Christmas Valley, Oregon
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Christmas Valley is an unincorporated community in Lake County, Oregon, United States. The community of Christmas Valley, named after nearby Christmas Lake, was a real estate development started after World War II, with a post office established in 1963 as a rural station of Silver Lake.[1]
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[edit] History
Christmas Lake, Christmas (Lake) Valley, and nearby Peter's Sink were named for pioneer stockman Peter Christman, who grazed his cattle there and had a house at Silver Lake, eighteen miles to the southwest.[2] These names were applied as early as September 29, 1877, when they were referred to by former Oregon Governor John Whiteaker in a letter to the editor of the Eugene City Guard.[2] Whiteaker himself had an interest in the area's fossil beds, and nearby ranching interests as well.[2]
The name "Christmas" was an early corruption of the name Christman that became entrenched in the vernacular by 1900. The Christman family often spelled their name with a T although some family members would omit it and use the name Chrisman. Several examples of both spellings were found in print, some in government documents. Whiteaker himself referred to the lake as both "Christman Lake" and "Christmas Lake" in his letter to the editor, and unmistakably pinpointed the lake's location.[3][4]
[edit] Penn Phillips era
In 1961, developer M. Penn Phillips laid out the townsite, including its fanciful holiday street names (such as Candy Lane, Mistletoe Road, Comet Street, Vixen Street, etc.), a water system, a golf course, a lodge, rodeo grounds, an artificial lake (recently renamed Baert Lake from the "Christmas Valley Lake") and the Christmas Valley Airport. Phillips aggressively promoted the community in California to young, would-be farmers and retirees, often providing free bus tours and flights, and usually misrepresenting the potential of the land as green and readily farmed. The company quickly sold out the parcels, though despite Phillips' claims that the community would soon have more than 5,000 residents, few actually moved there. In the early 1970s, the Phillips company faced lawsuits about misrepresentation of the property and the Phillips era is usually considered a scam.[5][6]
[edit] Current community
Christmas Valley is perhaps best known by off-road all-terrain vehicle enthusiasts worldwide who spend vacation time at the nearby Christmas Valley Sand Dunes.[7]
The community is served by the North Lake School District.
[edit] Military facility
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This article contains weasel words, vague phrasing that often accompanies biased or unverifiable information. Such statements should be clarified or removed. (March 2009) |
GlobalSecurity.org shows a map and a series of aerial photos that it claims were a series of ready-yet-unused high-powered over-the-horizon radar transmitters controlled by Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho.[8] Other sources indicate the RADAR antennas were removed in 2007.[9]
[edit] References
- ^ McArthur, Lewis A.; Lewis L. McArthur (2003) [1928]. Oregon Geographic Names (Seventh Edition ed.). Portland, Oregon: Oregon Historical Society Press. ISBN 0-87595-277-1.
- ^ a b c Tupper, Melany. High Desert Roses, Volume One, Significant Stories from Central Oregon.
- ^ "Peter Christman and the Naming of Christmas Lake," High Desert Roses, Volume One, Significant Stories from Central Oregon.
- ^ "A Trip to the Fossil Beds," Eugene City Guard, September 29, 1877.
- ^ "Christmas Valley Lodge, 1962". Oregon Historical Society. http://www.ohs.org/education/oregonhistory/historical_records/dspDocument.cfm?doc_ID=62DBD277-E736-B717-F994380E2DA145A2. Retrieved on 2008-02-15.
- ^ "One Man's Dream for Christmas Valley," High Desert Roses, Volume One, Significant Stories from Central Oregon.
- ^ Oregon Parks and Recreation Department: All-Terrain Vehicles, Christmas Valley Sand Dunes
- ^ http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/facility/christmas-valley.htm
- ^ http://craigsrailroadpages.com/oth-b/
[edit] External links
Coordinates: 43°14′11″N 120°38′09″W / 43.23639°N 120.63583°W
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