Editing Mitchell, Oregon

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox settlement
| official_name                   = Mitchell, Oregon
| settlement_type                 = [[City]]
| nickname                        = 
| motto                           = 
| image_skyline                   = Mitchell skyline.jpg
| imagesize                       = 300px
| image_caption                   = Main Street as seen from High Street
| image_map                       = Wheeler_County_Oregon_Incorporated_and_Unincorporated_areas_Mitchell_Highlighted.svg
| mapsize                         = 250px
| map_caption                     = Location in [[Oregon]]
| image_map1                      = 
| mapsize1                        = 
| map_caption1                    = 
| subdivision_type                = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
| subdivision_name                = United States
| subdivision_type1               = [[U.S. state|State]]
| subdivision_name1               = [[Oregon]]
| subdivision_type2               = [[List of counties in Oregon|County]]
| subdivision_name2               = [[Wheeler County, Oregon|Wheeler]]
| government_type                 = 
| leader_title                    = [[Mayor]]
| leader_name                     = Jake Crawford 
| established_title               = [[Municipal corporation|Incorporated]]
| established_date                = {{Start date and age|1891  }}
| area_magnitude                  = 
| area_total_sq_mi                = 1.28
| area_footnotes                  = <ref name="TigerWebMapServer">{{cite web|title=ArcGIS REST Services Directory|url=https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/5/query?where=STATE='41'&outFields=NAME,STATE,PLACE,AREALAND,AREAWATER,LSADC,CENTLAT,CENTLON&orderByFields=PLACE&returnGeometry=false&returnTrueCurves=false&f=json|publisher=United States Census Bureau|accessdate=October 12, 2022}}</ref>
| area_total_km2                  = 3.31
| area_land_sq_mi                 = 1.28
| area_land_km2                   = 3.31
| area_water_sq_mi                = 0.00
| area_water_km2                  = 0.00
| population_footnotes            = <ref name="USCensusDecennial2020CenPopScriptOnly"/>
| population_as_of                = [[2020 United States census|2020]]
| population_est                  = 
| pop_est_as_of                   = 
| population_note                 = 
| population_total                = 138
| population_metro                = 
| population_urban                = 
| population_density_km2          = 41.70
| population_density_sq_mi        = 107.98
| timezone                        = [[Pacific Standard Time Zone|Pacific]]
| utc_offset                      = -8
| timezone_DST                    = Pacific
| utc_offset_DST                  = -7
| coordinates                     = {{coord|44|34|2|N|120|9|13|W|type:city(170)_region:US-OR_source:gnis-1146370_elevation:846|display=inline,title}}
| elevation_m                     = 846.4
| elevation_ft                    = 2777
| website                         = 
| postal_code_type                = [[ZIP code]]
| postal_code                     = 97750
| area_code                       = [[Area code 541|541]]
| blank_name                      = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
| blank_info                      = 41-49150<ref name ="wwwcensusgov"/>
| blank1_name                     = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
| blank1_info                     = 1146370<ref name="GR3">{{cite web|url=http://geonames.usgs.gov|access-date=January 31, 2008|title=US Board on Geographic Names|publisher=[[United States Geological Survey]]|date=October 25, 2007}}</ref>
| footnotes                       = 
| pop_est_footnotes               = 
| unit_pref                       = Imperial
}}
'''Mitchell''' is a city in [[Wheeler County, Oregon|Wheeler County]], [[Oregon]], United States.  The population was 130 at the [[2010 United States Census|2010 census]]. It was founded in 1873 and was named after [[John H. Mitchell]], a politician.

The [[Painted Hills]] unit of the [[John Day Fossil Beds National Monument]] is about {{convert|9|mi|km}} northwest of Mitchell. [[Mitchell School]], a public school with an enrollment of about 70 students, is in Mitchell.<ref name="About">{{cite web|title= About Mitchell School|publisher=Mitchell School|url=http://www.mitchellschool.info/?page_id=2|year=2011|access-date=August 15, 2011}}</ref>

