Wasco County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,213. Its county seat is The Dalles. The county is named for a local tribe of Native Americans, the Wasco, a Chinook tribe who live on the south side of the Columbia River. It is near the Washington state line. Wasco County comprises The Dalles Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Antelope is a town in rural Wasco County, Oregon, United States. Antelope had an estimated population of 47 people in 2012.
The Dalles, formally the City of The Dalles and also called Dalles City, is an inland port and the largest city in Wasco County, Oregon, United States. The population was 16,010 at the 2020 census, and it is the largest city in Oregon along the Columbia River outside the Portland Metropolitan Area. The Dalles is 75 miles east of Portland, within the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area.
Dufur is a city in Wasco County, Oregon, United States. The population was 604 at the 2010 census. It is a farming community where wheat, tree fruit, and grapes are important crops.
Shaniko is a city located in Wasco County, Oregon, United States, on U.S. Route 97 and about 8 miles (13 km) north of Antelope. The population was 30 at the 2020 census.
Eastern Oregon is a region of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is not an officially recognized geographic entity; thus, the boundaries of the region vary according to context. It is sometimes understood to include only the eight easternmost counties in the state; in other contexts, it includes the entire area east of the Cascade Range. Cities in the basic eight-county definition include Baker City, Burns, Hermiston, Pendleton, Boardman, John Day, La Grande, and Ontario. Umatilla County is home to the largest population base in Eastern Oregon, accounting for 42% of the region's residents. Hermiston, located in Umatilla County, is the largest city in the region, accounting for 10% of the population. Major industries include transportation/warehousing, timber, agriculture and tourism. The main transportation corridors are I-84, U.S. Route 395, U.S. Route 97, U.S. Route 26, U.S. Route 30, and U.S. Route 20.
U.S. Route 197 (US 197) is a north–south United States Highway, of which all but 2.76 miles of its 69.93 miles are within the state of Oregon. The highway starts in rural Wasco County in Central Oregon at an intersection with US 97. US 197 travels north as a continuation of The Dalles-California Highway No. 4 through the cities of Maupin, Tygh Valley, and Dufur to The Dalles. Within The Dalles, the highway becomes concurrent with US 30 and intersects Interstate 84 (I-84) before it crosses over the Columbia River on The Dalles Bridge into Washington. The highway continues through the neighboring city of Dallesport in Klickitat County and terminates at a junction with State Route 14 (SR 14).
The Great Southern Railroad was a 41-mile short-line which interchanged with the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company, later the Oregon–Washington Railroad and Navigation Company (OWR&N), in The Dalles, Oregon, United States. The rail line ran south along Fifteen Mile Creek through Boyd to Dufur, and on to the small community of Friend. Besides the railhead junction with OWR&N, the Great Southern also had connections with two steamship line operating on the Columbia River; The Dalles, Portland & Astoria Navigation Co., and The Open River Transportation Co.
Rice is an unincorporated community in Wasco County, in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is about 5 miles (8 km) northeast of Dufur, near Boyd and U.S. Route 197.
Friend is an unincorporated community in Wasco County in the U.S. state of Oregon. Considered a ghost town, little remains of the community except the Friend Store, a one-room schoolhouse, and a cemetery.
The Balch Hotel is a historic commercial lodging building in Dufur, Oregon, United States. It was built in 1907 by Charles Balch, a local land owner and businessman. The hotel has changed hands a number of times over the years, but it has remained in continuous use since it was constructed. Today, the Balch Hotel is an active hotel serving visitors to the Dufur area. Because of its importance to local history, the Balch Hotel is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Fifteenmile Creek is a 54-mile (87 km) long tributary of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Oregon. It drains 373 square miles (966 km2) of Hood River and Wasco counties. Arising in the Cascade Range near Mount Hood, it flows northeast then west to its confluence with the Columbia near The Dalles.
Fairbanks is an unincorporated community in Wasco County, Oregon, United States. It is about 12 miles (19 km) east of The Dalles, just south of U.S. Route 30/Interstate 84, near Fifteenmile Creek.
The Dalles Military Road, also known as The Dalles – Boise Military Wagon Road, was a mid-19th century wagon road surveyed and barely built by The Dalles Military Road Company between 1868 and 1870. To qualify for government land grants, the company was supposed to build a wagon road from The Dalles, Oregon, to Fort Boise in Idaho. However, the company's road, on which it spent about $6,000 and for which it received nearly 890 square miles (2,300 km2) of public land, consisted largely of existing wagon roads and rudimentary trails. In particular, the company took credit for building a well-traveled and pre-existing wagon road between The Dalles and Canyon City, Oregon.
Joseph Sherar was a 19th-century wagon road builder who, with his wife, Jane, owned and operated a Deschutes River toll bridge and a nearby stagecoach station and hotel in Wasco County in the U.S. state of Oregon. The bridge and buildings were slightly downstream of Sherars Falls, the river's lowermost waterfall, and a traditional fishing spot for the native inhabitants of the region.
Bakeoven is an unincorporated community in Wasco County, in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is southeast of Maupin and northwest of Shaniko along Bakeoven Creek, a tributary of the Deschutes River.
Endersby is an unincorporated community in Wasco County, in the U.S. state of Oregon. It lies along Eightmile Creek at the intersection of Endersby Cutoff and Eightmile Road, about 3 miles (5 km) north-northwest of the small city of Dufur. The cutoff road connects the community to U.S. Route 197.
Nansene is an unincorporated community in Wasco County, in the U.S. state of Oregon. It lies along Long Hollow Market Road southeast of the small city of Dufur. Between Nansene and Dufur, the road crosses Dry Creek, a tributary of Fifteenmile Creek.
Blalock was an unincorporated community located in the Columbia River Gorge in Gilliam County, Oregon, United States. The town displaced a Native American settlement originally named Táwash. Blalock was located about 7 miles (11 km) west of Arlington on Interstate 84/U.S. Route 30 at the mouth of Blalock Canyon. Blalock is still the name of a station on the Union Pacific Railroad.
The South Valley Fire is a human-caused wildfire currently burning in Wasco County near Dufur in the U.S. state of Oregon. The fire is one of three fires near Dufur, specifically the active Long Hollow Fire and the contained Substation Fire. The South Valley Fire has burned 20,000 acres (81 km2). It has caused the evacuation of 400 people and threatens 100 homes. It has impacted recreational activities along the Deschutes River.
