Buncom (also spelled Bunkum or Buncombe) is an abandoned
mining town
A mining community, also known as a mining town or a mining camp, is a community that houses miners. Mining communities are usually created around a mine or a quarry.
Historic mining communities
Australia
* Ballarat, Victoria
* Bendigo, ...
at the confluence of the
Little Applegate River
The Little Applegate River is a tributary of the Applegate River located in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is part of the Rogue River watershed, draining approximately of Jackson County. Rising in the Siskiyou Mountains, the river flows gener ...
and Sterling Creek in
Jackson County,
Oregon
Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
, United States. It is approximately southwest of
Medford,
[
] at an elevation of above
sea level
Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...
.
The site is promoted by the local historical society as 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), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser
* Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...
.
[
]
History
Buncom was first
settled
A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area.
A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a pioneer.
Settle ...
by
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
miners in 1851 when gold was discovered in nearby Sterling Creek and
Jacksonville.
[
]
Minerals such as
cinnabar,
chromite
Chromite is a crystalline mineral composed primarily of iron(II) oxide and chromium(III) oxide compounds. It can be represented by the chemical formula of FeCr2O4. It is an oxide mineral belonging to the spinel group. The element magnesium can s ...
, and
silver
Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...
were also mined.
A
general store was built, and in 1861 J. T. Williams opened a
saloon.
The Buncom Mining District was created in 1867.
Buncom
post office
A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...
was established in 1896. By 1918, the gold in the area was depleted, the post office was closed, and the town was abandoned. Most of the buildings were later burned down.
Only three buildings from the early 1900s remain: the post office (built in 1910), the
cookhouse, and the
bunkhouse.
In 1991, the Buncom Historical Society was created. The society replaced all three of the roofs of the buildings in Buncom. The society has also restored the porch of the post office and the eaves of the cookhouse.
Climate
This region experiences warm (but not hot) and dry summers, with no average monthly temperatures above . According to the
Köppen Climate Classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
system, Buncom has a
warm-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated "Csb" on climate maps.
Climate Summary for Buncom, Oregon
/ref>
See also
* List of ghost towns in Oregon
References
External links
*
Photo of Buncom's Post Office
by Wes Dickinson
{{authority control
Populated places established in 1851
Ghost towns in Oregon
Unincorporated communities in Jackson County, Oregon
1851 establishments in Oregon Territory
Unincorporated communities in Oregon