Huntington, Oregon

Huntington is a city in Baker County, Oregon, United States. The population was 515 at the 2000 census.

Henry Miller settled here in August of 1862 and built the Stage Tavern known for many years as "Miller Station". It was on the overland route that had been established in the valley, and had become well known to all who traveled in pioneer days. The place was bought out in 1882 by J.B. Huntington. They maintained a small trading poston their land. The town was named for J.B. and J.M. Huntington, who were brothers. J. M. Huntington was the first postmaster. In 1884, the rails of the Oregon Short Line and the Oregon Railway & Navigation Company line were joined in Huntington. With the advent of the railroad came J.T. Fifer, who had been selling general merchandise to the construction crews, moving his goods from town to town as the work progressed. Shortly after Fifer arrived, the Huntingtons closed up, leaving him alone in the general merchandise business. But soon followed the Oregon Construction Company, with a stock of general merchandise, a blacksmith shop, the Pacific Hotel, several boarding houses, restaurants and a number of saloons. Since that time, Huntington has been an important railway division point.

In 1898, the Northwest Railroad Company began extending a short line down the Snake River. It reached Homestead about 1910. This increased transportation at Huntington and gave an outlet for Eagle and Pine Valley fruits, cattle, lumber and ore. This line was flooded by water from the power dam at Brownlee.

Huntington became the only incorporated city in Baker County on the Oregon Trail in 1891 with Home Rule Law.

Remnants of the Old Oregon Trail can still be seen today traveling northward from Farewell Bend State Park toward the town of Huntington on Highway 30.

Evidence of hardship and tragedies during the pioneer movement still exists.

A small iron cross, visible from Highway 30, marks the location where Snake River Shoshone Indians killed a number of unfortunate emigrants in 1860.

In 1870, Miller's Stagecoach Station was established before the coming of the railroad in 1884.

It soon became the primary shipping point for the great cattle country to the south. Huntington, named for JB and JM Huntington, brothers who purchased Miller's holdings in 1882, was a rugged frontier town, having it's share of saloons, Chinese opium dens, and gunslingers.

At the turn of the century, Huntington developed a reputation as "Sin City".

Governor Oswald West was motivated to clean the city up, along with Copperfield, in 1912-1914.

Geography

Location of Huntington, Oregon

Huntington is located at 44°21′1″N 117°15′56″W (44.350279, -117.265515)Template:GR.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.9 km² (0.7 mi²), all land.

Demographics

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 515 people, 232 households, and 150 families residing in the city. The population density was 272.4/km² (700.8/mi²). There were 301 housing units at an average density of 159.2/km² (409.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.67% White, 0.39% African American, 0.97% Native American, and 0.97% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.14% of the population.

There were 232 households out of which 21.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.9% were married couples living together, 6.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.3% were non-families. 31.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.22 and the average family size was 2.73.

In the city the population was spread out with 22.3% under the age of 18, 5.4% from 18 to 24, 21.6% from 25 to 44, 27.2% from 45 to 64, and 23.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46 years. For every 100 females there were 113.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 105.1 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $25,132, and the median income for a family was $30,781. Males had a median income of $27,500 versus $22,083 for females. The per capita income for the city was $13,396. About 10.7% of families and 17.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 30.8% of those under age 18 and 9.8% of those age 65 or over.