Richmond 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 ...

Wheeler County Wheeler County is the name of several counties in the United States: * Wheeler County, Georgia * Wheeler County, Nebraska * Wheeler County, Oregon * Wheeler County, Texas Wheeler County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of t ...

, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

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 ...

. Richmond lies on Richmond Road southeast of its intersection with

Oregon Route 207 Oregon Route 207 is an Oregon state highway running from U.S. Route 26 in Mitchell to U.S. Route 730 near Cold Springs Junction. OR 207 is long and runs north–south. Part of OR 207 is included in the Blue Mountain Scenic Byway. Ro ...

between

Mitchell Mitchell may refer to: People *Mitchell (surname) *Mitchell (given name) Places Australia * Mitchell, Australian Capital Territory, a light-industrial estate * Mitchell, New South Wales, a suburb of Bathurst * Mitchell, Northern Territo ...

and Service Creek. The community had a post office from 1899 to 1952. R. N. Donnelly gave the community its name in response to an argument with another pioneer resident, William Walters, about where to build a school. Donnelly called Walters "Jeff Davis" because he viewed Walters as rebellious and associated him with the rebels of the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...

and their president

Jefferson Davis Jefferson F. Davis (June 3, 1808December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the United States Senate and the House of Representatives as a ...

. Donnelly named the site "Richmond" after the capital city of the Confederacy. Buildings in Richmond included the school, a store, a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

Church, an

Independent Order of Odd Fellows The Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) is a non-political and non-sectarian international fraternal order of Odd Fellowship. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Wildey in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Evolving from the Order of Odd ...

hall, and several homes, all later abandoned. In 1901 nearly 450 people attended the annual meeting of the Wheeler County Pioneer Association in Richmond.

References

{{Authority control Unincorporated communities in Wheeler County, Oregon 1899 establishments in Oregon Populated places established in 1899 Unincorporated communities in Oregon