Colton 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 ...

located in

Clackamas County Clackamas County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 421,401, making it Oregon's third-most populous county. Its county seat is Oregon City. The county was named after the Native ...

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, on

Oregon Route 211 Oregon Route 211 is a state highway which runs through part of the northeastern portion of Oregon's Willamette Valley. Its northeastern terminus is its intersection with U.S. Route 26 in Sandy, a small town on the outskirts of the Portlan ...

. Colton is located between the cities of Estacada and Molalla. Colton was named in about 1892 by two residents, Joshua Gorbett and a man named Cole, who each wanted to name the community after the other. The

Post Office Department The United States Post Office Department (USPOD; also known as the Post Office or U.S. Mail) was the predecessor of the United States Postal Service, in the form of a Cabinet department, officially from 1872 to 1971. It was headed by the postmas ...

thought "Gorbett" would be confused with

Corbett Corbett may refer to: * List of Corbetts (mountains), 222 mountains in Scotland between , with prominence over * Corbett, Oregon, a community in the United States * Corbett Award, US award for athletics administrators * Corbett (surname), people w ...

, so the community was named "Colton" instead. The Colton post office was established the same year. Its ZIP Code is 97017. The community has historically had a large

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

population, and was once a significant logging town. Today the economy is dominated by

horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

and

Christmas tree A Christmas tree is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen conifer, such as a spruce, pine or fir, or an artificial tree of similar appearance, associated with the celebration of Christmas. The custom was further developed in early modern ...

farming Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

Geography

Colton is located on Milk Creek, a tributary of the

Molalla River The Molalla River is a tributary of the Willamette River in the northwestern part of Oregon in the United States. Flowing northwest from the Cascade Range through Table Rock Wilderness, it passes the city of Molalla, Oregon, Molalla before enteri ...

, in a broad (narrow) canyon eroded in a plateau of volcanic

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

s and ash of the nearby

Western Cascades The Western Cascades is a region of the U.S. state of Oregon between the Willamette Valley and the High Cascades. Deposits of Western Cascades age are also found in adjacent southwest Washington state. The range contains many extinct shield vol ...

. Canyon Creek, which drains Green Mountain's slopes to the South, joins Milk Creek just east of the community.

Education

Primary and secondary students in Colton are served by the Colton School District, which includes Colton Elementary School, Colton Middle School, Colton High School.

Notable people

* Stella Nickell, convicted murderer who poisoned her husband and currently serving 90 years in a federal prison in Dublin, California.

References

{{authority control 1892 establishments in Oregon Populated places established in 1892 Portland metropolitan area Swedish-American culture in Oregon Unincorporated communities in Clackamas County, Oregon Unincorporated communities in Oregon