Vale is a city in and 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 ...

of Malheur 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 ...

, approximately west of the

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

border. It is at the intersection of U.S. Routes 20 and 26, on the Malheur River at its confluence with Bully Creek. Vale was selected as Malheur's

in 1888 in a vote where other candidate communities were

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

and Jordan Valley. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 1,874, down from 1,976 in 2000. Vale is part of the Ontario, OR–ID Micropolitan Statistical Area. Rinehart Stone House Museum.

History

The area where present-day Vale sits was historically home to small groups of Native Americans. The area was also a central gathering place for Paiutes during

salmon run A salmon run is an annual fish migration event where many salmonid species, which are typically hatched in fresh water and live most of their adult life downstream in the ocean, swim back against the stream to the upper reaches of rivers to s ...

season. The community was the first stop in Oregon along 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 ...

. Journals of those who traveled the trail note a trading post in the area as early as 1853, and by 1864, Johnathan Keeney had built a cabin and a barn that he offered for lodging for passing travelers. This cabin was replaced by the Rinehart House in 1872, which still stands today. The

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

arrived in Vale in 1883, and the town became an important shipping gateway. A post office with the name of Vale was established in the Rinehart House the same year, though the community was not incorporated by the Oregon Legislative Assembly until February 21, 1889. Originally incorporated as the Town of Vale, it became the City of Vale in 1905. In 1887, Vale was named the first Malheur County seat, and a courthouse was constructed.

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 city has a total area of , all of it land. The city has an

elevation The elevation of a geographic location (geography), ''location'' is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational equipotenti ...

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

Climate

Vale has a

semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of se ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''BSk''). July is on average the hottest month and January the coldest. Typically there will be 148.3 nights each winter falling below and 6.3 nights falling under , although the clear skies mean that only 25.2 days do not top freezing and only 101.5 days fail to top . During summer, 12.7 days will top and 61.2 days – including 43 of 62 in July and August – will on average top . However, the low humidity and clear high-altitude skies mean nights are cool even in summer, with minima rarely above . December is the wettest month, when the average precipitation totals about , although the wettest month has been May 1998 with , whilst zero precipitation has been reported during each month between July and October. Snowfall is rare despite temperatures falling well below freezing between mid-October and mid-April, with a median of only and usually negligible snow on the ground even in January, although during February 1989 a depth of was reached. The most snow in one month was in January 1975.

Demographics

2010 census

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 2010, there were 1,874 people, 669 households, and 441 families residing in the city. 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 754 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 86.7%

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 ...

, 0.3%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 1.3% Native American, 0.4% Asian, 0.3%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 8.2% from other races, and 2.8% 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 23.4% of the population. There were 669 households, of which 38.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.8% 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, 12.0% had a female householder with no husband present, 6.1% had a male householder with no wife present, and 34.1% were non-families. 28.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.64 and the average family size was 3.27. The median age in the city was 33.4 years. About 29% of residents were under the age of 18; 10.4% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 24.8% were from 25 to 44; 19.7% were from 45 to 64; and 16.4% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 50.5% male and 49.5% female. As of the census of 2000, the median income for a household in the city was $27,065, and the median income for a family was $33,355. Males had a median income of $27,176 versus $22,500 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 city was $11,943. About 20% of the population and 15.6 percent of families had incomes 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 ...

. Out of the total population, 27.8% of those under the age of 18 and 12.2% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line. Old Vale City Hall

Transportation

In the 21st century, Vale is a stop on the Eastern POINT intercity bus line between Bend and

. It makes one stop per day in each direction. * Miller Memorial Airpark

Education

Vale is within the Vale School District 84. It has grades K-12.

References

External links

City of Vale Website

Entry for Vale
in the '' Oregon Blue Book''
Vale community profile
from Malheur County website
Vale Chamber of CommerceMap of Vale
in PDF format {{Authority control County seats in Oregon Oregon Trail Ontario, Oregon micropolitan area Populated places established in 1883 1883 establishments in Oregon Cities in Oregon Cities in Malheur County, Oregon