from other races, and 1.48% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.08% of the population.

There were 159 households out of which 24.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.4% were married couples living together, 9.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 45.3% were non-families. 39.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 24.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.12 and the average family size was 2.91.

In the city the population was spread out with 25.2% under the age of 18, 4.5% from 18 to 24, 20.5% from 25 to 44, 26.1% from 45 to 64, and 23.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females there were 86.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $17,212, and the median income for a family was $27,813. Males had a median income of $23,750 versus $13,194 for females. The per capita income for the city was $12,997. About 24.5% of families and 28.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 40.2% of those under age 18 and 29.5% of those age 65 or over.