Ballston is an
unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...
, in
Polk County,
Oregon
Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...
,
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. It is southeast of
Sheridan and southwest of
Amity. It is considered a
ghost town
A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...
.
Ballston was founded in 1878 by
pioneer
Pioneer commonly refers to a person who is among the first at something that is new to a community.
A pioneer as a settler is among the first settling at a place that is new to the settler community. A historic example are American pioneers, perso ...
Isaac Ball on his
donation land claim.
Ball and his family immigrated from England, and arrived in Oregon via the
Oregon Trail
The Oregon Trail was a east–west, large-wheeled wagon route and Westward Expansion Trails, emigrant trail in North America that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon Territory. The eastern part of the Oregon Trail crossed what ...
in 1848.
Ball named the town "Ballsville", and it had a post office of the same name.
[ The name of the post office was changed to Ballston in 1880.][ The post office was discontinued in 1953 when it became a rural station of Sheridan; it was discontinued all together in 1969.][
Ballston was a station on the Dayton, Sheridan and Grande Ronde Railroad (DS&GR), later the Oregonian Railway. Isaac Ball was an early promoter of the DS&GR when it was originally a ]narrow gauge railway
A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and .
Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...
line.Southern Pacific Railroad
The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials) was an American Railroad classes#Class I, Class I Rail transport, railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was oper ...
; as of 2009, Ballston is a station of the Portland and Western Railroad
The Portland and Western Railroad is a Class II railroad serving the U.S. state of Oregon, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of shortline and regional railroad holding company Genesee & Wyoming Inc. The PNWR includes a subsidiary, the Willamett ...
.[ Ballston County Park is located in the community and includes the school.][
The Ballston Community Club meets in a newer former schoolhouse originally moved from Airlie, another community on the railroad line.][
]
References
Further reading
*
External links
Historic images of Ballston
from Salem Public Library
Image of Ballston General Store
from Flickr
{{Authority control
Populated places established in 1878
Ghost towns in Oregon
Unincorporated communities in Polk County, Oregon
1878 establishments in Oregon
Unincorporated communities in Oregon