Pleasant Valley, Baker County, Oregon

Pleasant Valley is an unincorporated community in Baker County, Oregon, United States.[1] It is located about 13 miles southeast of Baker City on U.S. Route 30, slightly bypassed by Interstate 84.[2][3]

Pleasant Valley was a way station on the Place Toll Road in 1865, and later a freight station on the railroad in 1884.[3][4] Early Oregon Trail settlers farmed in the area.[4] Pleasant Valley post office was established in 1868 and only operated for two months.[5] An office with the same name was established in 1890 and closed in 1962.[5] According to the authors of Oregon Geographic Names, the community later consisted only of a motel and a Union Pacific Railroad station.[5] By 2001, the motel had been converted into a residence.[6]

The Pleasant Valley area is the home of several stone quarries that supplied the tuff stone commonly used for building material in Baker City.[3][7] At one time Pleasant Valley was a community with enough population and settled arable land surrounding it to warrant a school district.[3] School District #12 was organized by superintendent W. F. Payton in 1874, with a two-room school house serving grades 1 through 8.[3] The district added classes for high-school-age students for a few years before consolidating with the Baker City school district in 1949.[3] The third and last schoolhouse was constructed of the nearby native stone and was later converted to a residence.[3] In 1900, the community had a Christian Church congregation.[8] Today the community proper is considered a ghost town,[3] however the USGS lists it as a populated place.[1]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Pleasant Valley". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. November 28, 1980. Retrieved 2011-03-13.
  2. ↑ Oregon Atlas & Gazetteer (7th ed.). Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. 2008. p. 79. ISBN 0-89933-347-8.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 "Pleasant Valley". bakercounty.net. Retrieved 2011-03-13.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Historic Towns". Baker County Chamber of Commerce. Retrieved 2011-03-13.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 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.
  6. ↑ Collins, Chris (April 11, 2001). "Meth lab busted in Pleasant Valley". Baker City Herald. Retrieved 2011-03-13.
  7. ↑ "Historic Baker City, Baker County, Oregon". Oregon American History and Genealogy Project. Retrieved 2011-03-13.
  8. ↑ "Baker County, Oregon". Pioneer History to About 1900, Churches of Christ & Christian Churches in the Pacific Northwest. Northwest College of the Bible. Retrieved 2011-03-13.

External links

Coordinates: 44°40′14″N 117°37′16″W / 44.670436°N 117.621042°W