Eola 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. It lies four miles west of Salem on

Oregon Route 22 Oregon Route 22 is an Oregon state highway that runs between the Oregon Coast community of Hebo, Oregon, Hebo, to a junction with U.S. Route 20 in Oregon, U.S. Route 20 near Santiam Pass in the Cascade Mountains. OR 22 traverses several hi ...

at the confluence of Rickreall Creek and the

Willamette River The Willamette River ( ) is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward ...

. For statistical purposes, 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 ...

has defined Eola as a

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). The census definition of the area may not precisely correspond to local understanding of the area with the same name. The population of the CDP was 60 at the 2020 census. It is part of the

Salem Metropolitan Statistical Area The Salem metropolitan statistical area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is a metropolitan statistical area consisting of two counties in western Oregon, Marion and Polk. The principal city is Salem, the state capital, which has a ...

. The

Eola Hills The Eola Hills are a range of hills northwest of Salem, Oregon, United States. They stretch from the community of Eola about north to Yamhill County. They are divided from the Salem Hills by the Willamette River The Willamette River ( ) ...

rise north of the community and were named after it.

History

Eola was originally named Cincinnati in 1844 by

settler A settler or a colonist is a person who establishes or joins a permanent presence that is separate to existing communities. The entity that a settler establishes is a Human settlement, settlement. A settler is called a pioneer if they are among ...

s Joshua "Sheep" Shaw and his son, A. C. R. Shaw, who thought the site resembled

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

, where Joshua once lived. Joshua Shaw earned his nickname by being the first person to bring sheep overland to the

Oregon Country Oregon Country was a large region of the Pacific Northwest of North America that was subject to a long Oregon boundary dispute, dispute between the United Kingdom and the United States in the early 19th century. The area, which had been demarcat ...

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 ...

, also in 1844. Cincinnati post office was established in 1851, the first stop on a 70-mile mail route that included

Nathaniel Ford Nathaniel Ford (c. 1795 – January 9, 1870) was an American politician and Oregon pioneer during the time of the Oregon Territory. A native of Missouri, he worked as a sheriff in that state before moving to the Oregon Country where he was select ...

's home in Rickreall and Nesmith's Mills at Ellendale. The

Oregon Territorial Legislature Oregon's Territorial Legislature was a bicameral legislative body created by the United States Congress in 1848 as the legislative branch of the government of the Oregon Territory. The upper chamber Council and lower chamber House of Represent ...

incorporated the community with the name "Eola" in 1856. The name comes from ''

Aeolus In Greek mythology, Aiolos, transcribed as Aeolus (; ; ) refers to three characters. These three are often difficult to tell apart, and even the ancient mythographers appear to have been perplexed about which Aeolus was which. Diodorus Siculus m ...

'', Greek god of the winds, though the reason for the name change is disputed. Cincinnati post office was also renamed. Eola post office ran until 1901 and was later reestablished from 1955 to 1965. The first school in Eola (then Cincinnati) was built in 1853.Our History of Education
Miss Abigail J. Scott, best known by her married name as the suffragist

Abigail Scott Duniway Abigail Jane Scott Duniway (October 22, 1834 – October 11, 1915) was an American women's rights advocate, newspaper editor and writer, whose efforts were instrumental in gaining Women's suffrage in the United States, voting rights for women in ...

, was the first teacher. The original school burned down and was replaced by a school at Second and Mill streets in 1858. This school served the community until 1937, and at the time was the oldest schoolhouse still in use in the state. In 1937, a new school was built using a

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to 1943) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to car ...

grant. This building served as a public school facility until 2003.'' Itemizer Observer''
Eola, Oak Grove schools face closure
April 29, 2003. Accessed March 15, 2009. Today the building is used as a church.

Geography

According to the

, the CDP has a total area of , all of it land.

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 49 people, 29 households, and 6 families residing in the CDP. The population density was . There were 36 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP was 89.80%

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 ...

, 8.16% from other races, and 2.04% from two or more 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 8.16% of the population. There were 29 households, out of which 3.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 20.7% 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 75.9% were non-families. 69.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.69 and the average family size was 3.14. In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 10.2% under the age of 18, 4.1% from 18 to 24, 26.5% from 25 to 44, 49.0% from 45 to 64, and 10.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 50 years. For every 100 females, there were 122.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 131.6 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $12,361 and 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 ...

was $9,489. There were no families and 29.8% of the population 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 people under eighteen and none of those over 64.

References

External links

*
Historic images of Eola
from Salem Public Library
Modern image of Eola School
fro

{{Authority control Census-designated places in Oregon Salem, Oregon metropolitan area Ghost towns in Oregon Unincorporated communities in Polk County, Oregon 1856 establishments in Oregon Territory Populated places established in 1856 Census-designated places in Polk County, Oregon Unincorporated communities in Oregon Populated places on the Willamette River