Durkee, Oregon

{{Short description| Unincorporated community in the state of Oregon, United States}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}

{{Infobox settlement

|name = Durkee, Oregon

|official_name =

|settlement_type = Unincorporated community

|image_skyline = Durkee, Oregon, cafe.jpg

|imagesize =

|image_caption = Café in Durkee in 2008

|image_map =

|mapsize =

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|image_map1 =

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|map_caption1 =

|pushpin_map = USA#Oregon

|pushpin_map_caption = Location in the United States##Location in Oregon

|pushpin_mapsize =

|pushpin_relief = y

|pushpin_label = Durkee

|pushpin_label_position=

|subdivision_type = Country

|subdivision_name = United States

|subdivision_type1 = State

|subdivision_name1 = Oregon

|subdivision_type2 = County

|subdivision_name2 = Baker

|government_footnotes =

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|timezone = Pacific (PST)

|utc_offset = -8

|timezone_DST = PDT

|utc_offset_DST = -7

|elevation_footnotes =

|elevation_ft = 2651

|coordinates = {{coord|44|34|56|N|117|27|53|W|region:US-OR|display=inline,title}}

|postal_code_type = ZIP code

|postal_code =

|area_code = 458 and 541

|blank_name =GNIS feature ID

|blank_info =1136236{{cite web | work = Geographic Names Information System| publisher = United States Geological Survey | date =November 28, 1980| url ={{Gnis3|1136236}}| title = Durkee| accessdate =November 20, 2016}}

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Durkee is an unincorporated community in Baker County, Oregon, United States. It has a post office with the ZIP code of 97905.[http://www.zipinfo.com/cgi-local/zipsrch.exe?cnty=cnty&zip=97905 Zip Code Lookup] Durkee lies at the Vandercar Road exit of Interstate 84.{{gnis|1136236}} Durkee is known as the site of Oregon's only cement plant, the Ash Grove Cement Company plant in nearby Nelson. It is one of Baker County's largest private employers;{{cite news |url= http://www.bakercityherald.com/Local-News/Middle-class-mission |title= U.S. Senator Ron Wyden Visits Baker City |last= Jacoby |first= Jayson |date= March 17, 2014 |work= Baker City Herald |accessdate= March 29, 2014}}{{cite web |url= http://www.hcn.org/issues/42.1/mountains-of-mercury |title= Mountains of Mercury |last= Miller |first= Jeremy |date= January 11, 2010 |work= High Country News |accessdate= March 29, 2014}} opened in 1979, it succeeded the plant near Lime.

Durkee was originally a stage stop called Express, and by the 1860s it was the only transfer point between Umatilla, Oregon, and Boise, Idaho. It prospered as a water stop and telegraph station for the railroad, and later as a stop on Highway 30, the only paved road in the area. The community was platted in 1908, even though the population had already peaked.{{cite book|last=Bailey|first=Barbara Ruth|title=Main Street: Northeastern Oregon|publisher=Oregon Historical Society|year=1982|isbn=0-87595-073-6|page=51}}