Wasco County
The City of Dufur, incorporated in 1893, is the second-largest community in Wasco County. It is nestled between Mount Hood and the Deschutes River, among rolling hills growing wheat and other grains. It is located 13 miles south of the Oregon/Washington border, and only a short 20 minute drive south of I-84 on Highway 197 from The Dalles, Oregon. Dufur is approximately 97 miles from Portland, Oregon.
The major industry for the community is wheat farming. The population for Dufur was listed in the 2000 census as 588. The population in 2001 rose to 590. The median age of the population was listed as 42.7 years in 2000.
Click here to view a community profile on Dufur as listed on the Oregon Economic and Community Development Community Profiles page.
City offices:
Dufur City Hall
175 NE Third Street
PO Box 145
Dufur, OR 97021
Phone: 541-467-2349
Fax: 541-467-2353
Email:
Mayor: Les Mead
Ambulance and fire: 9-1-1 (emergencies only).
Non-emergency: 541-467-2349.
Water: 541-467-2401
Sewer: 541-467-2401
Electricity: Wasco Electric, 541-296-2740;
Northern Wasco PUD, 541-296-2226
Garbage: Mel's Sanitation 541-544-2500
Streets/Road: 541-467-2401
Library (located in the Dufur High School): 541-467-2588
Public and Private Schools K12
Public School District:
Dufur School District 29
802 NE 5th St
Dufur, OR 97021-3034
Phone: 541-467-2509
Fax: 541-467-2589
Web site: http://www.dufur.k12.or.us/
The city is also headquarters for the Barlow Ranger District, USDA Forest Service, Mt. Hood National Forest.
For information about the adjacent Badger Creek Wilderness area, click here.
For a view from the Barlow Road Fire Lookout, click here.
Would you like to rent the Five Mile Butte Lookout? You can learn more by clicking here.
Lookout Mountain is the highest point in Oregon east of Mt. Hood, at 6525 ft. The total elevation gain from highway to mountain top is 2925 ft. in a little over 4.5 miles. To view pictures from the Lookout Mountain hike, click here and click here.
Dufur Merchants and Local Businesses
Long time Dufur businesses include Kramer's Market, the Dufur RV Park, Wanda's Beauty Nook and the Balch Hotel.
For a complete list of Dufur Businesses, click here.
Links to Dufur businesses:
McMullen Design
Dufur Valley Bed and Breakfast
Community Activities
Bluegrass Music
Once a month people from all over gather at the Dufur Grange Hall to play music. The atmosphere is casual, and it's a lot like "Prairie Home Companion". The first Sunday of the month from 2-6PM, you will find people gathered to share singing, guitar strumming, fiddle playing, and banjo picking good times. There is always a feast of homemade pies. Everyone is invited to this event, and there is no admission charge. Donations for pie are accepted.
Dufur Threshing Bee
The Annual Dufur Threshing Bee is held the second weekend of August. Each year since 1971, the citizens of Dufur have staged a threshing bee, to honor their history, celebrate the crop just harvested, and share with their neighbors the pleasures and rewards of working together as a community. Visitors can see horse-drawn antique harvesting equipment being used in the fields. This is the only threshing event in the country that uses horse-drawn machinery, and demonstrates every step of the process from cutting standing wheat to sewing up bags for shipping.
The Threshing Bee offers working demonstrations of authentic horse-powered and steam-driven combines and other farming equipment. In the late 1800s, harvesting a wheat crop was no small matter. It took teams of 32 horses to move some of the harvesting equipment. Farmers would hire in harvest crews, and everyone worked long hours to get the job done. Farmers' wives' labored to feed the crews, sometimes spending all day in portable cook shacks preparing meals for as many as 30 men. The Dufur Threshing Bee recreates this community wide event, with fun, races, contests, an antique tractor pull, and more.
To view pictures of the Dufur Threshing Bee, click here and here.
For information contact: (541) 467-2349
Climate and Temperature
Elevation: 1,345 feet.
Temperature:
Monthly Ave. Low: 24°F
Monthly Ave. High: 85°F
Hottest Month: July
Coldest Month: January
Driest Month: July
Wettest Month: December
Average annual precipitation: 12.500"
Humidity (Hour 10, local time):
Average July afternoon humidity: 34% Average January afternoon humidity: 77%
Source: Oregon Climate Service
History
The town of Dufur was founded by Andrew J. Dufur, Jr., a successful raiser of stock. Mr. Dufur was from Hugenot descent. While the town received its post office in 1878, the earliest records show church meetings in 1862. The pioneer-era families included George H. and Barbara Barnett (1853), and William R. and Nancy Jane Benefiel Menefee (1852). The Menefee family first settled on a Donation Land Claim in Yamhill County, then in 1855 settled at Dufur where he farmed and was a Justice of the Peace. He also constructed the first water system for Dufur.
According to the History of Central Oregon, the first settler in the neighborhood of Dufur was Lewis P. Henderson, who in 1852 established a home about four miles from the present site of the community. During the next three years Messrs. Reynolds, Marsh and Brown, stockmen, established ranches nearby. In 1863 David Imbler built a farmhouse where the town of Dufur now stands. In 1872 Andrew J. and E. Burnham Dufur bought a farm where Dufur is now situated. These two men were members of a well-known Wasco County pioneer family which came from New England by way of Panama to Oregon in 1859. On Jan. 11, 1878, the post office was established and named for the Dufur family. Chauncey A. Williams was the first postmaster, and is said to have selected the name of the office. -- Source: Oregon Geographic Names, Sixth Edition, 1992, Lewis L. McArthur, Oregon Historical Society Press, ISBN O-87595-237-2.
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