Oregon, Pennsylvania
Lititz Run passes through the village and joins the Conestoga River by the former Pinetown lumber mill and covered bridge. There are a few dozen houses in the village and a handful of small businesses, not including the surrounding farms.
Oregon is served by Red Rose Transit Route 11.
History
A post office called Oregon was established in 1846, and remained in operation until 1912. The community, formerly known as "Catfish", was renamed after the Oregon Territory.
Oregon was a significant center of commerce in this area of the county in the 1700s and 1800s, being the site of a large mill run by Jacob Bear, a tavern, and the neighboring Bushong's Mill at Pinetown. The location here of Bear's mill was the original reason for the construction of a road between Lancaster, Ephrata, and Reading in 1734 (known as the Oregon or Catfish Pike, after the village) and between Oregon and Gap.
A Mennonite meeting and schoolhouse was built in the village in 1792; there is also a United Methodist Church there that remains today. A large and historically significant "Great Meeting" occurred in the Isaac Long Barn outside Oregon in 1767, leading to the founding of the Evangelical United Brethren. This is commemorated by a historical marker.
The Oregon Dairy, Supermarket, and Restaurant opened in the village in 1974. A limited access highway for US 222, parallel to the old turnpike, was completed in 1977, causing significant alteration of the roads and landscape around Oregon.
References
- ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Oregon, Pennsylvania
- ^ "Route 11 schedule" (PDF). RRTA. Retrieved October 4, 2017.
- ^ "Lancaster County". Jim Forte Postal History. Retrieved March 16, 2015.
- ^ "Towns named after states". Reading Eagle. July 2, 1897. p. 3. Retrieved October 14, 2015.
- ^ Eshleman, H. Frank (1922). History of Lancaster County's Highway System (PDF). Lancaster: Lancaster County Historical Society. pp. 21, 31.
- ^ Klein, Henry Martin John; Williams, E. Melvin (1924). Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, a History. New York: Lewis historical publishing Company, Incorporated. p. 972.
- ^ Youker, Darrin (June 18, 2006). "The wait is over". Reading Eagle. p. A9. Retrieved January 11, 2012.