Fort Rock, Oregon

This article is about the community in Oregon. For the natural feature in Oregon, see Fort Rock. For the cave, see Fort Rock Cave.
Fort Rock
Unincorporated community

Fort Rock Valley Historical Society Pioneer Museum
Fort Rock

Location in Oregon

Coordinates: 43°21′23″N 121°03′14″W / 43.3565237°N 121.0538935°WCoordinates: 43°21′23″N 121°03′14″W / 43.3565237°N 121.0538935°W
Country United States
State Oregon
County Lake
Elevation 4,331 ft (1,320 m)
Time zone Pacific (UTC-8)
 • Summer (DST) Pacific (UTC-7)
Zip Code 97735

Fort Rock is an unincorporated community in Lake County, Oregon, United States, southeast of Fort Rock State Natural Area.

History

The community of Fort Rock was named after the natural feature Fort Rock by the town's founder, Ray Nash.[1] Fort Rock post office was established in 1908[1] under postmaster Josiah Thomas Rhoton.[2] The Fort Rock Valley flourished briefly during the homestead period before World War I, but little remains in the area today.[1] Fort Rock is one of two homestead-era communities remaining in the era, along with Silver Lake.[3]

Community

Fort Rock had a general store that was in operation since the early 1900s.[4] The store, which also included a gas station, closed in May 2013.[4] As of September 2014, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality had entered into a prospective purchaser agreement to reopen the store after performing needed underground storage tank (UST) cleanup.[4]

Fort Rock also has a community church, a Grange hall, a restaurant and a tavern.[5][6]

The Rock View Apartments burned down in 2012; the land on which the apartments was located was owned by the Fort Rock Care Center, which planned to donate it to the Fort Rock Historical Society in 2013.[7] The senior apartments were only six years old when they burned.[8]

Museum

Today, many of the buildings in Fort Rock are part of the Fort Rock Valley Historical Society's Fort Rock Valley Historical Homestead Museum, which is a collection of homestead-era buildings moved there from the surrounding area, starting in 1988.[3] The museum was created by the Fort Rock Valley Historical Society to preserve historic buildings that were in danger of being razed by the Bureau of Land Management or were being vandalized in their remote locations.[3] Buildings include a church, a log cabin, a doctor's office, a school, a land office, and several other cabins and houses.[3]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 McArthur, Lewis A.; McArthur, Lewis L. (2003) [First published 1928]. Oregon Geographic Names (7th ed.). Portland, Oregon: Oregon Historical Society Press. p. 372. ISBN 9780875952772. OCLC 53075956.
  2. ↑ Record of Appointment of Postmasters, 1832-1971, Records of the Post Office Department, Washington, D.C.: National Archives
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "Fort Rock Valley Historical Homestead Museum". Retrieved 2007-03-26.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "DEQ Completes Purchase Agreement for Fort Rock Store". Lake County Examiner. September 25, 2014. Retrieved December 7, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Easter Sunrise at Fort Rock". The Bulletin. April 21, 2014. Retrieved December 7, 2014.
  6. ↑ Powers, Cindy (March 28, 2005). "Annual Easter Celebration Held at Fort Rock". The Bulletin. Retrieved December 7, 2014.
  7. ↑ "Care Center Donates Land to Historical Society". Lake County Examiner. May 1, 2013. Retrieved December 7, 2014.
  8. ↑ Lerten, Barney (June 26, 2012). "Fire Destroys Senior Apartments in Fort Rock". KTVZ. Retrieved December 7, 2014.

External links