==History==
===Foundation===
At the request of William "Brawdie" Johnson, a blacksmith, a post office was established at Mitchell in 1873.<ref name="OGN"/> Johnson, the first postmaster, suggested the name ''Mitchell'' after [[John H. Mitchell|John Hipple Mitchell]], a [[United States Senate|U.S. Senator]] from Oregon. Senator Mitchell held the office in 1873−1879, 1885−1897, and 1901−1905. [[Plat]]ted in 1885, the community was incorporated in 1893.<ref name="OGN">{{cite book |last= McArthur |first= Lewis A. |author-link= Lewis A. McArthur |author2=Lewis L. McArthur |author2-link=Lewis L. McArthur |orig-year= 1928 |year= 2003 |title= [[Oregon Geographic Names]] |edition= 7th |publisher= Oregon Historical Society Press |location= Portland, Oregon |isbn= 0-87595-277-1 |page=652}}</ref>

In 1872 the first school in Wheeler County was established near Mitchell, and in 1874 it was relocated into the town itself.<ref name="Stinchfield"/>

===Early town===
Over the next two decades, Mitchell grew to include a store, assay office, two churches, two hotels, a [[livery stable]], three houses of ill-repute (one of which is still standing), five saloons, a flour mill, and an apothecary. There were also two newspapers: ''The Sentinel'' and ''The News''.

The business district, including the saloons, grew up along [[Bridge Creek (John Day River)|Bridge Creek]] and became known locally as "Tiger Town". The church and most of the city's homes were built at higher elevation on a [[bench (geology)|bench]] overlooking the creek; this part of town was known locally as "Piety Hill". About half the town was destroyed by fire in 1899, but it was later rebuilt.<ref name="Stinchfield">{{cite book |editor-last1=Stinchfield |editor-first1=Janet L. |editor-last2=Stinchfield |editor-first2=McLaren E. |year=1983 |title=The History of Wheeler County, Oregon  |place=Dallas, TX |publisher=Taylor Publishing |oclc=10948544 |pages=8−9}}</ref>

===Three catastrophic flash floods===
Since its founding, Mitchell has experienced three catastrophic [[flash floods]] along Bridge Creek, which runs through the center of the city. Flooding caused great damage to the city in 1884 and 1904.<ref name ="salemlibrary">{{cite AV media |title = Oregon Historic Photographs Collection |publisher = Salem Public Library |url = http://photos.salemhistory.net/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/max&CISOPTR=2325&REC=20 |access-date = September 24, 2008}}</ref>

The third flood occurred on July 13, 1956, shortly after an intense thunderstorm in the hills to the south. Bridge Creek is usually less than {{convert|12|in|cm}} deep during July,<ref name="noaa"/> but minutes after the thunderstorm a {{convert|50|ft|m|adj=on}} wall of water surged through Mitchell, destroying or heavily damaging 20&nbsp;buildings in the city and several bridges over the creek. Eight people were killed including a family of four who were swept away and never recovered.

An observer from the [[United States Geological Survey]] estimated that about {{convert|4|in|cm}} of rain had fallen in about 50&nbsp;minutes at the storm's center.<ref name ="noaa">{{cite report |title = Some of the area's rainstorms |publisher = National Weather Service Forecast Office |place=Portland, Oregon |url = http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/pqr/paststorms/rain.php |access-date = September 22, 2008}}</ref> Total damage from the flood, which also caused extensive damage to crops and roads in a nearby valley, was {{US$|709,000|1956|round=-3|about=yes}}.<ref name="armycorps">{{cite web |title=Flood of 1955-1956: Columbia River and tributaries |publisher=U.S. Army Corps of Engineers |url=http://www.nww.usace.army.mil/dpn/fldinfo%5Cff19556.htm |access-date=September 22, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090110002337/http://www.nww.usace.army.mil/dpn/fldinfo/ff19556.htm |archive-date=January 10, 2009 }}</ref>

===Oregon's first dinosaur fossil===
In 2018, a geologist from the [[University of Oregon]] found a fossilized toe of a plant-eating [[dinosaur]] near Mitchell, where the Pacific Ocean coast lay 100&nbsp;million years ago. This discovery has been billed as the first dinosaur fossil found in Oregon.<ref>{{cite news |last=Ross |first=Erin |date=November 20, 2018 |title=Meet the 'Mitchell ornithopod': Oregon's 1st dinosaur fossil find |publisher=[[Oregon Public Broadcasting]] |url=https://www.opb.org/news/article/mitchell-oregon-first-dinosaur-fossil-ornithopod |access-date=November 25, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181122141200/https://www.opb.org/news/article/mitchell-oregon-first-dinosaur-fossil-ornithopod |archive-date=November 22, 2018}}</ref>

