Olney, Oregon

Olney is an unincorporated community and former company town in Clatsop County, Oregon, United States, on Oregon Route 202 approximately eight miles south of Astoria.^[1] Its post office is assigned ZIP code 97325.

The general store in Olney, Oregon

The town of Olney was named after Oregon Territory Supreme Court justice Cyrus Olney, who was from Astoria.^[2][3]

There were several logging camps near Olney, many originally only accessible by boat up the Youngs River or by Albert S. Kerry's Columbia and Nehalem River Railroad.^[4] In 1910, the Western Cooperage Company camp was established in Olney.^[4] It was run by the Tidewater Timber Company from 1923 to 1943.^[4] Western Cooperage provided company housing for its workers and in 1915 the population was 50, which was near its maximum.^[3][4] Olney post office was established in 1875 and ran until 1950.^[2] Today, Olney still has a general store.^[3]

References

1. "Olney". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. November 28, 1980. Retrieved January 15, 2010.
2. McArthur, Lewis A.; McArthur, Lewis L. (2003) [1928]. Oregon Geographic Names (7th ed.). Portland, Oregon: Oregon Historical Society Press. p. 721. ISBN 978-0875952772.
3. Friedman, Ralph (1990). In Search of Western Oregon (2nd ed.). Caldwell, Idaho: The Caxton Printers, Ltd. p. 142. ISBN 0-87004-332-3.
4. Carlson, Linda (2003). Company Towns of the Pacific Northwest. Seattle: University of Washington Press. pp. 164, 230. ISBN 0-295-98332-9. Archived from the original on January 19, 2009.

Further reading

• Churchill, Sam. Big Sam. Garden City, N.Y.:Doubleday & Co., 1965. A reminiscence of growing up in the Western Cooperage camp at Olney.

External links

• Image of Olney General Store from Congressman David Wu

46.100109°N 123.757637°W / 46.100109; -123.757637