Dolph (also known as Dolph Junction) 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 ...

Tillamook County Tillamook County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 27,390. The county seat is Tillamook. The county is named for the Tillamook or Killamook people, a Native American tribe who we ...

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, near the

Yamhill County Yamhill County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 107,722. The county seat is McMinnville. Yamhill County was named after the Yamhelas, members of the Kalapuya Tribe. Yamhill Cou ...

line. It lies at the junction of

Oregon Route 22 Oregon Route 22 is an Oregon state highway that runs between the Oregon Coast community of Hebo, Oregon, Hebo, to an interchange with U.S. Route 20 in Oregon, U.S. Route 20 near Santiam Pass in the Cascade Mountains. OR 22 traverses several ...

and Oregon Route 130 between Grande Ronde and

Hebo Hebo () is the god of the Yellow River (''Huang He''). The Yellow River is the main river of northern China, one of the world's major rivers and a river of great cultural importance in China. This is reflected in Chinese mythology by the tales su ...

, on the

Little Nestucca River The Little Nestucca River is a river, approximately long, on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast of northwest Oregon in the United States. It drains an area of the Central Oregon Coast Range west of the Willamette Valley. It rises in the Van Duzer ...

. It is within the

Siuslaw National Forest The Siuslaw National Forest ( ) is a national forest in western Oregon in the United States. Established in 1908, the Siuslaw is made up of a wide variety of ecosystems, ranging from coastal forests to sand dunes. Geography The Siuslaw Nati ...

in the

Northern Oregon Coast Range The Northern Oregon Coast Range is the northern section of the Oregon Coast Range, in the Pacific Coast Ranges physiographic region, located in the northwest portion of the state of Oregon, United States. This section of the mountain range, part o ...

. Dolph was named for U.S. Senator

Joseph N. Dolph Joseph Norton Dolph (October 19, 1835March 10, 1897) was an American politician and attorney in the state of Oregon. A native of the state of New York (state), New York, he immigrated to Oregon over the Oregon Trail and settled in Portland, Oreg ...

. The original site of the community was at a

toll gate Toll Gate or Tollgate may refer to: * Toll gate, a barrier across a toll road or toll bridge that is lifted when the toll is paid Entertainment * "Tollgate" (Hale single) * ''The Toll-Gate'', a 1954 novel by Georgette Heyer * ''The Toll Gate'', ...

and traveler's rest stop at the summit of the

stagecoach A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...

road from the

Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley ( ) is a long valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the east, ...

to the

Oregon Coast The Oregon Coast is a coastal region of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to its west and the Oregon Coast Range to the east, and stretches approximately from the California state border in the south to the Columbia ...

on the Tillamook-Yamhill county line. The county line was later moved west, so that the old town was in Yamhill County. The Dolph Toll Road, built by Jordan Fuqua between 1878 and 1882, went from Grand Ronde to Woods. Dolph post office opened there in 1886, and a school was started in 1889. At one time the community at the summit also had a hotel, a store, a

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

, a barrel and stave factory, a

livery stable A livery is an identifying design, such as a uniform, ornament, symbol or insignia that designates ownership or affiliation, often found on an individual or vehicle. Livery will often have elements of the heraldry relating to the individual or ...

, a

blacksmith shop A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

, and a campground. About a half mile from the current site of Dolph at the junction of OR 22 and OR 130, there was another toll gate and the blacksmith shop of George Baxter, who maintained the road that followed the Little Nestucca River. Baxter also was the proprietor of a

sulphur springs Mineral springs are naturally occurring springs that produces hard water, water that contains dissolved minerals. Salts, sulfur compounds, and gases are among the substances that can be dissolved in the spring water during its passage underg ...

resort there. In 1916–1917, a new public road was built from the Little Nestucca road over Sourgrass Summit to join the old road at the summit at Dolph. Because the new route to the coast was free, there was no longer a need to collect tolls and the town no longer had a reason to exist. As a result, the school was moved to west of OR 22 near Baxter's hot springs resort. The post office closed in 1921. Dolph school closed in 1930 when it was combined with the Castle Rock school to form Hebo School District. By the 1970s, nothing remained at the old town site but an apple orchard and a small cemetery on a hilltop a half a mile away. Today there is also nothing left at the new town site at the junction, although as of 1940, there was still a hot springs resort near there. Photos show a store and hotel building at the highway junction as recently as the mid-1960s; it is now demolished.

Polk County

There is also a historic locale named Dolph in

Polk County Polk County is the name of twelve counties in the United States, all except two named after president of the United States James Knox Polk: * Polk County, Arkansas * Polk County, Florida * Polk County, Georgia * Polk County, Iowa * Polk Count ...

; it was a station on the

Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...

. The station was also known as "Brown".

References

External links

1909 image of Dolph
from the Oregon Postcard Index
Historic images of Dolph
from Salem Public Library *

from the '' Headlight Herald''; the first three images are of Dolph *Location of Dolph in Polk County: {{authority control Historic American Engineering Record in Oregon Unincorporated communities in Tillamook County, Oregon Spa towns in Oregon 1886 establishments in Oregon Populated places established in 1886 Unincorporated communities in Oregon