Homestead, Oregon

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

{{Use American English|date=July 2025}}

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

{{Infobox settlement

|name = Homestead, Oregon

|official_name =

|settlement_type = Unincorporated community

|image_skyline = Homestead, Oregon (circa 1915-1925).jpg

|imagesize =

|image_caption = Homestead (circa 1915-1925)

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|pushpin_map = Oregon#USA

|subdivision_type = Country

|subdivision_name = United States

|subdivision_type1 = State

|subdivision_name1 = Oregon

|subdivision_type2 = County

|subdivision_name2 = Baker

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|timezone = Pacific (PST)

|utc_offset = -8

|timezone_DST = PDT

|utc_offset_DST = -7

|elevation_footnotes =

|elevation_ft = 1742

|coordinates = {{coord|45|01|26|N|116|51|03|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 =1121943{{cite web | work = Geographic Names Information System| publisher = United States Geological Survey | date =November 28, 1980| url ={{Gnis3|1121943}}| title = Homestead| accessdate =November 16, 2016}}

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Homestead is an unincorporated community in Baker County, in the U.S. state of Oregon. Homestead lies on the Snake River south of Hells Canyon National Recreation Area and about {{convert|4|mi|km|0}} north of Copperfield and Oxbow.{{cite book |title= Oregon Atlas & Gazetteer |edition= 7th |year= 2008 |publisher= DeLorme |location= Yarmouth, Maine |isbn= 0-89933-347-8 |page= 88}}

The community was named for the homestead claim of Frank E. Pearce, who conducted operations at the nearby Iron Dyke Mine around 1900. J. H. Pearson was the first postmaster of the Homestead post office, which operated until May 1, 1965. The post office at Oxbow then replaced the office at Homestead.{{Cite OGN|7th|page=476}}

Homestead was platted around 1898 along a Northwest Railway Company line that never developed.{{cite book|last=Bailey|first=Barbara Ruth|title=Main Street: Northeastern Oregon|publisher=Oregon Historical Society|year=1982|isbn=0-87595-073-6|page=52}} It thrived because of the patronage of the miners from the Iron Dyke Mine and because it was the railhead for local orchards.

From 1953 to 1960, Homestead was the starting point for passenger boat trips down the Snake River to Lewiston, Idaho operated by Blaine Stubblefield.{{cite news |title= Hells Canyon -- Snake River Picks Crooked Path Through Some of the Wildest Country in America|first= Dave|last= Phillips|url= https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=888&dat=19540516&id=Os0xAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ZnoDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4732,830691 |newspaper= St. Petersburg Times|via=Google News |location= St. Petersburg, Florida| date= May 15, 1954| page= 17| accessdate= November 16, 2016}}