Baker City

Sister cities

• Zeya

History

Platted in 1865, A post office was established on March 27, 1866, but Baker City was not incorporated until 1874. Even so, it supplanted Auburn as the county seat in 1868. The city The Oregon Short Line Railroad came to Baker City in 1884, prompting growth; by 1900 it was the largest city between Salt Lake City and Portland and a trading center for a broad region. The establishment of the Oregon Lumber Company by Charles W. Nibley, the creation of a lumber mill by David Eccles on the North Powder River, and the purchase of sugar beet farms led to the migration of Latter-day Saint families to the Baker area. The first branch in Oregon was created in Baker City on July 23, 1893. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Baker was established on June 19, 1903, after which the Saint Francis de Sales Cathedral was built in Baker City. In 1918, Baker was the subject of national interest when the 1918 solar eclipse took place and the U.S. Naval Observatory based its observations there. The path of totality of the solar eclipse of August 21, 2017, included Baker City as well. One of its former councilors, Adam Nilsson, who also served for the Baker City Public Arts Commission, was charged with criminal mischief for graffiti on August 1, 2017, while holding office. A police officer made connections through the tag "Provolotus", which has been found in other graffiti complaints as well as on Nilsson's Instagram profile. The graffiti was on a Baker County-owned property when Nilsson and his friend Ashley E. Schroder were cited. In spring 2023, the city council voted to remove mayor Beverly Calder as a result of an op-ed piece she had written in the Baker City Herald. She retained her seat on the city council but mayoralship was given to Matt Diaz. Diaz resigned in July, following a…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total land area of . The city is situated in a valley between the Wallowa Mountains to the east and the Elkhorn Mountains, part of the Blue Mountains to the west, with the Powder River running through the center of downtown on its way to the Snake River.

Most-observed species

• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,425
• Red-tailed Hawk

  Buteo jamaicensis (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  1,234
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,186
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,107
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,009
• Common Raven

  Corvus corax Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  884
• Black-billed Magpie

  Pica hudsonia (Sabine, 1823) · Aves
  840
• Brewer's Blackbird

  Euphagus cyanocephalus (Wagler, 1829) · Aves
  805

Largest nearby schools

• Baker Web Academy
  Other · Baker City · 2,377 students · 22.4:1 ratio
• Baker High School
  High · Baker City · 503 students · 18:1 ratio
• Baker Early College
  High · Baker City · 427 students
• Brooklyn Primary School
  Elementary · Baker City · 279 students · 16.4:1 ratio
• South Baker Intermediate School
  Middle · Baker City · 275 students · 16.2:1 ratio
• Baker Middle School
  Middle · Baker City · 241 students · 17.2:1 ratio
• Baker Early Learning Center
  Elementary · Baker City · 90 students · 18:1 ratio
• Eagle Cap Innovative Jr/Sr High School
  High · Baker City · 71 students · 23.7:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.57 — 2025-02-10
  24 km ENE of Baker City, Oregon
• M 2.7 — 2024-07-20
  21 km NW of Halfway, Oregon
• M 2.73 — 2023-05-11
  6 km NNW of Summerville, Oregon
• M 3.0300000000000002 — 2023-03-08
  8 km WSW of Richland, Oregon
• M 2.67 — 2021-03-23
  12 km WSW of Lostine, Oregon
• M 2.5 — 2017-12-15
  14 km ENE of Halfway, Oregon