Sumpter is a city in Baker County, Oregon, United States. The population was 204 at the 2020 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.
Names
Baker County was named for Edward Dickinson Baker, a U.S. Senator from Oregon who was killed in the Battle of Ball's Bluff during the American Civil War. Sumpter, first settled by Euro-Americans during this war, was named after Fort Sumter in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The fort was often mentioned in war dispatches read by the settlers. An account in the Baker Democrat–Herald many decades later reported that a round rock found in the area in the early 1860s had looked to residents like a cannonball and, reinforced by the war news, had reminded them of Fort Sumter. 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 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 of tunnels.
Economy
Sumpter relies heavily on tourism as a source of income. The town's remaining historic structures, an excursion train that runs along part of the SVRy line, and a state park devoted to a historic gold dredge make the city a tourist destination. The Sumpter station and part of the line are within the state park, known as the Sumpter Valley Dredge State Historic Area. The dredge on display in the park was the last of three used to mine gold from surface deposits along the Powder River. It operated here from 1935 through 1954.
In 2013, the area was the location for the reality television show Ghost Mine. The plot involves a team of people looking for gold and ghosts in the "Crescent Mine" near Sumpter. According to a Baker City Herald story picked up by the Associated Press and Portland television station KATU, most of the filming was done at the Buckeye Mine group near Bourne, about north of Sumpter along Cracker Creek.
In 2020, Season 11 of Discovery's TV series Gold Rush was filmed in the area. The show features rookie miner Fred Lewis, a veteran, in his attempts to mine gold with his former military friends.
Geography
thumb|Main Street
Sumpter, about above sea level, 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 , all land.
Sumpter is along Oregon Route 410, also known as the Sumpter Highway. A loop drive known as the Elkhorn Scenic Byway passes through Sumpter, connecting to Oregon Route 7 at its intersection with Route 410.
Demographics
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Sumpter had a population of 204. The median age was 60.4 years. 12.3% of residents were under the age of 18 and 38.2% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 114.7 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 118.3 males age 18 and over.
There were 120 households in Sumpter, of which 16.7% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 45.8% were married-couple households, 34.2% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 17.5% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 39.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 25.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
! Race !! Number !! Percent
|-
| White || 185 || 90.7%
|-
| Black or African American || 0 || 0%
|-
| American Indian and Alaska Native || 2 || 1.0%
|-
| Asian || 0 || 0%
|-
| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander || 0 || 0%
|-
| Some other race || 1 || 0.5%
|-
| Two or more races || 16 || 7.8%
|-
| Hispanic or Latino (of any race) || 5 || 2.5%
|}
2010 census
As of the census of 2010, there were 204 people, 119 households, and 65 families residing in the city. The population density was about . There were 307 housing units at an average density of about . The racial makeup of the city was about 92% White, 2.5% Native American, 0.5% Asian, and 5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1% of the population.
There were 119 households, of which about 7% had children under the age of 18 living with them; 51% were married couples living together; 2.5% had a female householder with no husband present; less than 1% had a male householder with no wife present, and 45% were non-families. About 40% of all households were made up of individuals, and 19% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.71 and the average family size was 2.22.