Pratum, Oregon
Pratum is an unincorporated community in Marion County, Oregon, United States. It is located northeast of Salem on Howell Prairie near the Pudding River. Pratum is Latin for "meadow".[1] The community was settled in the late 19th century by a group of Mennonites, many of them of Swiss extraction.[2][3] A branch of the narrow-gauge Oregonian Railway was built through the area in about 1880, and the station there was called "East Side Junction".[1] The railway was eventually converted to standard gauge, and is still in use today by the Willamette Valley Railway. In 1895, the station was renamed "Enger" by a Mr. Larson, who opened the first store there. "Enger" was confused with Eugene, however, and the name of the station changed to "Pratum" in 1898.[1] Pratum post office was established in 1887, and was originally called "Switzerland", then "Enger" and finally "Pratum" in 1898, matching the railroad station.[1] The post office ran until 1964.[1] Pratum School, built in 1928 and part of the Silver Falls School District, is still operating.[4]
Pratum | |
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Pratum as seen from Howell Prairie Road | |
Pratum Location within the state of Oregon Pratum Pratum (the United States) | |
Coordinates: 44°57′33″N 122°52′39″W | |
Country | United States |
State | Oregon |
County | Marion |
Time zone | UTC-8 (Pacific (PST)) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-7 (PDT) |
ZIP code | 97305 |
Area code(s) | 503 and 971 |
The community is part of the Salem Metropolitan Statistical Area.
References
- McArthur, Lewis A.; Lewis L. McArthur (2003) [1928]. Oregon Geographic Names (Seventh ed.). Portland, Oregon: Oregon Historical Society Press. p. 783. ISBN 0-87595-277-1.
- Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online: Oregon (State)
- Salem Online History
- Silverton Chamber of Commerce Archived 2007-10-11 at the Wayback Machine
External links
- Media related to Pratum, Oregon at Wikimedia Commons
- Pratum Elementary School
- Historic images of Pratum from Salem Public Library