Lake of the Woods 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 Klamath 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 located on the east shore of the lake of the same name within the

Winema National Forest Toby "Winema" Riddle (1848–1920) was a Modoc woman who served as an interpreter in negotiations between the Native American Modoc tribe and the United States Army during the Modoc War (also called the Lava Beds War). She warned the peace ...

, about a mile south of

Oregon Route 140 Oregon Route 140 (OR 140) is a state highway in southern Oregon, United States. It is the longest state highway in Oregon, running from the community of White City, Oregon (just north of Medford), through Klamath Falls and on to Lakeview. It ...

. The lake was named by Oliver C. Applegate in 1870, while he was building a road around its perimeter. Applegate also built a cabin at the south end of the lake that year. A post office named Lake of the Woods was established at the north end of the lake in 1930, but it only ran until 1931. Efforts were made to establish the form "Lake O' Woods" in the late 1930s, and a post office with that name was established in 1941 that ran intermittently until 1965. In 1961, the

United States Board on Geographic Names The United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) is a federal body operating under the United States Secretary of the Interior. The purpose of the board is to establish and maintain uniform usage of geographic names throughout the federal governm ...

ruled to return to the original name for the lake and the community. A post office was reestablished in 1970 with the name "Lake of the Woods"; it closed for good 1977. The lake, with

Mount McLoughlin Mount McLoughlin is a dormant steep-sided stratovolcano, or composite volcano, in the Cascade Range of southern Oregon and within the United States Sky Lakes Wilderness. It is one of the volcanic peaks in the Cascade Volcanic Arc, within the Hi ...

in the background, is a popular recreation area.

References

External links

Historic image of Lake of the Woods
from Salem Public Library Unincorporated communities in Klamath County, Oregon 1930 establishments in Oregon Unincorporated communities in Oregon {{KlamathCountyOR-geo-stub