Dolph, Oregon

Dolph is an unincorporated community in Tillamook County, Oregon, United States, near the Yamhill County line.[1] It is located at the junction of Oregon Route 22 and Oregon Route 130 between Grande Ronde and Hebo, on the Little Nestucca River. It is within the Siuslaw National Forest in the Northern Oregon Coast Range [1] and is considered ghost town.

Dolph was named for U.S. Senator Joseph N. Dolph.[2][3] The locale was originally a toll gate and traveler's rest stop at the summit of the stagecoach road from the Willamette Valley to the Oregon Coast on the Tillamook-Yamhill county line.[4] This road, built by Jordan Fuqua, went from Grand Ronde to Woods.[4] Dolph post office opened in 1886, and a school was started in 1889.[2][4] At one time the community also had a hotel, a store, a sawmill, a barrel and stave factory, a livery stable, a blacksmith shop, and a campground.[2]

About a half mile from what today is the junction of OR 22 and OR 130—the current site of Dolph—there was another toll gate and the blacksmith shop of George Baxter, who maintained the road that followed the Little Nestucca River.[4] Baxter also was the proprietor of a sulphur springs resort there.[4] Soaking in mineral springs for one's health was a popular pastime in the late 19th to mid-20th century.

In 1916-1917, a new public road was built from the Little Nestucca road over Sourgrass Summit to join the old road at the summit at Dolph.[4] Because the new route to the coast was free, there was no longer a need to collect tolls and the town no longer had a reason to exist.[4] As a result, the school was moved to west of OR 22 near Baxter's hot springs resort.[4] The post office closed in 1921.[2] Dolph school closed in 1930 when it was combined with the Castle Rock school to form Hebo School District.[4] Nothing remains at the old town site but an apple orchard and a small cemetery on a hilltop a half a mile away.[4]

Today there is also nothing left at the new town site, although as of 1940, there was still a hot springs resort there.[4][5]

Polk County

There is also a historic locale named Dolph in Polk County; it was a station on the Southern Pacific Railroad.[6] The station was also known as "Brown".[6]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Dolph". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. November 28, 1980. Retrieved 2010-01-07.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 McArthur, Lewis A.; McArthur, Lewis L. (2003) [First published 1928]. Oregon Geographic Names (7th ed.). Portland, Oregon: Oregon Historical Society Press. ISBN 9780875952772. OCLC 53075956.
  3. ↑ Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. Govt. Print. Off. p. 107.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 4.10 McKillip, Lloyd. "History: Dolph, Oregon". southtillamookcounty.com. Retrieved 2010-01-07.
  5. ↑ 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. 494. OCLC 4874569.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Dolph". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. August 1, 1994. Retrieved 2010-01-07.

External links

Coordinates: 45°06′20″N 123°47′23″W / 45.1056653°N 123.7898358°W