Mitchell is a city in Wheeler County, Oregon, United States. The population was 138 at the 2020 census. It was founded in 1873 and was named after John H. Mitchell, a politician.

The Painted Hills unit of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument is about northwest of Mitchell. Mitchell School, a public school with an enrollment of about 70 students, is in Mitchell.

History

Foundation

At the request of William "Brawdie" Johnson, a blacksmith, a post office was established at Mitchell in 1873.

In 1872 the first school in Wheeler County was established near Mitchell, and in 1874 it was relocated into the town itself.

Three catastrophic flash floods

Since its founding, Mitchell has experienced three catastrophic flash floods along Bridge Creek, which runs through the center of the city. Flooding caused great damage to the city in 1884 and 1904.

The third flood occurred on July 13, 1956, shortly after an intense thunderstorm in the hills to the south. Bridge Creek is usually less than deep during July, Total damage from the flood, which also caused extensive damage to crops and roads in a nearby valley, was .

Oregon's first dinosaur fossil

In 2018, a geologist from the University of Oregon found a fossilized toe of a plant-eating dinosaur near Mitchell, where the Pacific Ocean coast lay 100 million years ago. This discovery has been billed as the first dinosaur fossil found in Oregon.

A competing claim involves fossil fragments of a hadrosaur or duck-billed dinosaur found in the Otter Point Formation near the mouth of the Rogue River.

Geography and climate

Mitchell, in southwestern Wheeler County, is on U.S. Route 26 just east of its intersection with Oregon Route 207. To the city's south lie the Ochoco Mountains, the source of Bridge Creek. It flows through Mitchell and then north through the Painted Hills to the John Day River.

Eroded remnants of ancient stratovolcanoes, once the size of Mount Hood are nearby; these include Black Butte and White Butte, visible from town.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land.

Precipitation in the region is limited by the rain shadow effect of the Cascade Range and the Ochoco Mountains to the west. In winter, much of the precipitation arrives as snow.

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2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Mitchell had a population of 138. The median age was 55.5 years. 14.5% of residents were under the age of 18 and 31.9% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 86.5 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 84.4 males age 18 and over.

0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 100.0% lived in rural areas.

There were 66 households in Mitchell, of which 28.8% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 33.3% were married-couple households, 18.2% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 39.4% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 34.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

There were 61 households, of which 18.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.8% were married couples living together, 4.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 8.2% had a male householder with no wife present, and 36.1% were non-families. 26.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.8% had someone living alone who was age 65 or older. The average household size was 2.13 people and the average family size was 2.56 .

Tourism

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Mitchell holds two festivals each year:

  • The Painted Hills Festival is held each Labor Day weekend. This includes a half marathon, 5K and 10K, parade, show horses, fire trucks, Red Hat ladies, motorcycle show, games, watermelon eating contests, dunk tank, karaoke, and live entertainment. Craft vendors and food vendors line the street and city park. A quilt show is held at the Community Hall. The day ends with a street dance to live bands.
  • Tiger Town Music Festival is held annually on the second weekend in June, and features bands from all over the Pacific Northwest from 9 –10 .

In the novel World War Z, by Max Brooks, the people of Mitchell are almost entirely infected and turned into zombies. Instead of being cleared, the town is sealed and is turned into the K-9 Urban Warfare school, where military dogs are trained with live zombies.

References

  • Listing for Mitchell in the Oregon Blue Book