Photo of the week: Flora, Oregon

India Littler from anemone antiques and cloudberry studio sent us this remarkable photograph (she discovered it and kindly scanned it for us) of a street scene from Flora, Ore. (Click on the photo for the large view.)

flora

Honestly? We’d never heard of Flora. A quick search revealed that:

Flora is an unincorporated community in Wallowa County, Oregon, United States. It is located about 35 miles north of Enterprise, just off Oregon Route 3, and is considered a ghost town.

Check out this blog post of the town nowadays (well, in 2008). The town also has a  yearly event in June that celebrates old time skills (weaving, spinning, wood cookstove use and more). Sounds cool.

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24 thoughts on “Photo of the week: Flora, Oregon”

  1. Amazing photo, and the link you’ve provided is priceless because of the chance to see what might have survived, all these years later. Thanks!

      1. Good morning Julianne!
        That would be wonderful for you to visit. Do you have any pictures of the area from when your when your grandpa lived here? If so, we would love to get copies of the pictures or any other materials that you might have. Saturday, June 15, is our annual School Days celebration showcasing old time skills, tours of the school and the town. It would be great for you to come visit then!! Or any other time that is convenient. Let me know via email floraschool@tds.net or text 541.263.2368 or call 541.828.7010. Thank you for your interest in Flora, Vanessa Thew Thompson, School Board President

  3. That’s such a great post- thanks so much for including the cabinet card photo! When I did a quick google search about Flora last week, one of the most frequently-photographed buildings is on Flora’s main street and is shown this old antique photo. These days, the house is falling down, but it’s strange to see it in pristine condition in this old 1916 photo. I also read that Flora was “the most prominent town to fail” in NE Oregon, but I couldn’t find out why.

      1. I think it is a ‘Pioneer Days’ parade as I see the word ‘Pioneer’ on a placard.

      2. My 89 year old hubby has lived here all of his life and we have a copy of this photo and another very similiar probably taken only minutes apart. We believe the covered wagon says LOST PRAIRIE OR BUST 1908….4th of July parade…..Lost Prairie is a community about 6 miles from Flora, and is where we live

      4. It is a parade for the 4th of July. If memory serves, it was 1910. I will have to look it up though to make sure. This photo of Flora has been passed around so many times!

    2. It failed due to mechanization, the wars (WWI & WWII) and the depression. I can readily believe that the statement you listed above is true from all the research I have done concerning the Flora School. Yes the old house on the corner is not what it used to be. We keep hoping to do some work on it beyond the roofing we did years ago, but so far the Flora School restoration takes presidence (sp?). Actually, the house on the corner is doing AOK, but the house right next door to it needs too much work… maybe.

  4. The good old days. No tickets for drunk driving, and your buggy didn’t run into a ditch on the way home…unless you allowed your horse to imbibe.

    1. Yes you did! And that nonprofit is still going strong. We are working on the library right now. It will be completed in time for the GRAND REOPENING Saturday September 30 9am to 4pm. Come see the town and the library in all its glory! PS We would love if you could come help restore the old girl! (floraschool@tds.net, http://www.floraschool.org, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram for more information)

  6. Thank you very much for sharing this picture!! My grandmother grew up in Flora in the ’30s and ’40s, and her mother was born and raised there as well. The family owned the mercantile. I haven’t seen this particular photograp before, what a priceless find!

  7. Wow Mike above. I remember when you came out or I talked to you or something for that book! I do not believe I have ever been called lovely. Thank you! The photo is of the 4th of July parade. I think 1904, but Dan (hubby) thinks it is 1910. Cannot find the book where this pix was published. But this picture here is the cleanest version I have seen and I have seen this several times. We own the block that you see in the pix. The Conley House, as it is known, 2nd house in from the left, is in very poor shape but we are still planning on saving it. It actually looks in worse shape than it is. The Clark House, first house on the left corner of the block (left of the Conley) is stablized with a full roof redo but we need to close her up with a few panes of glass. Right now, besides working to restore the school (come help if you can!), we are restoring and remodeling the Curry House on north side of the block (cannot see), the stable for the old hotel on the righthand corner of the block in the pix. We run a B&B out of the Curry
    House bht are closed right now due to remodeling. We will open again Memorial Day weekend 2015, http://www.northendcrossing.com. As to the decline of the town there are several reasons, butnot enough room right now. Will try to write more in each area above next time but could not get the reply buttons to work tonight! Come visit Flora! We are not all ghosts who live here…

  8. I grew up in the town of flora and went through school their graduating from high school in
    1960. my name was Janeita Owen and I married Keith Davis in the late 1960 we moved to
    Grants pass in 1962. have found pictures of the town now.

    1. My Mother and all of my Uncles grew up in Flora, Lannette Murrill is my mom

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