Sweet Home, Oregon | |
|---|---|
 The Weddle Bridge spans Ames Creek in Sweet Home, Oregon. | |
| Mottoes: Sweet Home: Oregon at its Best Gateway to the Santiam Playground | |
 Location inOregon | |
| Coordinates:44°24′05″N122°43′12″W / 44.40139°N 122.72000°W /44.40139; -122.72000 | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Oregon |
| County | Linn |
| Incorporated | 1893 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Council-Manager |
| • Mayor | Susan Coleman (R)[1] |
| Area | |
• Total | 5.76 sq mi (14.91 km2) |
| • Land | 5.30 sq mi (13.73 km2) |
| • Water | 0.46 sq mi (1.18 km2) |
| Elevation | 604 ft (184 m) |
| Population | |
• Total | 9,828 |
• Estimate (2023)[5] | 10,156 |
| • Density | 1,853.5/sq mi (715.65/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC-8 (Pacific) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-7 (Pacific) |
| ZIP code | 97386 |
| Area codes | 458 and 541 |
| FIPS code | 41-71950[6] |
| GNIS feature ID | 2412022[3] |
| Website | www.sweethomeor.gov |
Sweet Home is a city inLinn County, Oregon, United States, with a population of 9,828 at the 2020 census.[7] Sweet Home is referred to as the 'Gateway to the Santiam Playground' due to its proximity to nearby lakes, rivers and the Cascade Mountains.[8]
Settlers first arrived in the Sweet Home Valley in the early 1850s. A community known as Buckhead developed near the mouth of Ames Creek and theSouth Santiam River. Buckhead was named after a saloon that featured a set of elk antlers on the gable end of its building. East of Buckhead, a community called Mossville developed with a store and post office. In 1874, the two communities merged to become one community called Sweet Home. In 1893, the city of Sweet Home was incorporated.[9]
TheSantiam Wagon Road, a toll road connecting the Willamette Valley with central Oregon, was opened in 1865. The road extended from the Sweet Home Valley across theSantiam Pass in the Cascades to Camp Polk near Sisters. The Santiam Wagon Road was a vital means of supplying livestock and goods from western Oregon to central Oregon and transporting wool from east of the Cascades back to Willamette Valley woolen mills.[10] Competition with railroads that extended south from the Columbia River into central Oregon and the newly opened McKenzie Pass Highway made the wagon road obsolete by the late 1930s.U.S. Route 20 was constructed across much of the same route as the Santiam Wagon Road.[11]
Sweet Home experienced significant growth during the 1940s due to the demand for timber from local forests. Further growth occurred when construction began on nearby Green Peter Dam in 1962 and continued as construction began on Foster Dam in 1966.[12]
During the 1980s, Sweet Home experienced a number of sawmill and plywood mill closures due to economic cycles, increased competition, increased productivity, and logging restrictions placed on nearby forests resulting from environmental concerns for endangered species.[13][14] In response, community members sought out other economic development opportunities such as theOregon Jamboree country music and camping festival.[15]
According to theUnited States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.75 square miles (14.89 km2), of which 5.30 square miles (13.73 km2) is land and 0.45 square miles (1.17 km2) is water.[16]
The intersectionOregon Route 228 andU.S. Route 20 occurs at the Western end of Sweet Home.[17]
TheSouth Santiam River flows fromFoster Reservoir along the northern city limits of Sweet Home. Ames Creek and Wiley Creek flow into the South Santiam River within the city limits.[18]
Sweet Home is built on a prehistoric petrified forest. In addition to fossil wood, the area includes a variety ofagate,jasper, crystals and minerals.[19] The abundantpetrified wood at Holleywood Ranch (between Sweet Home andHolley, Oregon) was the subject of an episode of theTravel Channel programCash and Treasures.[20]
The region experiences warm (but not hot) and dry summers, with no average monthly temperatures above 71.6 °F (22.0 °C). According to theKöppen Climate Classification system, Sweet Home has awarm-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated "Csb" on climate maps.[21]
| Climate data forFoster Dam, Oregon (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1969–present) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 67 (19) | 71 (22) | 79 (26) | 86 (30) | 96 (36) | 112 (44) | 106 (41) | 105 (41) | 102 (39) | 93 (34) | 73 (23) | 69 (21) | 112 (44) |
| Mean maximum °F (°C) | 60.1 (15.6) | 63.6 (17.6) | 71.2 (21.8) | 77.6 (25.3) | 85.1 (29.5) | 89.8 (32.1) | 96.1 (35.6) | 97.1 (36.2) | 91.8 (33.2) | 79.7 (26.5) | 65.9 (18.8) | 59.2 (15.1) | 99.5 (37.5) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 47.5 (8.6) | 51.2 (10.7) | 55.5 (13.1) | 60.3 (15.7) | 67.0 (19.4) | 72.9 (22.7) | 81.7 (27.6) | 82.6 (28.1) | 76.4 (24.7) | 64.1 (17.8) | 52.9 (11.6) | 46.5 (8.1) | 63.2 (17.3) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 40.9 (4.9) | 42.8 (6.0) | 46.2 (7.9) | 49.9 (9.9) | 55.5 (13.1) | 60.4 (15.8) | 66.4 (19.1) | 66.4 (19.1) | 61.6 (16.4) | 53.0 (11.7) | 45.3 (7.4) | 40.4 (4.7) | 52.4 (11.3) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 34.3 (1.3) | 34.5 (1.4) | 36.9 (2.7) | 39.6 (4.2) | 43.9 (6.6) | 47.9 (8.8) | 51.0 (10.6) | 50.3 (10.2) | 46.8 (8.2) | 41.9 (5.5) | 37.6 (3.1) | 34.3 (1.3) | 41.6 (5.3) |
| Mean minimum °F (°C) | 22.7 (−5.2) | 24.4 (−4.2) | 27.2 (−2.7) | 31.1 (−0.5) | 34.6 (1.4) | 40.3 (4.6) | 43.8 (6.6) | 42.2 (5.7) | 38.0 (3.3) | 31.1 (−0.5) | 26.1 (−3.3) | 22.0 (−5.6) | 18.1 (−7.7) |
