Erskineville was named for 1880 settler Abel [sometimes spelled Abiel] Erskine. The Erskine homestead was a half-mile N of the Erskine railroad station, and on the route of The Dalles Military Road. A. Erskine, 72, is listed in the 1900 Sherman County Voters Register, Moro Precinct. Located three miles SW of Moro, the site was called Erskine Springs, Mud Spring, Milbra and Erskine, the name of the rail station. The Observer reported in 1901 that Mr. and Mrs. Erskine raised the first wheat that was threshed from seven acres in 1881. C.A. Williams started the first store at Erskineville, purchasing the site from Moore Bros. who operated a skating rink for a year before moving the building to Moro. The little hamlet once had the schoolhouse, a store with a post office inside, a second store and Moore Bros.’ skating rink. The name was shortened to Erskine for the station when the railroad came through. The town of Erskineville was platted in 1888 in SE quarter of section 26, T2S, R16E. Main Street, Blaine Avenue and Logan Avenue run N and S; Laurel, Maple and Walnut Streets run E and W, all 80’ wide. Each of the four blocks comprised 12 lots 50’ x 100’. ~French; McArthur, OGN; History of Central Oregon, 1905; Nielsen, Newman & McCart; McNeal; USGS Erskine Quadrangle; Sanders, 1900 Sherman County Voters Register; L.A. McArthur, OGN, 1944 & OHS Quarterly, XLVII-4, p. 448, 1946; Wasco and Sherman County Directory 1898; TO, July 2, 1901; Letter from the Secretary of the Interior Transmitting a Report on the Claims of Settlers in Sherman County, Oreg., 5th Congress, 3rd Session, House of Representatives, Document No. 36.
Abel Erskine was the first postmaster at his Erskineville farm on the Columbia Southern Railroad and Spring Creek in 1882. In 1898 mail was delivered daily by stage from Moro three miles to the N. It closed in 1907. Families served in 1898 were Coyle, Cushman, Erskine, Farra, Gow, Huff, Johnson, King, McCullough, Messinger, Spicer and White. ~Wasco and Sherman County Directory 1898, Portland Directory Company.
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