Editing Detroit, Oregon (section)

== History ==
[[File:Railroad Turntable just above Detroit, OR. circa 1900 (8113443604).jpg|thumb|left|Railroad turntable, just above Detroit, {{Circa|1900}}]]
The original townsite of Detroit was inundated in the summer of 1952 when the [[United States Army Corps of Engineers|Corps of Engineers]] finished [[Detroit Dam]] on the [[Santiam River]].<ref name="dam">{{Cite web|url=http://www.nwp.usace.army.mil/op/V/proj_detbc.asp|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090109033948/https://www.nwp.usace.army.mil/op/v/proj_detbc.asp|url-status=dead|title=Willamette Valley Projects - Portland District - US Army Corps of Engineers<!-- Bot generated title -->|archivedate=January 9, 2009}}</ref> The community was relocated about {{convert|1/2|mi|km}} northwest of the original site, on [[Oregon Route 22|Route 22]], and was incorporated as a city the same year.

Construction on the concrete Detroit Dam began on April 1, 1949, as part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Willamette Valley Project. The completed dam was dedicated by former Oregon Governor [[Douglas McKay]] and the U. S. Secretary of the Interior on June 10, 1953. In addition to flood control, the dam benefited navigation, irrigation, electric power production, stream purification and recreation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://scarc.library.oregonstate.edu/findingaids/?p=collections/findingaid&id=2876#id473120|title=Gerald W. Williams Regional Albums, 1875-2000|website=scarc.library.oregonstate.edu|language=en|access-date=2017-04-28}} [[File:CC-BY icon.svg|50px]] This article contains quotations from this source, which is available under the [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/  Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)] license.</ref>

Located near [[Detroit Lake]] and [[Detroit Lake State Park]], Detroit's economy is dependent on [[tourism]]. The community suffered from a drought in 2001, when Detroit Lake was little more than the Santiam River through the summer.<ref name="lowwater">{{Cite web|url=http://www.theslowlane.com/01tripg/detrl.html|title=Low water picture of Detroit Lake<!-- Bot generated title -->|access-date=January 30, 2007|archive-date=September 29, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929110319/http://www.theslowlane.com/01tripg/detrl.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2010, by a vote of 47–37,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101103/ap_on_fe_st/us_odd_the_other_detroit_2|title=Ashamed to be Detroit? Not this tiny Oregon town|agency=[[Associated Press]]|date=2010-11-03}}</ref> citizens in Detroit voted down a ballot measure that would have changed the city's name to Detroit Lake, the name of the neighboring reservoir and one of the most visited summer sites in Oregon. The proposal was put forth by Doug DeGeorge, a builder and motel owner who resides in Arizona and wanted to disassociate the town from [[Detroit|Detroit, Michigan]], and its close ties to "crime, corruption, failing schools, and a shaky auto industry". DeGeorge was not present on the day of the city council vote, but repercussions from his comments had phone lines flooded with angry calls from Michigan residents. Voters chose to keep the original name of the city, though most residents and tourists still call it Detroit Lake.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/10/26/travel/main6992789.shtml |title=Oregon Tourist Town Considers Dumping 'Detroit' |date=2010-10-26 |access-date=2010-10-27 |work=CBS News }}{{dead link|date=August 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> Gary Brown, a city councilman in Detroit, Michigan, disagreed with the proposal, saying that residents would have made a big mistake because "the Motor City will one day return to its previous glory".<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/26/detroit-oregon-name-change_n_773989.html | title=Detroit, Oregon Considers Changing Its Name To Draw More Tourists | work=[[The Huffington Post]] | date=2010-10-26 | access-date=2010-10-27}}</ref>

On September 9, 2020, the entire city of Detroit was mostly burned to the ground during the [[Santiam Fire]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/wildfire/gov-brown-press-conference-on-wildfires-in-oregon/283-d8014ecc-cf04-4ba5-bb05-3609141542ab | title=Gov. Brown: Towns of Detroit, Blue River, Vida, Phoenix and Talent are 'substantially destroyed' | work=[[KGW]] | date=2020-09-09 | access-date=2020-09-10}}</ref> Dozens of people were trapped, but managed to escape on a forest road through the active fire.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Healy|first1=Jack|last2=Baker|first2=Mike|date=2020-09-17|title=A Desperate Bid for Survival as Fire Closed In on an Oregon Mountain Town|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/17/us/fires-oregon-detroit.html|access-date=2020-09-17|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Detroit, Oregon, destroyed by wildfires|url=https://www.opb.org/article/2020/09/10/detroit-oregon-destroyed-by-wildfires/|access-date=2020-09-11|website=opb}}</ref><ref name="fatalities confirmed">{{cite web|url=https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/2020/09/09/santiam-fire-mellows-overnight-but-were-not-out-woods/5754242002/|title=UPDATES: First Santiam Fire fatalities confirmed; sheriff warns people to stay away|author1=David Davis|author2=Zach Urness|author3=Connor Radnovich|author4=Capi Lynn|publisher=Salem Statesman Journal|date=September 11, 2020|access-date=September 12, 2020}}</ref> A few months later, during the [[February 13–17, 2021 North American winter storm|February 2021 winter and ice storm]], the city received 26 in (66&nbsp;cm) of snow{{emdash}}the most of any place affected by the storm.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://weather.com/safety/winter/news/2021-02-14-winter-storm-uri-south-midwest-northeast-snow-ice | title=Winter Storm Uri Spread Snow, Damaging Ice from Coast-to Coast, Including the Deep South (Recap) }}</ref>