Kernville 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 Lincoln 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 located near the intersection of

U.S. Route 101 U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101 (US 101), is a major north–south highway that traverses the states of California, Oregon, and Washington on the West Coast of the United States. It is part of the United States Numbered Highway Syst ...

and Oregon Route 229, where the

Siletz River The Siletz River flows about to the Pacific Ocean through coastal mountains in the U.S. state of Oregon. Formed by the confluence of its north and south forks near Valsetz in Polk County, it winds through the Central Oregon Coast Range. The ...

enters

Siletz Bay Siletz Bay National Wildlife Refuge is a U.S. National Wildlife Refuge on Oregon's coast. It is one of six National Wildlife Refuges (NWRs) comprising the Oregon Coast National Wildlife Refuge Complex. The refuge consists of several discontin ...

. There are two communities, known as "old" and "new" Kernville, in close proximity. Old Kernville 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 ...

. The "old" Kernville was the first

European European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...

community in the area. It was started in 1896 by Daniel and John H. Kern, who operated a

salmon Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...

cannery Canning is a method of food preservation in which food is processed and sealed in an airtight container ( jars like Mason jars, and steel and tin cans). Canning provides a shelf life that typically ranges from one to five years, although unde ...

, Kern Brothers Packing Company, on the north bank of the

. At the time, the isolated location was only accessible by boat. In 1907 the cannery was sold and the new owners dismantled the building and rebuilt it on the south bank of the river. The

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

, post office and original community of Kernville were also located on the more accessible south bank. Eventually the old town site, including what remained on the north side of the river, was abandoned. As of 1945, "new" Kernville was located about a mile downstream from its original location, near the old Oregon Coast Highway bridge. Since the rerouting of U.S. Route 101 and the completion of a new Siletz River Bridge in the 1980s, new Kernville is no longer on the main highway. Kernville post office ran intermittently from 1896-1968. After the decline in the

fishing industry The fishing industry includes any industry or activity that takes, cultures, processes, preserves, stores, transports, markets or sells fish or fish products. It is defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization as including recreational, sub ...

that started in the 1920s, the Kernville economy was increasingly based on

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidder, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or trunk (botany), logs onto logging truck, trucks For a time, Kernville was the site of an important

spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' ( ), a genus of about 40 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal (taiga) regions of the Northern hemisphere. ''Picea'' ...

mill, and during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

it supplied wood for the

airplanes An airplane (American English), or aeroplane (Commonwealth English), informally plane, is a fixed-wing aircraft that is propelled forward by thrust from a jet engine, propeller, or rocket engine. Airplanes come in a variety of sizes, shapes, ...

being built by the U.S. Army

Spruce Production Division The Spruce Production Division was a unit of the United States Army established in 1917 to produce high-quality Sitka spruce timber and other wood products needed to make aircraft for the United States' efforts in World War I. The division was p ...

for the war effort. At this time Kernville was known as "Millport". The 1971 film about a logging family in Oregon, ''

Sometimes a Great Notion ''Sometimes a Great Notion'' is the second novel by American author Ken Kesey, published in 1964. While '' One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' (1962) is more famous, many critics consider ''Sometimes a Great Notion'' Kesey's magnum opus. The stor ...

'', based on the novel by

Ken Kesey Ken Elton Kesey (; September 17, 1935 – November 10, 2001) was an American novelist, essayist and Counterculture of the 1960s, countercultural figure. He considered himself a link between the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the hippies o ...

, was filmed in Kernville. A local

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

house served as the set for the "Stamper House".

References

External links

Historic photos of Kernville from Salem Public Library
!--now the Kernville Steak and Seafood House?-->

{{Authority control Ghost towns in Oregon Unincorporated communities in Lincoln County, Oregon 1896 establishments in Oregon Populated places established in 1896 Unincorporated communities in Oregon

See also

References

External links