Crane, Oregon

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Crane is an unincorporated community in Harney County, Oregon, United States, northeast of Malheur Lake on Oregon Route 78.

Crane was named for the prominent local features Crane Creek and Crane Creek Gap.^[1] Crane Creek Gap is the pass between the Harney Basin and the drainage basin of the South Fork Malheur River.^[1] Crane Creek is probably named for the Sandhill Crane, which was once abundant in Eastern Oregon.^[1] Crane post office was established in 1895 and discontinued in 1903.^[1] When the Union Pacific^[2] railroad was completed from Ontario, Oregon in 1916, the post office was reopened.^[1]

Until the railroad was finished to Burns in 1924, Crane was an important livestock shipping point,^[1] and the town was thriving with its five restaurants, four hotels, three garages, two general merchandise stores, a warehouse, a lumber yard, livery stables, a dance hall, a newspaper, a bank and a movie theater.^[2] After series of fires, the latest in 1938, however, the town was never rebuilt to its former prosperity.^[2] Today a post office, a service station/tavern, and a farm supply store are the only businesses in Crane.^[2]

Crane Union High School District is the largest school district in Oregon, serving 7,500 square miles.^[3] Students from the surrounding ranches attend the high school in Crane from as far away as 150 miles, staying at one of the oldest public boarding schools in the country.^[4]