Harlan, Oregon
Unincorporated community in Oregon, US / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Harlan is an unincorporated community in Lincoln County, Oregon, United States, about 30 miles west of Corvallis.[1] It is located in a valley of the Central Oregon Coast Range in the Siuslaw National Forest.[2] The community's economy was once based on logging and sawmills.[3] Cattle ranching is another mainstay of the local economy.[4][5]
James R. Harlan helped establish a post office at this locale and the office was named for him.[6] Harlan post office ran from 1890 until 1968; Harlan was the first postmaster.[6] Harlan Cemetery was also founded in 1890.[7]
In 1915, Harlan had a public school and a population of 200.[8] A new school and a store were built in 1926.[7] Harlan School closed in 1967 and students then attended school in Eddyville.[7] The store, which housed the post office and was also a gas station, closed in 1971 and is now a private residence.[3][8] In 1993, author Ralph Friedman reported that there was "nothing much" in Harlan.[9] Chapel of the Valley church, built in 1961, still serves a congregation.[5][7] The last commercial sawmill in Harlan shut down in the early 1980s.[7] As of 2008, a small one-man hobby sawmill still operated.[4]