| Record low °F (°C) | 0 (−18) | 2 (−17) | 19 (−7) | 22 (−6) | 26 (−3) | 35 (2) | 39 (4) | 36 (2) | 31 (−1) | 20 (−7) | 16 (−9) | 0 (−18) | 0 (−18) |
| Averageprecipitation inches (mm) | 7.15 (182) | 5.56 (141) | 6.26 (159) | 5.37 (136) | 3.80 (97) | 2.46 (62) | 0.54 (14) | 0.64 (16) | 1.99 (51) | 4.64 (118) | 7.64 (194) | 8.40 (213) | 54.45 (1,383) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 0.1 (0.25) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.1 (0.25) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 0.01 in) | 19.1 | 16.8 | 18.6 | 17.9 | 12.8 | 9.2 | 2.8 | 3.0 | 6.8 | 13.1 | 18.4 | 20.0 | 158.5 |
| Average snowy days(≥ 0.1 in) | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Source:NOAA[22][23] | |||||||||||||
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1910 | 202 | — | |
| 1920 | 175 | −13.4% | |
| 1930 | 189 | 8.0% | |
| 1940 | 1,090 | 476.7% | |
| 1950 | 3,603 | 230.6% | |
| 1960 | 3,353 | −6.9% | |
| 1970 | 3,799 | 13.3% | |
| 1980 | 6,921 | 82.2% | |
| 1990 | 6,850 | −1.0% | |
| 2000 | 8,016 | 17.0% | |
| 2010 | 8,925 | 11.3% | |
| 2020 | 9,828 | 10.1% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census[24][4] | |||
The median income for a household in the city was $43,589; 20.7% of persons were below thepoverty line.[7]
As of thecensus[25] of 2020, there were 9,828 people, 3,721 households, and 2,315 families residing in the city. Thepopulation density was 1,684.0 inhabitants per square mile (650.2/km2). There were 4,037 housing units at an average density of 710.9 units per square mile (274.5 units/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 93.3%White, 0.3%African American, 1.3%Native American, 0.8%Asian, 0.1%Pacific Islander, 1.1% fromother races, and 3.0% from two or more races.Hispanic orLatino of any race were 4.7% of the population.
There were 3,721 households, of which 24.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.7% weremarried couples living together, 27.1% had a female householder with no spouse present, and 23.2% had a male householder with no spouse present. 25.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.57 and the average family size was 3.00.
The median age in the city was 39.0 years. 24.7% of residents were under the age of 18. The gender makeup of the city was 51.6% male and 48.4% female.
Major employers in Sweet Home include HEVI-Shot, a manufacturer of shotshell ammunition;[26] Cascade Timber Consulting, a timber investment management organization;[27]United States Forest Service,Radiator Supply House,Murphy Plywood, McCool Millworks and theSweet Home School District.
TheWeddle Covered Bridge, relocated fromThomas Creek nearScio, crosses Ames Creek at Sankey Park in Sweet Home.[28] TheCrawfordsville Covered Bridge spans theCalapooia River 8 miles (13 km) southwest of Sweet Home and theShort Covered Bridge crosses the South Santiam River 12 miles (19 km) east of Sweet Home.[29][30]
The 2018 Capitol Christmas Tree, which comes from a different national forest every year, was acquired by the Sweet Home Ranger District (it is named after the town in which it is headquartered). The ranger district, part of the Willamette National Forest, was awarded the opportunity to present the tree to the American people for the 2018 Christmas season.[31]
Sweet Home has seven city parks within city limits,[32][33] but most recreational opportunities occur outside of town; the nearby wilderness supports boating, hunting, fishing, hiking, white-water sports, camping andgold panning.[34][35] For this reason, Sweet Home describes itself as the "Gateway to the Santiam Playground."[36]
Foster Reservoir on the South Santiam River has boat ramps and a year-round marina whileGreen Peter Reservoir provides two improved boat ramps.[37][38] The South Santiam River offers salmon and steelhead fishing whileQuartzville Creek is recognized for Class 4 and Class 5 kayaking.[39]
The South Santiam also supports gold panning,[39] and petrified wood deposits nearby continue to draw attention.[20]
Hiking trails includeHorse Rock Ridge, Soda Creek Falls Trail atCascadia State Park and numerous trails throughout theWillamette National Forest. TheMenagerie Wilderness has rock faces amenable toclimbing.
An 18-hole golf course, Mallard Creek Golf Club, is 11 miles (18 km) northwest of Sweet Home. The nearest ski resort,Hoo Doo Ski Bowl, is 52 miles (84 km) to the east, near Santiam Pass.
Sweet Home public transportation service is provided byLinn Shuttle.[40]
Sweet Home is served by theSweet Home School District. The district includesSweet Home High School, a junior high school and four elementary schools. The district covers Sweet Home,Cascadia,Crawfordsville, Holley, Liberty, Pleasant Valley and other surrounding communities.[41]
Linn–Benton Community College operates a branch campus in Sweet Home.[42]
The New Era newspaper is published weekly. TheAlbany Democrat-Herald also serves the city.[43][44]
People born or who lived in Sweet Home:
Media related toSweet Home, Oregon at Wikimedia CommonsMunicipalities and communities ofLinn County, Oregon,United States | ||
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| Cities |  | |
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| Other communities | ||
| Ghost towns | ||
| Indian reservation | ||
| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |
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| Other | |
