Columbia Gorge EDA - Wasco County, OR

Wasco Co., Oregon

County Capsule

Wasco County, Oregon has an estimated 2006 population of 23,791, down from 23,712 in 2000. the county lost population in the early 1980s as a result of the region's economic downturn. Population decline continued until 1987, but was on an upswing throughout the 1990's.

Wasco County covers an area of 2,396 square miles or 1,523,840 acres and contains six incorporated communities. When Wasco County was created in 1854 by the original Champoeg district by the Territorial Legislature, it embraced all of Oregon east of the Cascade Range, most of Idaho and parts of Montana and Wyoming. It was named for the Wasco (or Wascopam) Indian tribe.

The Dalles, with a population in 2000 of 12,156 makes up 51.1% of the county's total population. And, like Hood River county, property values in Wasco County rose by $100 million to $937.9 million in 1994, with the typical home in The Dalles selling for an average of $65,500.

Per capita personal income for Wasco County in 2004 was $24,958, under state wide and national figures of $30,561and $33,050.

Outside The Dalles, the communities are rural, and land use is predominantly agricultural. the county's principal industries are agriculture (cereal grains, sweet cherries, apples, livestock), lumber, manufacturing, electric power generation, transportation, and aluminum manufacturing. Wheat is the dominant field crop on the 190,000 acres of non-irrigated cropland. Of the 38,000 acres of irrigated land in the county, most are devoted to cherry orchards.

Wasco's county seat is The Dalles. Now the trading hub of north-central Oregon, the Dalles gainer earlier fame as the town at the end of the Oregon Trail. Thousands of years before that, primitive groups scratched strange picture writings on rock overlooking the Columbia in this area. Later, Indian tribes gathered for generations near Celillo Falls to trade and fish.

Points of Interest

Columbia and Deschutes Rivers
Fort Dalles Museum
Pulpit rock
The Dalles Dam, Celillo converter Station
Indian reservation and Kah-Nee-Ta Resort
Mt. Hood
Sorosis Park
Original Wasco County Courthouse
St. Peter's Landmark

County Statistics

Elevation at The Dalles: 98'
Average Temperature: January 33.4 - July 73.1
Annual Precipitation: 13.17"
Area: 2,396 sq. mi.
2004 Estimated Per Capita Income: - $24,958
Principal Industries: - Agriculture, Lumber, Manufacturing, Electric Power, Transportation
Major county employers include: -Mid-Columbia Medical Center, Oregon Cherry Growers and Mt. Fir Lumber Company.

Government

City: Mayor/Council/Government
County: County Courts
County Seat: Courthouse, 511 Washington, The Dalles, OR 97058; (541) 296-2207
Elected Officials: - Commissioners - Dan Ericksen, Sherry Holliday, William Lennox; Dist. Atty, Eric J. Nisley, Sheriff, Rick Eiesland.

Planning Commission

City: - yes
County: - yes
Zoning Regulations: - yes