Sumner 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 Coos 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 about southeast of

Coos Bay Coos Bay is an estuary where the Coos River enters the Pacific Ocean, the estuary is approximately 12 miles long and up to two miles wide. It is the largest estuary completely within Oregon state lines. The Coos Bay watershed covers an area of abou ...

on the route of the old

Coos Bay Wagon Road The Coos Bay Wagon Road or Coos Bay Military Wagon Road was a pioneer road in the U.S. state of Oregon that connected Douglas County to Coos Bay starting in 1872. Travelers on the road could start in either Tenmile or Lookingglass near Roseburg. ...

. According to

William Gladstone Steel William Gladstone Steel (September 7, 1854 – October 21, 1934) was an American journalist who was known for campaigning for 17 years for the United States Congress to designate Crater Lake as a National Park. Steel is from Ohio, and worked in th ...

, the community was founded in 1888 by John B. Dulley (other sources have the spelling as "Dulley"), who named it after

Charles Sumner Charles Sumner (January 6, 1811March 11, 1874) was an American statesman and United States Senator from Massachusetts. As an academic lawyer and a powerful orator, Sumner was the leader of the anti-slavery forces in the state and a leader of th ...

, a

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

senator who died in 1874. Sumner post office, however, was established in 1874, so Steel must have had the date wrong. Dulley was the first postmaster, and the office closed in 1961. In 1915, Sumner had a population of 100. As of 1990, the community had one store.

References

Unincorporated communities in Coos County, Oregon 1874 establishments in Oregon Populated places established in 1874 Unincorporated communities in Oregon {{CoosCountyOR-geo-stub

See also

References