Pondosa is an unincorporated community and ghost town[2] in Union County, Oregon, United States.
Pondosa, Oregon | |
|---|---|
 View of Pondosa in 1952 | |
  Pondosa, Oregon  Pondosa, Oregon | |
| Coordinates: 45°0′29″N 117°38′34″W / 45.00806°N 117.64278°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Oregon |
| County | Union |
| Elevation | 3,261 ft (994 m) |
| Time zone | UTC-8 (Pacific (PST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-7 (PDT) |
| GNIS feature ID | 1136642[1] |
The town came into being in 1927, when the four Stoddard brothers of La Grande bought land in the area.[3] They moved the sawmill operations of the Grande Ronde Lumber Company in nearby Perry to the site.[3] The town was named after the Ponderosa Pines that dotted the area.[3] A post office was established in 1927.[3] In 1931, Truman Collins of The Collins Companies of Portland bought the mill.[4] The mill was sold again in 1956, this time to Boise Cascade, which made plans to shut down the mill.[3] This caused the decline of the town, which had over 500 inhabitants at the time.[3] The post office was discontinued[3] following a severe fire that damaged the majority of the town on June 20, 1959.[2]
References
edit- ^ a b U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Pondosa, Oregon
- ^ a b Bebout, Bill (June 22, 1959). "Ghost Town Of Pondosa Left In Charred Ruins By Flames". La Grande Observer. La Grande, Oregon. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d e f g Barklow, Irene (1987). From Trails to Rails: The Post Offices, Stage Stops and Wagon Roads of Union County. Enterprise, Oregon: Enchantments Publishing of Oregon. pp. 224–227. ISBN 0-9618185-0-6.
- ^ "A History of The Collins Companies". The Collins Companies. 2005. Retrieved February 25, 2010.
External links
edit- Pictorial History of Pondosa from Union County, Oregon Genealogy and History
- Britton, Lisa (August 13, 2021). "Town's Gone But the Store Stays". Baker City Herald. Retrieved December 25, 2021.