Sherman County, Oregon

Sherman County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat:
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Court House:

500 Court St
Moro, OR 97039
Clerk: (541) 565-3606
Courts: (541) 565-3650

Named: It was named for General William Techumseh Sherman of Civil War fame.

State & County QuickFacts:

History

Sherman County was created in 1889 out of the northeast corner of Wasco County. It was named for General William Techumseh Sherman of Civil War fame. Sherman County is located in north central Oregon and is bounded by the Columbia River on the north, the John Day River and Gilliam County on the east, and the Deschutes River, Buck Hollow, and Wasco County on the west and south. The only change made to the county's borders occurred in 1891 when the Legislative Assembly moved the county line eighteen miles farther south. Sherman County contains 831 square miles. The town of Wasco was designated the county seat by the Legislative Assembly although the selection was contested between Wasco and Moro. Moro benefited from the addition to the southern part of the county of a portion of Wasco County and was the eventual winner of a series of elections to select a county seat.

The county contracted in 1892 to construct a building and vault on the main street of Moro for use as an interim courthouse. A permanent courthouse was built in 1899 on a hill overlooking the town and is still in use today.

A county court has governed Sherman County since its creation. Administrative functions for Sherman County continue to be the responsibility of the county court consisting of the county judge and two commissioners. Other elected officials are the assessor, county clerk, district attorney, sheriff, and treasurer.

The population of the county has remained fairly constant, in 1890 there were 1,792 residents and in 2000 there were 1934 residents, a 0.83% increase over 1990.

Sherman County is an agricultural county with no industry. It has a larger percentage of its 831 square miles under cultivation than any county in Oregon. Its farms are devoted to growing wheat and barley. Cattle raising also contributes to the county's economy as does recreation on the rivers bordering the county.

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County Resource Guide

The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we’ve given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the “characteristic features of our country!”

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn’t the only reason to explore counties’ role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today’s counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990’s political slogan “Think globally, act locally.”

Penn Foster High School

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