Bourne is a
ghost town
Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to:
* Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned
Film and television
* ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser
* ''Ghost Town'' (1956 film), an American Western film by All ...
in
Baker County,
Oregon
Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...
, United States about north of
Sumpter in the
Blue Mountains.
It lies on Cracker Creek and is within the
Wallowa–Whitman National Forest
The Wallowa–Whitman National Forest is a United States National Forest in the U.S. states of Oregon and Idaho. Formed upon the merger of the Wallowa and Whitman national forests in 1954, it is located in the northeastern corner of the state, in ...
.
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 Surveys to show the distance and bea ...
ted in 1902,
the former
gold mining
Gold mining is the extraction of gold resources by mining. Historically, mining gold from alluvial deposits used manual separation processes, such as gold panning. However, with the expansion of gold mining to ores that are not on the surface, ...
boomtown
A boomtown is a community that undergoes sudden and rapid population and economic growth, or that is started from scratch. The growth is normally attributed to the nearby discovery of a precious resource such as gold, silver, or oil, although ...
is considered a ghost town today.
Originally named "Cracker City",
[ Bourne is named after Senator ]Jonathan Bourne, Jr.
Jonathan Bourne Jr. (February 23, 1855September 1, 1940) was an American politician, attorney, and businessman. A native of Massachusetts, he moved to Portland, Oregon, where he became a lawyer and an industrialist with holdings in mining, mills ...
, who was interested in Eastern Oregon
Eastern Oregon is the eastern part of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is not an officially recognized geographic entity; thus, the boundaries of the region vary according to context. It is sometimes understood to include only the eight easternmost ...
mines for a time.[
In 1910 Bourne town was listed as having a population of 77.]
See also
*List of ghost towns in Oregon
According to several historians, the U.S. state of Oregon contains over 200 ghost towns, more than any other state in the country. Professor and historian Stephen Arndt has counted a total of 256 ghost towns in the state, some well known, others ...
References
External links
Historic images of Bourne
from the Baker County Library
from ghosttowngallery.com
Former populated places in Baker County, Oregon
Ghost towns in Oregon
Populated places established in 1902
1902 establishments in Oregon
Unincorporated communities in Oregon
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