Wasco, Oregon Ghost Town!

Oregon Ghost Town Tour #2 – Part 3

In Spring of 2022, our family took a day trip to visit some historical ghost towns in Central Oregon. We visited Antelope, Shaniko, and Kent, Oregon – then we were hooked! We planned a second tour to see even more Central Oregon ghost towns. Join us as we take you through 6 more historic ghost towns. Grass Valley, Moro, Wasco, Boyd, Dufur, and Friend.

The next town on our trip was Wasco, OR. As of 2022, Wasco’s population is approximately 419. Wasco was settled around 1882 and incorporated in 1898. The name Wasco came from a native American tribe that lived along the Columbia River. The town experienced a disastrous fire in 1903 and lost many of its original buildings. The town of Wasco supplied goods for the many ranchers and wheat farmers in the area. Of course, as we have heard in previous videos, the economy was invigorated by the arrival of the Columbia Southern Railroad in 1897. In fact, the Columbia Southern Rail Depot still stands in Wasco. The population of Wasco increased dramatically throughout the early 1900s due to access to the railroad. However, the Great Depression struck, technology reduced the need to human labor, and just like Moro, people moved away to other towns for work. In 1936, the railroad ceased operations in 1936 – the town entered into a decline and never recovered.

Watch our walking tour of Wasco here!