Dardanelles is an unincorporated community in Jackson County, Oregon, United States. It lies opposite the city of Gold Hill on the south side of the Rogue River. Interstate 5 and Oregon Route 99 pass by Gold Hill and Dardanelles.

William G. T'Vault William Green T'Vault (1806–1869) was a pioneer of the Oregon Country and the first editor of the first newspaper published west of the Missouri River. T'Vault led a wagon train of 300 that arrived in Oregon in 1845, after traveling on the M ...

, who founded the community in the 1850s, chose the name apparently because the river here runs through a narrow stretch between hills and may have reminded him of the Dardanelles between Asia and Europe. T'Vault was the first

postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

of a post office established here in 1852 and which operated intermittently until 1878. Although a place of importance in early Oregon, little of the community remains. Author Ralph Friedman says in ''In Search of Western Oregon'', "Today most people in Gold Hill know of Dardanelles only because a ocalservice station bears that name."

References

Unincorporated communities in Jackson County, Oregon Unincorporated communities in Oregon {{JacksonCountyOR-geo-stub