A competing claim involves fossil fragments of a [[hadrosaurid|hadrosaur]] or duck-billed dinosaur found in the [[Otter Point Formation]] near the mouth of the [[Rogue River (Oregon)|Rogue River]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Bishop |first=Ellen Morris |year=2003 |title = In Search of Ancient Oregon: A geological and natural history |place=Portland, Oregon |publisher=Timber Press |isbn=978-0-88192-789-4 |pages=52–56}}</ref>

==Geography and climate==
Mitchell, in southwestern Wheeler County, is on [[U.S. Route 26 in Oregon|U.S. Route 26]] just east of its intersection with [[Oregon Route 207]].<ref name="DeLorme"/> By highway, the city is {{convert|47|mi|km}} east of [[Prineville, Oregon|Prineville]] and {{convert|60|mi|km}} west of [[John Day, Oregon|John Day]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Directions |url=http://mitchelloregon.us/?page_id=69 |publisher=City of Mitchell |access-date=August 15, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120321024714/http://mitchelloregon.us/?page_id=69 |archive-date=March 21, 2012 }}</ref> To the city's south lie the [[Ochoco Mountains]], the source of Bridge Creek. It flows through Mitchell and then north through the Painted Hills to the [[John Day River]].<ref name="DeLorme">{{cite book |title=Oregon Atlas & Gazetteer |edition=7th |publisher=DeLorme |location=Yarmouth, Maine |pages=76−77 |isbn=978-0-89933-347-2}}</ref>

Eroded remnants of ancient [[stratovolcano]]es, once the size of [[Mount Hood]] are nearby; these include Black Butte and White Butte, visible from town.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bishop |first= Ellen Morris |year=2003 |title = In Search of Ancient Oregon: A geological and natural history |location=Portland, Oregon |publisher=Timber Press |isbn= 978-0-88192-789-4 |pages=86–92}}</ref>

{{wide image|12 vertical panels pano painted hills.jpg|1110px|Panorama of the Painted Hills, northwest of Mitchell}}

According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the city has a total area of {{convert|1.26|sqmi|sqkm|2}}, all of it land.<ref name="Gazetteer files">{{cite web |title=US Gazetteer files 2010 |url=https://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/files/Gaz_places_national.txt |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date=December 21, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120125061959/http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/files/Gaz_places_national.txt |archive-date=January 25, 2012 }}</ref>

Precipitation in the region is limited by the [[rain shadow]] effect of the [[Cascade Range]] and the Ochoco Mountains to the west.<ref name ="JODA climate">{{cite web |title=John Day Fossil Beds: Nature and science |publisher=National Park Service |url=http://www.nps.gov/joda/naturescience/index.htm|date=September 24, 2006 |access-date=July 7, 2011}}</ref> In winter, much of the precipitation arrives as snow.<ref name ="JODA climate"/>

==Demographics==
{{US Census population
|1900= 135
|1910= 210
|1920= 224
|1930= 211
|1940= 219
|1950= 415
|1960= 236
|1970= 196
|1980= 183
|1990= 163
|2000= 170
|2010= 130
|2020= 138
|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<ref name="DecennialCensus">{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=Census of Population and Housing|publisher=Census.gov|access-date=June 4, 2015}}</ref><ref name="USCensusDecennial2020CenPopScriptOnly">{{cite web|url=https://api.census.gov/data/2020/dec/pl?get=P1_001N,NAME&for=place:*&in=state:41&key=5ccd0821c15d9f4520e2dcc0f8d92b2ec9336108|title=Census Population API|publisher=United States Census Bureau|accessdate=Oct 12, 2022}}</ref>
}}

===2010 census===
[[File:Downtown Mitchell, Oregon.jpg|thumb|left|Downtown Mitchell]]
As of the [[census]] of 2010, there were 130 people, 61&nbsp;households, and 39&nbsp;families residing in the city. The [[population density]] was {{convert|103.2|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|1}}. There were 83&nbsp;housing units at an average density of {{convert|65.9|/sqmi|/km2|1}}. The racial makeup of the city was 92.3% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 0.8% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], and 6.9% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 1.5% of the population.<ref name ="wwwcensusgov">{{cite web|title=U.S. Census website|url=https://www.census.gov|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=December 21, 2012}}</ref>

