Oroville (Washington)

Okanogan County

53-51970

Oroville is a small town in Okanogan County in the U.S. state of Washington.

In the agriculture - mainly fruit growing - dominated village now live about 1,600 inhabitants, has the meaning border crossing on U.S. Highway 97 / Highway 97 BC to Osoyoos.

History

The first non- indigenous settlers settled in the Okanagan Valley since the beginning of the fifties of the 19th century, when the Okanagan Trail lost as a trade route in importance as the Oregon compromise the border between the United States of America and the British colony of British Columbia on 49th parallel - just 4 miles ( 6.5 km ) north of the modern city - was drawn.

In the context of geological explorations in the last decade of the 19th century were discovered in the Valley of Lake Osoyoos on gold, after which located on the U.S. part of the lake settlement in 1892 the name Oro - Spanish for gold - was because the intention was, settlers and to attract prospectors. The boom was short-lived - gold discoveries in Alaska and the Klondike River promised greater yield - in spite of this, the city reached briefly a population of more than 10,000. That there was already a town named Oso in the state of Washington and the U.S. Postal Service problems made claims that the town was renamed in 1909 in Oroville.