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Detroit, Oregon

Old Detroit began as an Oregon Pacific Railroad labor camp in 1889, and two years later a post office was established in the community. In 1895, lumber magnet A.B. Hammond organized several logging camps near Old Detroit and transported timber to Mill City via the newly named Oregon Central and Eastern Railroad, transforming Detroit into “a residential, trade, and shipping center.” The Great Depression and Hammond’s subsequent passing in 1934 stalled Detroit’s economy until the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) started purchasing property near the soon-to-be construction site of the Detroit Dam in 1946. This dam displaced residents and forced them to relocate their town onto land that previously belonged to the Hammond Lumber Company in 1952. Nevertheless, some locals benefited from the Detroit Dam and its reservoir, Detroit Lake, since they brought tourist activity to the region.