Lookingglass 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 ...

in the Lookingglass Valley of Douglas 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 ...

, about southwest of Roseburg. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 855. Lookingglass is considered a suburb of Roseburg.

History

The valley was named in 1846 by surveyor Hoy Flournoy, who said the beautiful green grass of the valley reflected light almost as well as a mirror. Flournoy later returned to settle in the area. The Lookingglass Store, built in 1852, was once the terminus for the

Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...

to Lookingglass

stage Stage, stages, or staging may refer to: Arts and media Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly Brit ...

and freight road. It was also the beginning of the

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, Oregon, Douglas County to Coos Bay, Oregon, Coos Bay starting in 1872. Travelers on the road could start in eith ...

. Today the store continues to serve as the hub of the community and is the oldest business in Douglas County. Lookingglass also has a school, a

grange hall The National Grange, also known as The Grange and officially named The National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, is a social organization in the United States that encourages families to band together to promote the economic and pol ...

, a church and a fire station. Lookingglass post office closed in 1942. In the 1970s, Lookingglass, population 40 at the time, received national media attention for installing a two-horse

parking meter A parking meter is a device used to collect money in exchange for the right to Parking, park a vehicle in a particular place for a limited amount of time. Parking meters can be used by Municipality, municipalities as a tool for enforcing their i ...

, a

telephone booth A telephone booth, telephone kiosk, telephone call box, telephone box or public call box is a tiny structure furnished with a payphone and designed for a telephone user's convenience; typically the user steps into the booth and closes the boot ...

, and a

fire hydrant A fire hydrant, fireplug, firecock (archaic), hydrant riser or Johnny Pump is a connection point by which firefighters can tap into a water supply. It is a component of active fire protection. Underground fire hydrants have been used in Europe a ...

. Lookingglass became a minor tourist attraction. When the fire hydrant was dedicated in 1971, it was accompanied by two

manhole cover A manhole cover is a removable plate forming the lid over the opening of a manhole, an opening large enough for a person to pass through that is used as an access point for an underground vault or pipe. It is designed to prevent anyone or anythi ...

s, which covered nothing, donated by a

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...

iron company and the mayor of

Cedar Rapids, Iowa Cedar Rapids is a city in Linn County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. The population was 137,710 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Iowa, second-most populous city in Iowa. The city lies o ...

David Brinkley David McClure Brinkley (July 10, 1920 – June 11, 2003) was an American newscaster for NBC and ABC in a career lasting from 1943 to 1997. From 1956 through 1970, he co-anchored NBC's top-rated nightly news program, '' The Huntley–Brinkle ...

anchored his segment of the ''

NBC Nightly News ''NBC Nightly News'' (titled as ''NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas'' for its weeknight broadcasts ) is the flagship daily evening News broadcasting#Television, television news program for NBC News, the news division of the NBC television network ...

'' from the steps of the Lookingglass Store in 1974, while passing through Oregon to do a series of short news stories.

Chet Huntley Chester Robert Huntley (December 10, 1911 – March 20, 1974) was an American television newscaster, best known for co-anchoring NBC's evening news program, '' The Huntley–Brinkley Report,'' for 14 years beginning in 1956. Early life Hunt ...

, David Brinkley's co-anchor of the '' Huntley-Brinkley Report'', was the great-grandson of the Lookingglass area's first settler, Daniel Huntley, who arrived in 1851. The James Wimer Octagonal Barn near Lookingglass was built in 1892 and is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

Geography

Lookingglass is located in west-central Douglas County in the valley of Lookingglass Creek, a tributary of the

South Umpqua River The South Umpqua River is a tributary of the Umpqua River, approximately long, in southwestern Oregon in the United States. It drains part of the Cascade Range east of Roseburg. The river passes through a remote canyon in its upper reaches then ...

. The community is southwest of Roseburg, the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

, via Lookingglass Road. According to the

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

, the Lookingglass CDP has an area of , all of it land.

Climate

This region experiences warm (but not hot) and dry summers, with no average monthly temperatures above 71.6 °F. According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, Lookingglass has a

warm-summer Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

, abbreviated "Csb" on climate maps.Climate Summary for Lookingglass, Oregon
/ref> The USDA Plant Hardiness map lists Lookingglass as being in zone 8b.

Demographics

Education

Lookingglass Elementary School is part of the Winston-Dillard School District. It was founded in 1898 and currently serves grades

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...

through

six 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics A six-sided polygon is a hexagon, one of the three regular polygons capable of tiling the plane. A hexagon a ...

References

External links

Historic images of Lookingglass
from Salem Public Library
Images of the James Wimer octagonal barn in Lookingglass
from

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

Digital Collections {{Authority control 1870s establishments in Oregon Census-designated places in Oregon Unincorporated communities in Douglas County, Oregon Census-designated places in Douglas County, Oregon Unincorporated communities in Oregon