Bly, Oregon: A Small Town With a Big Story
About 50 miles east of Klamath Falls on Highway 140, about an hour’s drive, you’ll find Bly. It’s an unincorporated community in southeastern Klamath County, surrounded by Fremont National Forest on all sides but the northwest. Roughly 200 people call it home, and for a town that size, it has a lot of history.
Why Bly Matters
On May 5, 1945, a pastor’s wife and five Sunday school children went out for a spring fishing outing near Bly. A Japanese balloon bomb exploded at the site, and they became the only World War II casualties on the North American continent from enemy action. The six who died were Elsie Mitchell and the children. It is a sobering piece of American history that happened right here in our corner of Oregon.
The Mitchell Monument was erected by Weyerhaeuser in 1950, and the site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003. It’s about ten miles from Bly, and the Bly Ranger District maintains it as a day-use picnic area. A ponderosa pine at the site still shows shrapnel damage, and it’s now an official Oregon Heritage Tree. If you want to learn more before you go, the ranger station has information about the monument and its history.
Timber, Trains, and a Changing Landscape
Bly’s story is tied closely to timber. The Oregon, California & Eastern Railway reached Bly in 1927, and Weyerhaeuser later upgraded the mill here and bought the railroad in 1975. Those days have passed, and as you drive through today, there is a large solar field on land that was once Weyerhaeuser property.
The railroad left something behind that’s great for visitors. The OC&E Woods Line State Trail, the longest linear state park in Oregon, passes through Bly. It’s a 100-mile rail trail built on the old railroad roadbeds. This is a multi-use trail that is paved in Klamath Falls, sections of it out toward Bly are lightly used and dirt/gravel surface.
What You’ll See in Town
Bly is small enough that you can take it all in within a couple of minutes. Here’s what you’ll pass:
- The Bread Wagon, at the east end of town. Order an Indian taco. You won’t regret it.
- A couple small restaurants
- Gas station with convenience store
- Small grocery store
- The Star Theater
- The ODOT building
- The Bly Rural Fire Protection District, with the Paul Mellness Community Center and a small park beside it
- The historic Bly Ranger Station. Its seven original buildings were built between 1936 and 1942.
Beyond the Town
Gearhart Mountain Wilderness is about 10 miles northeast of Bly. Between the wilderness, the national forest, and the trail, Bly makes a good home base for people who love open space and quiet. The areas around Bly were severely impacted by the Boot Leg Fire of summer 2021 that burned over 400,000 acres. Restoration efforts have been ongoing. <a href=”https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/where-we-work/united-states/oregon/stories-in-oregon/climate-change-wildfire-recovery/”>Boot Leg Fire Recovery Efforts</a>
Want to see it for yourself? Watch the two-minute tour of Bly on the Living in Klamath Falls YouTube channel. https://youtu.be/7tjyO1S2ax0