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Wasco County
The Old Columbia River Highway with the river far below. (Oregon State Archives Photo No. wasD0068)
Contact
County Seat: Courthouse, 511 Washington St., The Dalles 97058
Phone: 541-506-2500 (General); 541-506-2700 (Court Administrator)
Fax: 541-506-2531
E-mail: countyclerk@co.wasco.or.us
Web: www.co.wasco.or.us
About
Population (2011): 25,300
Established: Jan. 11, 1854
Elev. at The Dalles: 98'
Area: 2,396 sq. mi.
Average Temp.: January 33.4° July 73.1°
Assessed Value: $1,853,554,229
Real Market Value: $2,654,524,149
Annual Precipitation: 14.9"
Economy: Agriculture, forest products, manufacturing, electric power, aluminum and transportation
Related resources
History
Historical
Records Inventory
Scenic
Image
Economic
Information (from OBDD)
"County
Quick Facts" (from U.S.
Census Bureau)
County
Seat Map (from Yahoo!
Maps)
County
Map (from ODOT)
Incorporated cities
Antelope | Dufur | Maupin | Mosier | Shaniko | The Dalles
Points of interest
Columbia and Deschutes Rivers, Fort Dalles Museum, Pulpit Rock, The Dalles Dam, Celilo Converter Station, Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation and Kah-Nee-Ta Resort, Mt. Hood, Sorosis Park,
original Wasco County Courthouse, St. Peter’s Landmark and the Columbia River Gorge Discovery Center
History and general information
When the Territorial Legislature created Wasco County in 1854 from parts of Clackamas, Lane, Linn and Marion Counties, it embraced all of Oregon east of the Cascade Range, most of Idaho and parts of Montana and Wyoming. It was named for the Wasco (or Wascopam) Tribe.
Wasco’s county seat is The Dalles. Now the trading hub of north-central Oregon, The Dalles gained earlier fame as the town at the end of the Oregon Trail. Thousands of years before that, humans scratched pictographs on rocks overlooking the Columbia River in this area. Later, tribes gathered for generations near Celilo Falls to trade and fish. The county’s tribal heritage continues in evidence today. Kah-Nee-Ta, a popular Oregon resort, is located on the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation in southern Wasco County.
County officials
Commissioners—Scott Hege, 2015, Steve Kramer 2017, Rod Runyon, Chair, 2015; Dist. Atty. Eric Nisley 2017; Assess. Tim Lynn 2017; Clerk Linda Brown 2017; Sheriff Rick Eiesland 2017; Surv. Dan Boldt; Treas. Chad Krause 2017