Silver Lake 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 western Lake 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, along Oregon Route 31. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 149. Facilities include a gas station and a small store, a post office, and a public school, North Lake School, serving grades K-12.

History

File:Silver Lake Church (Lake County, Oregon scenic images) (lakDA0038).jpg, Community church in Silver Lake File:DSCN7245 riderwithcattleonroad e 300.jpg, Cowboy herding cattle on Highway 31 near Silver Lake The community of Silver Lake is located in the high desert of central Oregon.http://www.nlake.k12.or.us/district_information.htm The town is named for a lake of the same name that is east of town. On December 9, 1875, the post office was established. The post office location has moved at least twice, depending on where the house of the postmaster was at the time. According to ''Oregon Geographic Names'', "The most important happening in the history of the community was a fire that occurred on December 24, 1894, in which 43 people lost their lives in the burning of one building." A fire broke out at a Christmas Eve celebration inside the crowded second-floor hall above a store. Ed O'Farrell rode to Lakeview for medical help. After receiving the message, Doctor

Bernard Daly Bernard Daly (17 February 1858 – 4 January 1920) was an American country doctor, businessman, banker, rancher, state representative, state senator, county judge, and regent of Oregon State Agricultural College (today's Oregon State University) ...

drove his buggy over bad winter roads for 24 hours to reach Silver Lake. Doctor Daly's efforts to reach and treat the victims earned statewide recognition. North Lake School in Silver Lake serves approximately 260 students from the towns of Silver Lake, Christmas Valley, and

Fort Rock Fort Rock is a tuff ring located on an ice age lake bed in north Lake County, Oregon, Lake County, Oregon, United States. The ring is about in diameter and stands about high above the surrounding plain. Its name is derived from the tall, stra ...

and consists of a single K-12 school building, which opened in 1991. Sparsely populated, but seeing an increase as Bend grows, the area is ideal for those interested in the outdoors; hunting, fishing, hiking, camping, skiing, and bird watching are favorite activities of local residents. Wildlife is abundant in the area, such as

mule deer The mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus'') is a deer indigenous to western North America; it is named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule. Two subspecies of mule deer are grouped into the black-tailed deer. Unlike the related whit ...

pronghorn antelope The pronghorn (, ) (''Antilocapra americana'') is a species of artiodactyl (even-toed, hoofed) mammal indigenous to interior western and central North America. Though not an antelope, it is known colloquially in North America as the American ante ...

elk The elk (: ''elk'' or ''elks''; ''Cervus canadensis'') or wapiti, is the second largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. ...

coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans''), also known as the American jackal, prairie wolf, or brush wolf, is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the Wolf, gray wolf, and slightly smaller than the c ...

badger Badgers are medium-sized short-legged omnivores in the superfamily Musteloidea. Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united by their squat bodies and adaptions for fossorial activity rather than by the ...

eagle Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

s, and

hawk Hawks are birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are very widely distributed and are found on all continents, except Antarctica. The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks, and others. This ...

Climate

This region experiences warm (but not hot) and dry summers, with no average monthly temperatures above . 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, Silver Lake 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 Silver Lake, Oregon
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Transportation

Silver Lake is located southeast of Bend and north of Lakeview on Oregon Route 31. Silver Lake Forest Service Strip is an airport southwest of Silver Lake.

Demographics

References

External links

''New York Times'' article on fire in 1894
{{Authority control Unincorporated communities in Lake County, Oregon Census-designated places in Oregon 1875 establishments in Oregon Populated places established in 1875 Unincorporated communities in Oregon