Орегон штатындағы Гиллам округі

County in Oregon, United States

Gilliam County is one of the 36 counties in the U. S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,995, making it the third least populous county in Oregon. The county seat is Condon. The county was established in 1885 and is named for Cornelius Gilliam, a colonel who commanded the forces of the provisional government of Oregon after the Whitman Massacre.

The Oregon Legislative Assembly created Gilliam County on February 25, 1885, from the eastern third of Wasco County after residents complained that they were too far from their county seat in The Dalles. The first Gilliam county seat was at Alkali, now Arlington. The question of a permanent county seat was placed on general election ballots in 1886, 1888, and again in 1890, when voters chose to move the county seat to Condon, known to early settlers as "Summit Springs." Once the question of the location of the county seat was settled, voters in Gilliam County proved reluctant to provide a courthouse in Condon. The county government operated out of a two room house until 1903, when the county court appropriated money to construct a courthouse. This courthouse burned down in 1954 and was replaced the following year with the current courthouse. The Shepherds Flat Wind Farm, an 845 megawatt (MW) wind farm, began construction near Arlington in 2009, shortly after approval by state regulators. The wind farm was being built by Caithness Energy using General Electric (GE) 2.5 MW wind turbines, and it will supply electricity to Southern California Edison. In April 2011, Google announced they had invested $100 million in the project. The wind farm was estimated to have an economic impact of $16 million annually for Oregon.

Gilliam County is located in the central northern part of Oregon, east of the Cascade Range. While its southern and eastern borders are defined by its neighboring counties, its western border is defined by the John Day River and its northern border is defined by the Columbia River. Most of the county is mostly flat, but contains various canyons created by streams from the Blue Mountains. According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1223 square miles (3,168 km2), of which 1205 square miles (3,121 km2) is land and 18 square miles (47 km2) (1.5%) is water.

As of the 2000 census, there were 1,915 people, 819 households, and 543 families living in the county. The population density was There were 1,043 housing units at an average density of The racial makeup of the county was 96.76% White, 0.16% Black or African American, 0.84% Native American, 0.16% Asian, 1.15% from other races, and 0.94% from two or more races. 1.83% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 18.2% were of German, 18.1% American, 12.6% English, 12.5% Irish and 5.3% Scottish ancestry. There were 819 households, out of which 27.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.90% were married couples living together, 5.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.60% were non families. 29.50% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.85. In the county, the population was spread out, with 23.20% under the age of 18, 5.40% from 18 to 24, 25.60% from 25 to 44, 26.70% from 45 to 64, and 19.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 102.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.30 males. The median income for a household in the county was $33,611, and the median income for a family was $41,477. Males had a median income of $30,915 versus $20,852 for females. The per capita income for the county was $17,659. About 6.70% of families and 9.10% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.00% of those under age 18 and 6.60% of those age 65 or over.

The Northern Oregon Regional Corrections Facility (Norcor), a short term jail, serves Gilliam, Hood River, Sherman, and Wasco counties.

Gilliam County is in the heart of the Columbia River Plateau wheat growing region. The economy is based on agriculture, and wheat, barley and beef cattle are the principal products. Properties are large, with an average farm size of about
The largest individual employers in the county are two subsidiaries of Waste Management Inc., Chemical Waste Management of the Northwest and Oregon Waste Systems, Inc., who run two regional waste disposal landfills. By levying a fee of $1 a ton, Gilliam County receives enough money to pay the first $500 of the property tax bills of its inhabitants, an amount that covers the full tax bill for almost half of the county inhabitants, as well as funding other county projects. Hunting, fishing and tourism are secondary industries. Transportation also contributes to the local economy; two major rivers, the John Day and Columbia, cross the area east to west, as does Interstate 84. Oregon Route 19 connects the county's major cities north to south and provides access to the John Day Valley.