Oreana, Owyhee County, Idaho Genealogy

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Quick Facts
Oreana is an unincorporated rural area and voting precinct in north-central Owyhee County, Idaho. It consists of a loose collection of several residences, a seasonal store or trading post, and a community hall.

Geographical Location
Oreana is located 2 miles south of Highway 78, between Murphy and Grand View.

Cemeteries
The Oreana Pioneer Cemetery is located at Oreana. Some records of this cemetery are available at the Idaho State Archives in Boise; Transcription and photos online (67 interments - 22 Nov 2009 - Findagrave.com)

Church History and Records
Our Lady, Queen of Heaven Catholic Church is located at Oreana.

Directories
A directory of the residents and businesses of Oreana in 1898 is included in A Historical, Descriptive and Commercial Directory of Owyhee County, Idaho. A copy of the directory is in the Idaho State Archives, the Owyhee County Museum, and other Idaho libraries. It is also through the FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City and its many family history centers.

The Idaho State Archives has a collection of city, county, state and regional directories.

The Gem State Rural's 1918-19 Farm Directory of Owyhee County Idaho and Malheur County, Oregon is available online. It lists landowners by town, including those owning land in these two counties, but residing elsewhere. The amount of acreage owned, the location of the land, and a list of crops raised on each farm is also included. The resident land owners of the Oreana area are listed on pages 124-127.

History
Early settlers began to establish cattle ranches on the north slopes of the Owyhee Mountains in the mid-1860s.

A building was moved from Silver City in 1882 and remodeled into the Oreana Hotel. A post office was established in Oreana in 1885.

In the 1890s, a general store made of native stone, a saloon, a blacksmith shop, a livery barn, a school, and several residences were added.

In 1961, the general store, which had rallen into disrepair, was donated to the Roman Catholic Church and was repaired and remodeled into Our Lady, Queen of Heaven Catholic Church.

School Records and Yearbooks
Students from the Oreana district attend school in Grand View.

The Idaho State Archives has a 1986 copy of "The Raider," a high school annual for Rimrock High School, which serves Bruneau, Grandview, and Oreana residents.