Rye Valley is an unincorporated community in Baker County, in the U.S. state of Oregon.[1] It lies along Dixie Creek, a tributary of the Burnt River, about 30 miles (48 km) southeast of Baker City.[2] It is slightly west of Interstate 84 near Weatherby and Dixie.[3]
The community is named for a native grass used as forage for pack animals important to the region's immigrants and miners in the 1860s. A Rye Valley post office opened on September 27, 1869, and operated intermittently between then and September 14, 1935. Nayson S. Whitcomb was the first postmaster.[2]
On July 24, 2014, a wildfire started by lightning happened in Rye Valley. The lightning first struck on Bureau of Land Management lands; however, winds quickly drove it onto forestlands protected by the Oregon Department of Forestry. The fire took three days to fully contain.[4]
References
- ^ a b "Rye Valley". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. May 22, 1986. Retrieved November 9, 2016.
- ^ a b McArthur, Lewis A.; McArthur, Lewis L. (2003) [1928]. Oregon Geographic Names (7th ed.). Portland, Oregon: Oregon Historical Society Press. p. 833. ISBN 978-0875952772.
- ^ Oregon Atlas & Gazetteer (7th ed.). Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. 2008. p. 79. ISBN 978-0-89933-347-2.
- ^ "Rye Valley Fire". InciWeb. Retrieved November 9, 2016.
Municipalities and communities of Baker County, Oregon, United States | ||
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| Unincorporated communities | ||
| Ghost towns | ||
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