Olene, Oregon

Olene is an unincorporated community in Klamath County, Oregon, United States.[1] It is 10 miles (16 km) southeast of Klamath Falls on Oregon Route 140.[2] Olene currently has a general store and at one time it had a school.[3][4][5] In 1940 Olene had a population of 62 and was considered a suburb of Klamath Falls.[6] Olene was the center of a prosperous dairy and potato farming district.[6]

Olene, Oregon
Unincorporated community
Olene is located in Oregon
Olene
Olene
Location within Oregon and the United States
Olene is located in the United States
Olene
Olene
Olene (the United States)
Coordinates: 42°10′19″N 121°37′51″W
CountryUnited States
StateOregon
CountyKlamath
Elevation
4,153 ft (1,266 m)
Time zoneUTC-8 (Pacific (PST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-7 (PDT)
GNIS feature ID1124978[1]
Coordinates and elevation from Geographic Names Information System[1]

According to William Gladstone Steel, Olene is a Klamath word meaning "eddy place" or "place of drift." O. C. Applegate adopted the word for the site in 1884 when the post office was established.[7] The original Olene post office was up the Lost River from the current townsite.[7] When the post office closed in 1966, it was near The Gap, a restriction in the Lost River.[7][8] This gap is also known as Olene Gap, and the Olene Hot Springs are nearby.[9][10]

The community was along a rail line operated jointly by Southern Pacific and Burlington Northern. Today the OC&E Woods Line State Trail, a rails to trails conversion, passes through Olene.[11] Originally built by the Oregon, California and Eastern Railway, the railroad line reached Olene in 1918.[9]

A geothermal drilling project near Olene was completed in early 2013, and the temperature produced by that well was in excess of 280 °F (138 °C).[12] Plans include drilling two or three more wells for a commercial-scale power plant, with a planned electrical capacity of 21 MWe.[12]

References
  1. "Olene". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. November 28, 1980. Retrieved January 16, 2017.
  2. Oregon Atlas & Gazetteer (7th ed.). Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. 2008. p. 70. ISBN 0-89933-347-8.
  3. "Parking and Access". Klamath Rails-to-Trail Group. Retrieved December 13, 2010.
  4. "Itineraries". Klamath Visitor & Convention Bureau. Retrieved December 13, 2010.
  5. Tonsfeldt, Ward (August 1990). "Historical Resource Survey: Klamath County, Oregon" (PDF). Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. Retrieved December 13, 2010.
  6. 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. 440. OCLC 4874569.
  7. McArthur, Lewis A.; McArthur, Lewis L. (2003) [1928]. Oregon Geographic Names (7th ed.). Portland, Oregon: Oregon Historical Society Press. p. 720. ISBN 978-0875952772.
  8. "The Gap". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. November 28, 1980. Retrieved December 13, 2010.
  9. "OC&E Woods Line State Trail". Explore!. December 5, 2010. Retrieved December 13, 2010.
  10. "Olene Hot Springs". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. May 22, 1986. Retrieved December 13, 2010.
  11. "OC&E Woods Line State Trail". Klamath Rails-to-Trail Group. Retrieved December 13, 2010.
  12. "Second Geothermal Well in the Works in Olene Area". Global Geothermal News. Retrieved October 14, 2013.


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