There were 61&nbsp;households, of which 18.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.8% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 4.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 8.2% had a male householder with no wife present, and 36.1% were non-families. 26.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.8% had someone living alone who was age&nbsp;65 or older. The average household size was 2.13&nbsp;people and the average family size was 2.56&nbsp;.<ref name ="wwwcensusgov"/>

The median age in the city was 51.7&nbsp;years. 15.4% of residents were under age&nbsp;18; 4.6% were ages&nbsp;18–24; 16.1% were ages&nbsp;25–44; 33.1% were ages&nbsp; 45–64; and 30.8% were aged 65&nbsp;years or older. The gender makeup of the city was 46.2% male and 53.8% female.<ref name ="wwwcensusgov"/>

===2000 census===
As of the census of 2000, there were 170&nbsp;people, 75&nbsp;households, and 42&nbsp;families residing in the city. The population density was 144.6&nbsp;people per square mile (55.6/km{{sup|2}}). There were 91&nbsp;housing units at an average density of {{convert|77.4|/sqmi|/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. The racial makeup of the city was 90.00% White, 2.35% Native American, 1.18% [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], 1.18% from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]], and 5.29% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.65% of the population.<ref name ="wwwcensusgov"/>

There were 75&nbsp;households, out of which 25.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.7% were married couples living together, 9.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.7% were non-families. 38.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 22.7% had someone living alone aged  65&nbsp;years or older. The average household size was 2.27&nbsp;people and the average family size was 2.79&nbsp;.<ref name ="wwwcensusgov"/>

In the city, the population was spread out, with 28.8% under age&nbsp;18, 2.9% ages&nbsp;18–24, 19.4% ages&nbsp;25–44, 28.2% ages&nbsp;45–64, and 20.6% aged 65&nbsp;years or older. The median age was 42&nbsp;years. For every 100&nbsp;females there were 107.3&nbsp;males. For every 100&nbsp;females age&nbsp;18 and over, there were 89.1&nbsp;males.<ref name ="wwwcensusgov"/>

The median income for a household in the city was $20,417, and the median income for a family was $20,833. Males had a median income of $21,250 versus $23,125 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the city was $13,906. About 26.9% of families and 28.7% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 43.5% of those under age&nbsp;18 and none of those age&nbsp;65 or over.<ref name ="wwwcensusgov"/>

==Education==
[[File:Mitchell School Oregon.jpg|thumb|[[Mitchell School District|Mitchell School]]]]
[[Mitchell School District]] is the local school district.

The county is not a part of a [[community college]] district.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.clatsopcc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/02-2-OR-CC-color-map.pdf|title=Oregon Community Colleges and Community College Districts|publisher=[[Oregon Department of Community Colleges & Workforce Development]]|accessdate=2022-07-17}}</ref>

==Tourism==
[[File:Wheeler trading co.jpg|thumb|right|Trading post]]

Mitchell holds two festivals each year:

* The Painted Hills Festival is held each [[Labor Day]] weekend. This includes a [[half marathon]], 5K and 10K, parade, show horses, fire trucks, Red Hat ladies, motorcycle show, games, watermelon eating contests, dunk tank, karaoke, and live entertainment. Craft vendors and food vendors line the street and city park. A quilt show is held at the Community Hall. The day ends with a street dance to live bands.
* Tiger Town Music Festival is held annually on the second weekend in June, and features bands from all over the [[Pacific Northwest]] from 9&nbsp;{{sc|am}}–10&nbsp;{{sc|pm}}.

==In popular culture==
In the novel ''[[World War Z]]'', by [[Max Brooks]], the people of Mitchell are almost entirely infected and turned into zombies. Instead of being cleared, the town is sealed and is turned into the K-9 Urban Warfare school, where military dogs are trained with live zombies.<ref>{{cite book|last=Brooks|first=Max|title=World War Z|date=2006|page=[https://archive.org/details/worldwarz00broo/page/n295 286]|isbn=0-307-34660-9|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/worldwarz00broo}}</ref>
{{Clear}}

==References==
{{reflist|22em}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Mitchell, Oregon}}
* [https://sos.oregon.gov/blue-book/Pages/local/cities/l-r/mitchell.aspx Listing for Mitchell] in the ''[[Oregon Blue Book]]''

{{Wheeler County, Oregon}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Cities in Oregon]]
[[Category:Cities in Wheeler County, Oregon]]
[[Category:1873 establishments in Oregon]]
[[Category:Populated places established in 1873]]