Old buildings in Shaniko, Oregon, by Carol Highsmith.
An almost ghost town, the Shaniko, Oregon area was first settled by a pioneer named August Scherneckau. Arriving after the Civil War, Scherneckau bought a farm near the town’s present site, and when Indians pronounced his name as Shaniko, the locality became known as such.
On the stage route from The Dalles to central Oregon, the Scherneckau ranch soon became the site of a stage station. The first post office was established on May 23, 1879, with August Scherneckau as its first postmaster. Officially called Cross Hollows for the local topography, the post office lasted only eight years, closing on May 27, 1887.
Shaniko City Hall
In 1900, an official community was planned and built by businessmen in The Dalles for the terminus of the Columbia Southern Railroad. The station collected the enormous quantities of wool produced in central Oregon – a role it continued to play into the 1940s.
The Shaniko post office was established on March 31, 1900, and in the same year, the Shaniko Hotel was built. First known as the Columbia Southern Hotel, the structure was built with 18-inch thick walls and handmade brick and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Also built in 1900 was the 10,000-gallon wooden water tower. The water, pumped from nearby Cross Hollow Canyon, was piped through a wooden pipe system and stored in two large wooden tanks.
Within a year, two financiers from The Dalles, B.F. Laughlin, and W. Lord, constructed a huge wool warehouse in Shaniko, the largest in Oregon at the time. Shaniko quickly became a major trade center for the wool produced in central and eastern Oregon.
The three-room Shaniko School, built in 1901, housed kindergarten through high school students until 1946. Over the years, it fell into disrepair but was restored during the 1990s and now serves as a community hall. It is one of the most photographed old school buildings in Oregon.
It was also in 1901 that Shaniko was officially incorporated. By then, the town had a bank, two blacksmith shops, a two-story city hall that included the fire station and the jail, three hotels, two newspapers, a post office, five saloons, two stores, and many other structures. Church services were held in the school building.
In 1903 Shaniko was referred to as the “Wool Capital of the World” after three wool sales brought in the largest total sale of wool on record. The next year, sheepmen sold an estimated five million dollars worth of wool to buyers in Shaniko.
In the 1910 census, Shaniko claimed a population of 600, and its future seemed assured. However, in 1911 the Oregon Trunk Railroad, linking Bend (70 miles to the south) to the Columbia Gorge, began to draw business away from the more isolated Shaniko. Soon after, a fire destroyed much of the downtown business district, and there were no funds to reconstruct the damaged buildings. Although homesteaders, ranchers, and sheepmen continued to reside in the area, Shaniko began to fade.
Shaniko, Oregon Old School by Carol Highsmith.
Today, this almost ghost town supports a population of just 20-25 people, but there is much to see in Shaniko, and many claim it is the best ghost town in Oregon. The enormous sheep sheds of that era still stand on the edge of town. Several buildings are maintained in an Old West theme, with authentic boardwalks and false fronts.
Shaniko, Oregon Hotel
Still standing is the old water tower, the City Hall complete with an old jail, the school, and the post office. The Shaniko Hotel is the town’s biggest attraction. Restored to its former grandeur around 2000 by Robert Pamplin Jr., the hotel featured an antique shop, the history of many families who once lived in Shaniko, and a café with home cooking said to be the best in the area. However, a Legends reader has alerted us that Pamplin wound up in a water rights dispute with the town council, and the Hotel has closed again as of 2009. Our reader also says that while the town remains a historic destination worth seeing, there’s no place to stay now that the hotel is closed again unless you have an RV.
The old Shaniko Livery Barn is now a museum featuring several antique cars in their original state. Next door is the Shaniko Sage Museum, also available to visitors. Several antique and gift stores have been established in the other historic buildings in the tiny downtown district. These businesses appear to be open from April through September.
The community of Shaniko is located on Highway 97 in southern Wasco County, about 20 miles southeast of Maupin and 70 miles north of Bend.
Shaniko, Oregon Buildings by Carol Highsmith.
Contact Information:
City of Shaniko
PO Box 17
Shaniko, Oregon 97057
541-489-3226
© Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated July 2023.
Also See:
On the Road – Oregon’s Main Street: U.S. Highway 99
Sumpter – Queen City Ghost Town