Rome, also called Rome Station after its sole business, is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

Malheur County, Oregon Malheur County (, ) is one of the List of counties in Oregon, 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 31,571. Its county seat is Vale, Oregon, Vale, and its largest city ...

, United States. The community is part of the

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, OR– ID Micropolitan Statistical Area. In the sparsely populated high desert of southeastern Oregon, Rome is immediately west of the

Owyhee River The Owyhee River is a tributary of the Snake River located in northern Nevada, southwestern Idaho and southeastern Oregon in the Western United States and its Pacific Northwest region. It is long.Owyhee Rive accessed November 3, 2019 The river' ...

on U.S. Route 95, approximately northeast of Burns Junction. Jordan Creek enters the river slightly downstream of Rome.

Name

According to '' Oregon Geographic Names'', Rome was named by William F. Stine for the nearby geologic formations that suggested the ruined

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

s of

Rome, Italy Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. The -high Rome Cliffs, or "Pillars of Rome" are formations of fossil-bearing clay, measuring about long, and wide.

Post offices

Rome's former post office was established in 1909. Leonard R. Duncan was the first

postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

. Postal service is now out of Jordan Valley. In the mid-19th century, there was another Oregon community named ''Rome''. It was in Marion County, near Woodburn, and had a post office in 1851–52.

Transportation

Rome State Airport is near

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. In addition to U.S. Route 95, several high-desert roads converge at or near Rome. These include the Old Idaho–Oregon–Nevada Highway, Rome Road, Skull Creek Road, and Indian Fort Creek Road.

Climate

Rome has a cold desert climate (BWk) according to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system.

References

External links

Historic photo of Rome from the Salem Public Library
*Images of the Pillars of Rome from the Oregon State Archives and the '' Oregon Blue Book''

{{authority control Ontario, Oregon micropolitan area Unincorporated communities in Malheur County, Oregon 1909 establishments in Oregon Populated places established in 1909 Unincorporated communities in Oregon