Alicel is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in the Sand Ridge area of the

Grande Ronde Valley The Grande Ronde Valley is a valley in Union County, Oregon, Union County in northeastern Oregon, United States. It is surrounded by the Blue Mountains (Oregon), Blue Mountains and Wallowa Mountains, and is drained by the Grande Ronde River. La Gr ...

in Union County,

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It is northeast of La Grande on

Oregon Route 82 Oregon Route 82 (OR 82) is a state highway in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Oregon. It travels from U.S. Route 30 (US 30) at La Grande to an intersection with Oregon Routes 350 and 351 in Joseph. It is kno ...

. It was a station on

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad is a Railroad classes, Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United Stat ...

Joseph Joseph is a common male name, derived from the Hebrew (). "Joseph" is used, along with " Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the modern-day Nordic count ...

branch, and in 1890 was named for Alice Ladd, wife of local resident Charles Ladd. Alicel was

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Survey System, Public Lands Surveys to ...

ted in 1890, and had a post office from 1890 until 1972. At the turn of the 20th century, Alicel had a general store, a school, and two warehouses. In 1902, Alicel was described as having a "thriving community" of

Mormons Mormons are a Religious denomination, religious and ethnocultural group, cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's d ...

. In 1940, Alicel had a population of 300. The Peacock Lumber Company

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

in Alicel closed in 1994. It was slated to reopen in 1997, but was closed for good by 2000. An agricultural community, Alicel is the site of a Pendleton Grain Growers

grain elevator A grain elevator or grain terminal is a facility designed to stockpile or store grain. In the grain trade, the term "grain elevator" also describes a tower containing a bucket elevator or a pneumatic conveyor, which scoops up grain from a lowe ...

, which was the subject of a 1941

Minor White Minor Martin White (July 9, 1908 – June 24, 1976) was an American photographer, theoretician, critic, and educator. White made photographs of landscapes, people, and abstract subject matter. They showed technical mastery and a strong sense o ...

photograph.

References

Unincorporated communities in Union County, Oregon 1890 establishments in Oregon Populated places established in 1890 Unincorporated communities in Oregon {{UnionCountyOR-geo-stub