CENTRAL OREGON HISTORY: From mining boom town to ghost town

Granite is an old mining community in Grant County, Oregon. It was first established by miners after the discovery of gold along Granite Creek on July 4, 1862. The area was originally called Granite Creek Mines. The creek takes its name from the granite rocks that are common to the vicinity. A settlement was soon established and called Granite City. It was originally located downstream from its current location. It was moved to its present location in 1867 and renamed Independence for the Fourth of July discovery of gold in 1862.

A post office was established in the growing community on March 28, 1878. Since there was already a post office named Independence in Oregon, postal officials would not accept the name. It was decided the post office would be named Granite after the nearby Granite Creek. A. G. Tabor became the first postmaster. Tabor had staked the first mining claim in the area and was the only merchant.

There were 12 producing mines located around the town, and the Granite mining District had more than 2,100 mining claims. There was a big boom in growth of the community in 1889. The town had been a small mining community for several years, but just prior to the turn of the century, it boasted of six hotels and restaurants, five stores, two newspapers, four saloons, four livery stables, drugstores, a blacksmith shop and carpenter shops and a gravity water system providing protection from fire. The community of Granite was incorporated in April 1900, with Grant Thornburg as the first mayor.

The town was highly dependent of gold production as most of the men worked in the mines. During World War II, the U.S. government made it illegal to mine gold as it was deemed more important to mine other minerals needed for the war effort. The community had a population of 86 in 1940 but rapidly declined during the war. The post office was discontinued on July 31, 1957. The population in 1960 was two. It had become mostly a ghost town. It experienced a slight population increase, and in the 2020 census, there were 32 people listed living in the community.