Biggs Junction 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 ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

(CDP) in Sherman 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. Biggs Junction is located on the south side of the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook language, Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin language, Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river headwater ...

at the junction of Interstate 84/ U.S. 30 and U.S. 97 where it crosses the Sam Hill Memorial Bridge over the river from

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. The population was 5 at the 2020 census, down from 22 at the 2010 census American FactFinder – Results
/ref>

History

Biggs is a station on the

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad is a Railroad classes, Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United Stat ...

(UP) at what was once a junction with the UP's Grass Valley line to

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

that has since been abandoned. Biggs was named for a nearby landowner, W. H. Biggs, who settled in Sherman County in 1880. W. H. Biggs was born on May 12, 1831; he was from

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. The rail line was originally owned by the

Oregon Railway and Navigation Company The Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company (OR&N) was a Rail transport company, rail and Steamboats of the Columbia River, steamboat transport company that operated a rail network of running east from Portland, Oregon, Portland, Oregon, United ...

(OR&N). In 1885 the OR&N station at Biggs was called Spanish Hollow, after the canyon that opens on the river there. The canyon was said to be named because a Spanish ox died there in the days of 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 ...

, which runs parallel to U.S. 97.Note: There was a Spanish Hollow post office from 1870 to 1882 at what is now Wasco Biggs is where travelers on the Oregon Trail would first see the Columbia River after their overland journey. The current community of Biggs Junction was named for the station, which is less than a mile west of the current junction, and its location at the

intersection In mathematics, the intersection of two or more objects is another object consisting of everything that is contained in all of the objects simultaneously. For example, in Euclidean geometry, when two lines in a plane are not parallel, their ...

of I-84 and U.S. 97. Biggs post office was established in 1884 and closed in 1954.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the CDP has a total area of , all land. Biggs Junction is across the Columbia River from

Maryhill, Washington Maryhill is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Klickitat County, Washington, United States. The population was 55 at the 2020 census. History Maryhill is named after the wife and daughter of regional icon Sam H ...

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 50 people, 20 households, and 12 families residing in the CDP. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 22 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP was 68.00%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 6.00% Asian, 26.00% from other races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 26.00% of the population. There were 20 households, out of which 25.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.0% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, and 40.0% were non-families. 40.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 3.50. In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 24.0% under the age of 18, 10.0% from 18 to 24, 26.0% from 25 to 44, 30.0% from 45 to 64, and 10.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females, there were 85.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.0 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $19,167, and the median income for a family was $66,250. Males had a median income of $40,750 versus $18,750 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the CDP was $19,532. Some 21.4% of families and 22.5% of the population were living below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including no one under eighteen and none of those over 64.

Economy

The community's major business is that of a rest and refueling stop for traffic along the two major highways. It is one of the largest

truck stop A truck stop (known as a service station in the United Kingdom, a travel center by major chains in the United States and a roadhouse in rural Australia) is a commercial facility which provides refueling, rest (parking), and often ready-made f ...

s on the Oregon section of I-84. Biggs Junction is an important

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

shipping point, with grain storage elevators and facilities for shipping wheat by river barge and rail. The Biggs Junction area is known for being a source and the point of discovery of

Biggs jasper Biggs jasper is a variety of the mineral jasper. It is a "picture jasper" – a jasper that exhibits particular patterns and colors – and is used as an opaque gemstone. It exhibits intricate, shell- or layer-like patterns in shades of brown ra ...

, a semi-precious

gemstone A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, semiprecious stone, or simply gem) is a piece of mineral crystal which, when cut or polished, is used to make jewellery, jewelry or other adornments. Certain Rock (geology), rocks (such ...

. The jasper was originally used by the local Native Americans and was rediscovered in 1964 during the building of I-84 by road crews who were helping rebuild local bridges after the Christmas flood of that year.

References

External links

Historic images of Biggs Junction
from the Salem Public Library
Images of Biggs Junction
from Flickr
Biggs Junction to Madras Corridor Plan
from the

Oregon Department of Transportation The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) is a department of the state government of the U.S. state of Oregon responsible for systems of transportation. It was first established in 1969. It had been preceded by the Oregon State Highway De ...

{{authority control Census-designated places in Oregon Columbia River Gorge Unincorporated communities in Sherman County, Oregon 1884 establishments in Oregon Populated places established in 1884 Census-designated places in Sherman County, Oregon Unincorporated communities in Oregon