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Dorena, Oregon

Dorena, Oregon

Bake Stewart first settled Dorena–originally known as Chrisman, and later renamed after residents Dora Burnette and Rena Martin–between 1851 and 1853. Dorena established its first post office in 1899. Three years later, Eugene banker Willis E. Brown founded one of the first lumber mills in the town, catalyzing the Row River Valley lumber boom. When the United States Army of Corps of Engineers constructed Dorena Dam in 1949, they displaced local residents, who moved their town “near the head of the lake five miles up [the] river.”

About this community

Dam
Dorena Dam
River
Row River
Region
Pacific Northwest
Basin
Willamette
Project
Dorena, Oregon
Established
1851
Inundated
1949

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The community that was displaced

Displacement cost
$18,431,664
Property value
$1,112,452
Vocations
farmer, fisherman, rancher
Birthplaces
local

Archive artifacts

Photos

  • Old Dorena photograph
    Old Dorena photograph 1900View of Old Dorena prior to dam construction.Beckham Personal Archive
  • Wildwood Falls Sawmill
    Wildwood Falls Sawmill 1900The Wildwood Falls sawmill near Dorena was a source of employment for Row River workers in the early 1900s.Beckham Personal Archives
  • Hall of Fame 1950Studio of Mrs. A. Rose Twing, Dorena. While not inundated, the dam project came right up to her property, which after completion was located on the edge of the reservoir.Oregon Journal · Oregon Historical Society
  • Dorena Dam site photograph 1946Site of future Dorena Dam.Oregon Journal · Oregon Historical Society
  • Dorena Lumber Company 1903Articles of Incorporation for the Dorena Lumber Company.Lane County History Museum

Official Records

Sources