Map of Sumpter city

Sumpter is a city in Baker County, Oregon, United States. The population was 204 at the 2010 census. Sumpter is named after Fort Sumter by its founders. The name was inspired by a rock as smooth and round as a cannonball, which reminded a local resident of the American Civil War and Fort Sumter.

Sumpter city overview:
Name:	Sumpter city
LSAD Code:	25
LSAD Description:	city (suffix)
State:	Oregon
County:	Baker County
Incorporated:	1898
Elevation:	4,429 ft (1,350 m)
Total Area:	2.18 sq mi (5.65 km²)
Land Area:	2.18 sq mi (5.65 km²)
Water Area:	0.00 sq mi (0.00 km²)
Total Population:	204
Population Density:	93.49/sq mi (36.10/km²)
ZIP code:	97877
Area code:	458 and 541
FIPS code:	4171000
GNISfeature ID:	1150647
Website:	www.historicsumpter.com

Online Interactive Map

Click on to view map in "full screen" mode.

Sumpter online map. Source: Basemap layers from Google Map, Open Street Map (OSM), Arcgisonline, Wmflabs. Boundary Data from Database of Global Administrative Areas.

Sumpter location map. Where is Sumpter city?

Sumpter location on the U.S. Map. Where is Sumpter city. — Sumpter location on the U.S. Map.

Sumpter location on the Oregon map. Where is Sumpter city. — Location of Sumpter in Oregon.

History

The community was platted in 1889, becoming a mining boom town about 10 years later. Until transportation by rail became feasible in the area, Sumpter was little more than “a huddle of crude log cabins.”

A narrow gauge railway reached Sumpter in 1897. Built by David C. Eccles, the Sumpter Valley Railway (SVRy) ran 80 miles (130 km) from Baker City through Sumpter and on to Prairie City, which it reached in 1907. Until the line shut down in the 1930s, ranchers, mining interests, and timber companies used it to move freight.

Shortly after the SVRy arrived, the city expanded near a set of deep-shaft gold mines with a combined total of 12 miles (19 km) of tunnels. The population grew to more than 2,000. Sumpter had electric lights, churches, saloons, a brewery, sidewalks, three newspapers, and an opera house. However, as the mines played out, the city declined even before a devastating fire in 1917.

Dynamite was used to help put out the fire, which destroyed 12 blocks of the town’s buildings. A few of the surviving structures remain in the 21st century and are occupied by retail shops.

Sumpter Road Map

Sumpter city Satellite Map

Geography

Sumpter, about 4,400 feet (1,300 m) above sea level, is near the Wallowa–Whitman National Forest, the Blue Mountains, and a subrange of the Blue Mountains, the Elkhorn Mountains. McCully Fork and Cracker Creek meet to form the Powder River near Sumpter. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.18 square miles (5.65 km), all land.

Sumpter is along Oregon Route 410, also known as the Sumpter Highway. By highway, the city is 26 miles (42 km) from Baker City, 31 miles (50 km) from Interstate 84, and 333 miles (536 km) from Portland. A 106-mile (171 km) loop drive known as the Elkhorn Scenic Byway passes through Sumpter, connecting to Oregon Route 7 at its intersection with Route 410.

Climate

This climatic region is typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Sumpter has a humid continental climate, abbreviated “Dfb” on climate maps.