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Robinette, Oregon

James E. Robinette, originally from Maryland, homesteaded the Robinette area in the late 1880s. A post office opened in 1909 and, the following year, the Oregon Short Line laid railroad tracks from Huntington to Robinette to haul copper and gold ore. Robinette was also an important area shipping point for lambs, wool, turkeys, other livestock, and stone fruit. An oil distributing plant was established in the community in the early twentieth century and, although copper and gold ore shipments dwindled by the 1950s, in 1951 the Stillwell Lumber Co’s drying kiln and planer shed opened, giving Robinette a minor economic boost. The upswing did not last long however: Brownlee Dam displaced Robinette, as well as outlying farms and ranches, in the late 1950s.