Culp Creek, Oregon

Culp Creek is located {{convert|961|ft}} above sea level in the foothills of the Cascade Range.{{cite gnis| id =1140531| name =Culp Creek| accessdate = 2009-09-21| entrydate = 1980-11-28}} The community is located where the Row River receives the stream that shares its name with the community.{{cite gnis| id =1140532| name =Culp Creek (stream)| accessdate = 2009-09-21| entrydate = 1980-11-28}} Hawley Butte lies just north of Culp Creek and stands {{convert|2992|ft}} tall.{{cite gnis| id =1143384| name =Hawley Butte| accessdate = 2009-09-21| entrydate = 1980-11-28}}

Culp Creek is a tributary stream of the Row River, and was named for settler John Culp just before 1900.{{cite book |last= McArthur |first= Lewis A. |author-link= Lewis A. McArthur |author2=Lewis L. McArthur |author2-link=Lewis L. McArthur |title= Oregon Geographic Names |orig-year= 1928 |edition= 7th |year= 2003 |publisher= Oregon Historical Society Press |location= Portland, Oregon |isbn= 0-87595-277-1 |page= 258}} A logging camp was established in the area and named Culp Creek Camp, so when a new post office was set up in 1925, it was named Culp Creek after the camp.

The community's economy was long driven by the logging industry, including the Bohemia, Inc. sawmill that ran from 1959 until about 1990, just across the river.{{cite news |url= http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Culp+Creek+post+office+gets+canceled.(Government)(The+tiny+town's...-a0167002990 |work= The Register-Guard |title= Culp Creek post office gets canceled |author= McCowan, Karen |date= July 27, 2007 |agency= Associated Press |access-date= 2009-09-25}}{{cite web |url= http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/fplrb/fplrb13.pdf |title= The Softwood Plywood Industry in the United States, 1965-82 |author= McKeever, David B. |author2=Gary W. Meyer |year= 1984 |access-date= 2009-09-25}}{{cite web |url= http://www.brian894x4.com/OPandErailroad.html |title= The Oregon, Pacific & Eastern Railway |publisher= Abandoned Railroads of the Pacific Northwest |access-date= 2009-09-25}} Bohemia was headquartered in Culp Creek until it was bought by Willamette Industries in 1991.{{cite news|title='Stub' Stewart, timber baron, lawmaker, dies at 93 |last=Tallmadge|first=Alice|date=January 4, 2005|work=The Oregonian|page=B1}}{{cite news|title=Rail-to-Trail conversion beckons hikers, bikers|last=Mosley|first=Joe|date=September 1, 1997|newspaper= The Register-Guard |page=B2}} At one time, there were over 20 mills along the Row River.{{cite web |url=http://www.cottagegrove.org/trail/htm/culp.htm |title=Row River Trail: Culp Creek |publisher=City of Cottage Grove |access-date=2009-09-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090202205924/http://www.cottagegrove.org/trail/htm/culp.htm |archive-date=2009-02-02 }} The Oregon, Pacific and Eastern Railway (OP&E) line was built through Culp Creek in the early 1900s to ship ore, timber, supplies and passengers.{{cite web |url=http://www.cottagegrove.org/trail/htm/train.htm |title=Row River Trail: Rails to Trails |publisher=City of Cottage Grove |access-date=2009-09-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090525074454/http://www.cottagegrove.org/trail/htm/train.htm |archive-date=2009-05-25 }} Today the former OP&E line has been converted into a rail trail that opened in 1997, the Row River National Recreation Trail, which ends just past Culp Creek. Culp Creek's only store closed shortly after the closure of the mill.

In 1926, Buster Keaton filmed the climax of the silent film The General on the OP&E line near Culp Creek. Keaton spent $40,000 to build a temporary trestle over the Row River. During the scene, the bridge was set on fire and collapsed just as a locomotive passed over it. The remains of the bridge and locomotive were left in the river for 15 years, until they were removed in 1941 for scrap metal.{{cite book|first=Harriet|last=Baskas|title=Oregon Curiosities|year=2007|publisher=Globe Pequot|isbn=978-0-7627-4236-3|pages=[https://archive.org/details/oregoncuriositie0000bask/page/149 149]–150|url=https://archive.org/details/oregoncuriositie0000bask|url-access=registration|access-date=2009-09-25}}

Culp Creek post office closed in 2009;{{cite web |url=http://webpmt.usps.gov/pmt011.cfm?stat_state_name=OREGON |title=Post Offices by State: OREGON Post Offices |publisher= United States Postal Service |access-date= March 26, 2014}} the community's mail is now addressed to Dorena.{{cite web |url= https://tools.usps.com/go/ZipLookupAction!input.action |title= ZIP Code Lookup |publisher= United States Postal Service |access-date= March 26, 2014}}

The area is served by the South Lane School District, which includes the Childs Way Charter School located in Culp Creek.{{cite web|url=http://www.slane.k12.or.us/about-slsd/school-board/zone-map |title=Zone Map |publisher=South Lane School District |access-date=2009-09-21 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723095151/http://www.slane.k12.or.us/about-slsd/school-board/zone-map |archive-date=2011-07-23 }} Childs Way is a public charter school serving 35 students in grades six through twelve. Culp Creek Elementary School was consolidated with a school in Dorena in 1989 and closed,{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=1WsVAAAAIBAJ&pg=4680,6973322&dq=culp-creek+school|title=Principals reassigned|last=Hartman|first=Janelle|date=June 27, 1989|work=The Register-Guard|page=6C|access-date=2009-09-22}}{{Dead link|date=October 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} with the buildings becoming home to the charter school in 1994.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=2HUVAAAAIBAJ&pg=4762,7896535&dq=culp-creek+school|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120716134505/http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=2HUVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=nusDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4762,7896535&dq=culp-creek+school|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 16, 2012|title=Small school seeks helpers|last=Mosley|first=Joe|date=March 29, 1999|work=The Register-Guard|pages=1C–2C|access-date=2009-09-22}}

• Hunter, Wally. The Bohemia Story. Culp Creek, Oregon: Bohemia Lumber Co., 1969.

{{Reflist|30em}}

• [http://photos.salemhistory.net/cdm4/results.php?CISOOP1=all&CISOBOX1=&CISOFIELD1=CISOSEARCHALL&CISOOP2=exact&CISOBOX2=Culp%20Creek&CISOFIELD2=CISOSEARCHALL&CISOOP3=any&CISOBOX3=&CISOFIELD3=CISOSEARCHALL&CISOOP4=none&CISOBOX4=&CISOFIELD4=CISOSEARCHALL&CISOROOT=all&t=a Historic images of Culp Creek] from Salem Public Library

{{Lane County, Oregon}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Unincorporated communities in Lane County, Oregon

Category:1925 establishments in Oregon

Category:Unincorporated communities in Oregon

Category:Logging communities in the United States