In 1877, settlers James B. Upton and S. H. Rock petitioned Senator John H. Mitchell asking for a mail route to Grand Ronde and a post office.[3] Upton owned a seal marked "Oregon City", so he suggested the new post office be named "Ore City" and he would alter the seal so it could be used for the new community.[3] Mitchell knew confusion with Oregon City would occur, and suggested the name "Oretown" to the postal authorities instead.[3] The name was accepted and Oretown post office ran from 1877 to 1954.[3] Today Oretown has a Cloverdale mailing address.[4]
At one time Oretown had a cheese factory and a salmon cannery.[5] Today the community has a historic church, the 1913 Oretown Bible Church, a Grange hall built in 1907, and a few houses.[4][5][6][7]
References
^ abc"Oretown". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. November 28, 1980. Retrieved December 18, 2016.