Bull Run, Oregon

Bull Run is an unincorporated community in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States.[1] It is located about 5 miles (8.0 km) northeast of Sandy, near the Bull Run River and the powerhouse of the defunct Mount Hood Railway and Power Company (later the Bull Run Hydroelectric Project).[2]

Bull Run, Oregon
Unincorporated community
Bull Run Power Plant c. early 1900s
Bull Run Power Plant c. early 1900s
Bull Run, Oregon is located in Oregon
Bull Run, Oregon
Bull Run, Oregon
Coordinates: 45.4303982°N 122.2317543°W / 45.4303982; -122.2317543
CountryUnited States
StateOregon
CountyClackamas
Elevation
456 ft (139 m)
Time zoneUTC-8 (Pacific (PST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-7 (PDT)
ZIP code
97055

George H. Himes believed the name "Bull Run" may have been because of the presence of wild cattle along the river in the pioneer era of 1849–55.[3] This story is corroborated by settler Charles B. Talbot, who said that cattle would escape from the early immigrants to the area and ran wild for several years, and so they named the area Bull Run.[3] A 1920s story in the Gresham Outlook states that in the 1860s, a man named Frank Mognet was living in the Cedar Creek area near Sandy. He was attempting to catch a bull that had gone wild when it ran into the then-unnamed stream. Because this was just after the Battle of Bull Run, and the bull had given him a "strong run", he immediately named the stream Bull Run.[3]

The first post office in the area, established in 1893, was named Unavilla.[3] It is unknown why that name was chosen.[3] The name of the post office was changed Bullrun in 1895, and to Camp Namanu in 1939.[3] The summer-only Camp Namanu post office closed in 1953.[3]

In 1915, Bull Run had a population of 100, a public school and a large gladiolus farm.[4] The community was the eastern terminus of the Mt. Hood division of the Portland Railway, Light and Power Company interurban railroad.[4] In 1940, Bull Run had a population of 35.[5] Current USGS topographic maps have Bull Run labeled as a "site", meaning there is no community there now, although the USGS still lists it as a populated place in its GNIS.[1]

References
  1. "Bull Run". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. November 1, 1991. Retrieved February 13, 2015.
  2. Oregon Atlas & Gazetteer (7th ed.). Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. 2008. p. 29. ISBN 0-89933-347-8.
  3. McArthur, Lewis A.; McArthur, Lewis L. (2003) [1928]. Oregon Geographic Names (7th ed.). Portland, Oregon: Oregon Historical Society Press. pp. 123, 150. ISBN 978-0875952772.
  4. Friedman, Ralph (1990). In Search of Western Oregon. Caldwell, Idaho: The Caxton Printers, Ltd. p. 271. ISBN 0-87004-332-3.
  5. Writers' Program of the Work Projects Administration in the State of Oregon (1940). Oregon: End of the Trail. American Guide Series. Portland, Oregon: Binfords & Mort. p. 406. OCLC 4874569.


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