Robinette is a former

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 Baker County,

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

, United States. Robinette was

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Surveys to show the distance and bea ...

ted around 1898, along a Northwest Railway Company line that never developed. In 1909, a railroad station and

townsite A townsite is a legal subdivision of land for the development of a town or community. In the historical development of the United States, Canada, and other former British colonial nations, the filing of a townsite plat (United States) or plan ( ...

at this locale were named for James E. Robinette, a native of

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. Robinette came to what was then Union County in 1884 and settled on the west bank of the Snake River near the mouth of the Powder River in 1887. Robinette post office was also established in 1909. By 1940, when Robinette had a population of 46, it was the northern terminus of a branch line of the

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

(

Oregon Short Line The Oregon Short Line Railroad was a railroad in Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Montana and Oregon in the United States. The line was organized as the Oregon Short Line Railway in 1881 as a subsidiary of the Union Pacific Railway. The Union Pacific int ...

) that ran along the Snake River from Huntington, and served the Pine Valley and Eagle Valley agricultural areas to the north. The line had previously extended further north to

Homestead Homestead may refer to: *Homestead (buildings), a farmhouse and its adjacent outbuildings; by extension, it can mean any small cluster of houses * Homestead (unit), a unit of measurement equal to 160 acres *Homestead principle, a legal concept t ...

, but that section, which was used to haul ore from the

Cornucopia In classical antiquity, the cornucopia (), from Latin ''cornu'' (horn) and ''copia'' (abundance), also called the horn of plenty, was a symbol of abundance and nourishment, commonly a large horn-shaped container overflowing with produce, flowers ...

area mines, was later abandoned and the railroad grade was converted into a highway. The Robinette railhead of the Union Pacific branch line "probably generated most of the freight hauled by the railroad." The townsite is now under the water of the Brownlee Reservoir, which was created by the damming of the Snake River by the

Brownlee Dam Brownlee Dam is a hydroelectric earth fill embankment dam in the western United States, on the Snake River along the Idaho-Oregon border. In Hells Canyon at river mile 285, it impounds the Snake River in the Brownlee Reservoir. It is part of ...

in 1958. Before the flooding, the Robinette Store was moved to Richland, where it still stands today. Richland, the closest city to Robinette, was formerly accessible by a road along the Powder River that has since been flooded by the reservoir. The post office was closed in 1957. As of 2010, the

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

still classified Robinette as a populated place. Robinette was home to the Stil-Van Lumber Company from 1949 until just prior to the town being flooded. Marion Dale Stillwell sold the company, including

timber rights Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...

, to Ellingson Lumber Company from

Baker City Baker City is a city in and the county seat of Baker County, Oregon, United States. It was named after Edward D. Baker, the only U.S. Senator ever killed in military combat. The population was 10,099 at the time of the 2020 census. History Pla ...

. Stillwell also received compensation when the Robinette facility flooded.

References

External links

Historic image of Robinette, circa 1950
from Baker County Library (20 more photos available by searching on keyword "Robinette")
Biography of James E. Robinette
from ''The Centennial History of Oregon''
1956 article
about Smithsonian Institution finding 1000-year-old artifacts at Robinette {{authority control Former populated places in Baker County, Oregon Former populated places in Oregon Populated places established in 1898 1898 establishments in Oregon