Medical Springs is a rural

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 Union 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 near the southern extremity of Union County on

Oregon Route 203 Oregon Route 203 is an Oregon state highway running from Interstate 84 near La Grande to I-84 near Baker City. OR 203 is composed of part of the La Grande-Baker Highway No. 66 (see Oregon highways and routes) and the Medical Springs Highway No. ...

, just outside Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. It is located twenty miles southeast of

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

and twenty-four miles northeast of

Baker City Baker City is a city in and the county seat of Baker County, Oregon, Baker County, Oregon, United States. It was named after Edward Dickinson Baker, Edward D. Baker, the only United States Senate, U.S. Senator ever killed in military combat. The p ...

History

Medical Springs was homesteaded in the nineteenth century by Dunham and Artemisia Wright, and comprised 280 acres.

Dunham Wright Dunham Wright (March 13, 1842 – December 5, 1942) was an American politician and pioneer settler in the state of Oregon. He was a cousin of Abraham Lincoln and homesteaded in the area presently known as Medical Springs, Oregon. He served in the O ...

was a cousin of

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

and an early Oregon politician, who established the area on December 4, 1868, after the discovery of

hot spring A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by circ ...

s there. Dunham described his first view of the springs and the Native Americans camped there: "The springs were located in a big willow grove. The men would build a number of small dams across the streams that ran from the springs. The water would accumulate to the depth of about twenty inches. Sticks were placed around the edge, and then a big elk hide or blanket would be stretched across the top to keep the steam in." In 1869, Wright built a cabin and small

bathhouse Public baths originated when most people in population centers did not have access to private bathing facilities. Though termed "public", they have often been restricted according to gender, religious affiliation, personal membership, and other cr ...

there, modeling the area as a

resort town A resort town, often called a resort city or resort destination, is an urban area where tourism or vacationing is the primary component of the local culture and economy. A typical resort town has one or more actual resorts in the surrounding ...

around the thermal springs. In 1886, a two-story hotel housing forty guest rooms was built, which eventually included two parlors and a ballroom. In 1905 a sanitarium, general store, and post office were constructed, and the town attracted residents from nearby Union and La Grande; however, unlike nearby Hot Lake Resort, which catered to wealthy travelers, Medical Springs attracted miners, gamblers, and cowboys. The hotel burned down in a fire in 1917, which was replaced with a modest six-room hotel the following year in 1918. The town's main attraction in its heyday was its

Olympic-size swimming pool An Olympic-size swimming pool conforms to regulated dimensions that are large enough for international competition. This type of swimming pool is used in the Olympic Games, where the race course is in length, typically referred to as "long cour ...

, built in 1929, which runs nine feet in depth at its deepest end, and is sourced from the hot springs themselves, whose mineral waters are thought to be therapeutic. The springs emerge from the ground at 140° F, and are piped to the pool, where the water cools to 104 °F. Dunham Wright continued to live at the resort until his death in 1942, shortly after his hundredth birthday. The swimming pool and hotel eventually closed down in the 1950s after the mill in the neighboring town of Pondosa burned to the ground, which drained the area of revenue and eventually led to a drastic decrease in population. As of 2022, the hotel, a private residence, and the abandoned general store are the only buildings left standing, and the swimming pool is no longer open to the public.

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Union County, Oregon Populated places established in 1868 Spa towns in Oregon 1868 establishments in Oregon Unincorporated communities in Oregon