Part 2. A Living Ghost Town.
There are more than 80 ghost towns sprinkled throughout Oregon. The first stop on Oregon’s Journey Through Time Byway is 58 miles southeast of Biggs in Wasco County at the ghost town of Shanico.
Shaniko traces its beginnings to August Scherneckau, a Civil War veteran, who began operating a stagecoach stop called Cross Hollows on the route from the Dalles to central Oregon after the war. The natives of the region pronounced his name as Shaniko which eventually became the town name. A post office was established at Cross Hollows in 1879 with Scherneckau as postmaster. However, this post office ceased operation in 1887.
In 1900, a group of businessmen planned the building of a community at the terminus of the Columbia Southern Railroad. This town was to serve as a center for the collection of the huge quantities of wool being produced by sheepmen in central Oregon. A post office was built officially naming the town Shaniko followed by the Columbia Southern Hotel (later renamed the Shaniko Hotel). Due to the arid nature of the area, water had to be pumped from Cross Hollow Canyon through a wooden piping system and stored in two large wooden tanks.
The town of Shaniko was incorporated in 1901. It had a bank, two blacksmith shops, a two-story multipurpose building housing the city hall, fire station, and jail, a post office, two stores, two newspapers and five saloons. The three-room school housed grades kindergarten through high school, and, on Sundays, served as the church.
In 1902, a large warehouse was built where wool was collected and stored, and by 1903, Shaniko was dubbed “The Wool Capital of the World.” In 1904, more than 5 million dollars-worth of wool was sold to buyers in Shaniko (about $146 million today).
In 1911 a railroad line linking Bend with the Columbia Gorge was built. This coupled with a fire that destroyed much of the downtown business area led to the demise of Shaniko. Although sheepmen, ranchers and homesteaders stayed on in the area, the town’s heyday was over.
Today, the population of Shaniko is about 37 residents so it is classified as a “living” ghost town. You can wander the streets of town and see the remnants of old buildings, antique farm equipment and old cars and trucks. The most notable building found at the edge of town is one of the old wool warehouses. The old truck near the warehouse is one of the most photographed antique vehicles in all of Oregon.
You can still see the watertower, city hall/jail, a blacksmith shop, stage station, chapel and some other old buildings. The Shaniko Hotel and school have been restored while most of the other buildings are in various states of decay. One interesting restored building is an old Texaco station. Unfortunately, when I was there, the facility was closed and the antique pumps were covered so you could not see what they look like.
Although many articles written about Shaniko indicate that you can explore the old buildings, I did not find this to be the case with unfriendly no trespassing warnings posted most places.
Shaniko is worth an hour’s stop to see some of the old buildings and antique vehicles if you are driving in the area. However, I went there as a destination and was a bit disappointed.
I’ve driven through Shaniko a few times; thanks for all of the information! An interesting history, for sure.