Christmas Valley is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in Lake 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. The community was named after nearby Christmas Lake, usually dry, east of the present town and the site of the former

Lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

post office, which ran from 1906 until 1943. Real estate development around a

planned community A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...

M. Penn Phillips M. Penn Phillips, born Marion Phillips, (13 June 1887 – 24 May 1979) was an American entrepreneur and prominent real estate developer, born in Parsons, Kansas. He was founder of the M. Penn Phillips Company which, later, as a subsidiary of Holly ...

, called Christmas Valley, started after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The Christmas Valley post office was established in 1963 as a rural station of

Silver Lake 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 ...

History

Christmas Lake, Christmas (Lake) Valley, and nearby Peter's Sink and Peter's Creek were named for pioneer stockman Peter Christman, who grazed his cattle there and had a house at

, to the southwest. These names were applied as early as September 29, 1877, when they were referred to by former Oregon Governor

John Whiteaker John Whiteaker (May 4, 1820October 2, 1902) was an American politician, soldier, and judge. A native of Indiana, he joined the army during the Mexican–American War and then prospected during the California Gold Rush. After moving to the Oregon ...

in a letter to the editor of the ''

Eugene City Guard ''The Register-Guard'' is a daily newspaper in the northwestern United States, published in Eugene, Oregon. It was formed in a 1930 merger of two Eugene papers, the ''Eugene Daily Guard'' and the ''Morning Register''. The paper serves the Eugene ...

''. Whiteaker himself had an interest in the fossil beds at nearby

Fossil Lake Fossil Butte National Monument is a United States National Monument managed by the National Park Service, located west of Kemmerer, Wyoming, United States. It centers on an assemblage of Eocene Epoch (56 to 34 million years ago) animal and pla ...

, and ranching interests in the area as well. The name "Christmas" was an early corruption of the name Christman that became entrenched in the vernacular by 1900. The Christman family often spelled their name with a ''T'' although some family members would omit it and use the name ''Chrisman''. Several examples of both spellings were found in print, some in government documents. Whiteaker himself referred to the lake as both "Christman Lake" and "Christmas Lake" in his letter to the editor, and unmistakably pinpointed the lake's location.

Penn Phillips era

In 1961, developer

laid out the townsite, including its fanciful holiday street names (such as Candy Lane, Mistletoe Road, Comet Street, Vixen Street, etc.), the Christmas Valley Airport, a water system, a golf course, a lodge, rodeo grounds, and an artificial lake originally named Christmas Valley Lake and now called

Baert Lake Baert Lake is a small artificial lake in the unincorporated community of Christmas Valley in the U.S. state of Oregon. Managed by the Christmas Valley Park and Recreation District, the lake is used for fishing, boating, and swimming from spring t ...

. Phillips aggressively promoted the community in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

to young, would-be farmers and retirees; often providing free bus tours and flights and marketing the potential of the land as green and readily farmed. The company quickly sold out the parcels, though despite Phillips' claims that the community would soon have more than 5,000 residents, few actually moved there. In 1966, in an Oregon Tax Court decision about tax valuation of Christmas Lake property, Judge Edward Howell opined, "the land, at least in its present condition, is arid, dusty, windy, isolated, ndsubject to temperature extremes." In the early 1970s, the Phillips company faced lawsuits about misrepresentation of the property and the Phillips era is usually considered a scam.

Climate

This region experiences hot and dry summers, with yearly average temp of . Very hot summers and very cold nights and winters with snow, that skew average temps. Normal highs in summers are above with nights dipping into the teens and winter record of low . The average winter low is and high . 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, Christmas Valley has a

warm-summer Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

, abbreviated "Csb" on climate maps.

Economy

Christmas Valley is largely an alfalfa farming community. The community has a number of commercial businesses including two grocery stores, two motels, four restaurants, and a gas station. A nine-hole golf course is maintained by Christmas Valley Park and Recreation District, as is the Christmas Valley Airport, Rodeo Grounds, Community Hall, Baert Lake and the community's twice monthly publication, ''Desert Whispers''.

Military

The Christmas Valley Air Force Station was an

over-the-horizon radar Over-the-horizon radar (OTH), sometimes called beyond the horizon radar (BTH), is a type of radar system with the ability to detect targets at very long ranges, typically hundreds to thousands of kilometres, beyond the radar horizon, which is ...

station that was deactivated in 2002.

Tourism

Christmas Valley is near Fort Rock–Christmas Lake Valley basin,

Fort Rock Fort Rock is a tuff ring located on an ice age lake bed in north Lake County, Oregon, United States. The ring is about in diameter and stands about high above the surrounding plain. Its name is derived from the tall, straight sides that resem ...

Four Craters Lava Field Four Craters Lava Field is a basaltic volcanic field located south east of Newberry Caldera in the U.S. state of Oregon. The volcanic field covers about 30 square kilometers and post-dates Mount Mazama's eruption. Four Holocene cinder cones are th ...

, and

Crack in the Ground Crack in the Ground is a volcanic fissure about long with depths measuring nearly below ground level in Central Oregon, United States. The formation of the fissure occurred approximately between 700,000 and 12,000 years ago. The eruptions fro ...

. The community is perhaps best known by off-road

all-terrain vehicle An all-terrain vehicle (ATV), also known as a light utility vehicle (LUV), a quad bike, or simply a quad, as defined by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI); is a vehicle that travels on low-pressure tires, with a seat that is stra ...

enthusiasts worldwide who ride in the

Christmas Valley Sand Dunes The Christmas Valley Sand Dunes are a natural sand dune complex covering of public lands east of Christmas Valley in Lake County, Oregon, United States, about southeast of Bend. The area is accessible via the Christmas Valley National Back Co ...

.Oregon Parks and Recreation Department: All-Terrain Vehicles, Christmas Valley Sand Dunes
/ref>

Education

Christmas Valley students are served by the North Lake School District.

References

External links

Christmas Valley/North Lake Chamber of CommerceChristmas Valley Park and Recreation
{{authority control Planned communities in the United States Unincorporated communities in Lake County, Oregon 1906 establishments in Oregon Populated places established in 1906 Unincorporated communities in Oregon