King's Valley - Oregon Ghost Town

KING'S VALLEY

NAME: Kings Valley
COUNTY: Benton
ROADS: 2WD
GRID: 4
CLIMATE: Mild winter and summer.
BEST TIME TO VISIT: Anytime.

COMMENTS: Near Salem.
REMAINS: Many buildings, cemetery.

A wagon train bound for the Willamette Valley in 1845 paused a Fort Boise to discuss whether to follow the established Oregon Trail or follow a shorter route called “The Cut-Off.” Some followed the Oregon Trail but the train of Nahum King decided on the shorter route. When the long journey ended, the King family settled in a fertile little valley separated from the Willamette by a low line of hills and was promptly named Kings Valley. It was during the arduous trip from Fort Boise that the youngest daughter of Nahum King died. She was married to a Rowland Chambers. After settling in Kings Valley, Chambers married another daughter of King and started a population explosion. He planted a large acreage in wheat and instead of shipping out his grain, he built a gristmill on the creek called Luckiamute. This was in 1854 and is among the oldest in Oregon. SUBMITTED BY: Henry Chenowith

A wagon train bound for the Willamette Valley in 1845 paused a Fort Boise to discuss whether to follow the established Oregon Trail or follow a shorter route called “The Cut-Off.” Some followed the Oregon Trail but the train of Nahum King decided on the shorter route. When the long journey ended, the King family settled in a fertile little valley separated from the Willamette by a low line of hills and was promptly named Kings Valley. It was during the arduous trip from Fort Boise that the youngest daughter of Nahum King died. She was married to a Rowland Chambers. After settling in Kings Valley, Chambers married another daughter of King and started a population explosion. He planted a large acreage in wheat and instead of shipping out his grain, he built a gristmill on the creek called Luckiamute. This was in 1854 and is among the oldest in Oregon. SUBMITTED BY: Henry Chenowith

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