Oretown 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. It is along

U.S. Route 101 U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101 (US 101), is a north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs through the states of California, Oregon, and Washington, on the West Coast of the United States. It is also known as (The Royal Roa ...

about north of Neskowin and south of

Nestucca Bay Nestucca Bay is a bay formed by the confluence of the Nestucca River and the Pacific Ocean in northwest Oregon in the United States. It is near the town of Pacific City, which is in southwestern Tillamook County, about south of Cape Lookout. ...

. In 1877, settlers James B. Upton and S. H. Rock petitioned Senator

John H. Mitchell John Hipple Mitchell, also known as John Mitchell Hipple, John H. Mitchell, or J. H. Mitchell (June 22, 1835December 8, 1905) was an American lawyer, politician, and convicted criminal. He served as a Republican United States Senator from Oregon ...

asking for a mail route to Grand Ronde and a post office. Upton owned a

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impr ...

marked "Oregon City", so he suggested the new post office be named "Ore City" and he would alter the seal so it could be used for the new community. Mitchell knew confusion with

Oregon City ) , image_skyline = McLoughlin House.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = The McLoughlin House, est. 1845 , image_flag = , image_seal = Oregon City seal.png , image_map ...

would occur, and suggested the name "Oretown" to the postal authorities instead. The name was accepted and Oretown post office ran from 1877 to 1954. Today Oretown has a

Cloverdale Cloverdale may refer to: Place names ;Australia *Cloverdale, Western Australia ;Canada *Cloverdale, Edmonton, Alberta, a neighborhood *Cloverdale, Surrey, British Columbia * Cloverdale, New Brunswick * Cloverdale, Nova Scotia *Cloverdale Mall in T ...

mailing address. At one time Oretown had a cheese factory and a

salmon cannery A salmon cannery is a factory that commercially cans salmon. It is a fish-processing industry that became established on the Pacific coast of North America during the 19th century, and subsequently expanded to other parts of the world that had e ...

. Today the community has a historic church, the 1913 Oretown Bible Church, a

Grange hall The Grange, officially named The National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, is a social organization in the United States that encourages families to band together to promote the economic and political well-being of the community and ...

built in 1907, and a few houses.

References

External links

Images of Oretown
from Flickr
Biography of James Boughton Upton
*

Unincorporated communities in Tillamook County, Oregon 1877 establishments in Oregon Populated places established in 1877 Unincorporated communities in Oregon {{TillamookCountyOR-geo-stub