Olene, Oregon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Olene is an unincorporated community in Klamath County, Oregon, United States.[1] It is located 10 miles southeast of Klamath Falls on Oregon Route 140.[2] Olene has a store and at one time it had a school.[3][4][5] In 1940 Olene had a population of 62 and was considered a suburb of Klamath Falls.[6] Olene was the center of a prosperous dairy and potato farming district.[6]

According to William Gladstone Steel, Olene is a Klamath word meaning "eddy place" or "place of drift." O. C. Applegate adopted the word for the site in 1884 when the post office was established.[7] The original Olene post office was up the Lost River from the current townsite.[7] When the post office closed in 1966, it was near The Gap, a restriction in the Lost River.[7][8] This gap is also known as Olene Gap, and the Olene Hot Springs are nearby.[9][10]

The community was located on a rail line operated jointly by Southern Pacific and Burlington Northern. Today the OC&E Woods Line State Trail, a rails to trails conversion, passes through Olene.[11] Originally built by the Oregon California and Eastern Railroad, the railroad line reached Olene in 1918.[9]

A geothermal drilling project near Olene was completed in early 2013, and the temperature produced by that well was in excess of 280 degrees Fahrenheit.[12] Plans are currently in progress to drill 2 to 3 more wells for a commercial-scale power plant, with a planned electrical capacity of 21 MWe.[12]

References

  1. ↑ "Olene". Geographic Names Information System, U.S. Geological Survey. November 28, 1980. Retrieved 2010-12-13. 
  2. ↑ Oregon Atlas & Gazetteer (7th ed.). Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. 2008. p. 70. ISBN 0-89933-347-8. 
  3. ↑ "Parking and Access". Klamath Rails-to-Trail Group. Retrieved 2010-12-13. 
  4. ↑ "Itineraries". Klamath Visitor & Convention Bureau. Retrieved 2010-12-13. 
  5. ↑ Tonsfeldt, Ward (August 1990). "Historical Resource Survey: Klamath County, Oregon". Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. Retrieved 2010-12-13. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Writers' Program of the Work Projects Administration in the State of Oregon (1940). Oregon: End of the Trail. American Guide Series. Portland, Oregon: Binfords & Mort. p. 440. OCLC 4874569. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 McArthur, Lewis A.; McArthur, Lewis L. (2003) [First published 1928]. Oregon Geographic Names (7th ed.). Portland, Oregon: Oregon Historical Society Press. p. 720. ISBN 9780875952772. OCLC 53075956. 
  8. ↑ "The Gap". Geographic Names Information System, U.S. Geological Survey. November 28, 1980. Retrieved 2010-12-13. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "OC&E Woods Line State Trail". Explore!. December 5, 2010. Retrieved 2010-12-13. 
  10. ↑ "Olene Hot Springs". Geographic Names Information System, U.S. Geological Survey. May 22, 1986. Retrieved 2010-12-13. 
  11. ↑ "OC&E Woods Line State Trail". Klamath Rails-to-Trail Group. Retrieved 2010-12-13. 
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Second Geothermal Well in the Works in Olene Area". Global Geothermal News. Retrieved October 14, 2013.

External links

Municipalities and communities of Klamath County, Oregon, United States
Cities
CDP
Unincorporated
communities

Coordinates: 42°10′19″N 121°37′51″W / 42.171814°N 121.630832°W / 42.171814; -121.630832


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