Arlington, Gilliam County, Oregon Genealogy

Guide to Arlington, Gilliam County ancestry, genealogy and family history, birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, and military records.

Arlington is a town on the Columbia River in Gilliam County. Originally the name of the town was Alkali. However, when it was incorporated on November 20, 1885, the town businessmen wanted a more appealing name. Since many of the early residents had ancestral roots in Virginia, they chose ""Arlington."" In 1963, the original town was largely destroyed by flooding following the completion of the John Day Dam.

City Offices 500 West First Street PO Box 68 Arlington, OR 97812 Telephone: 541-454-2743 Fax: 541-454-2753 Email: cityofa@oregontrail.net

Arlington Public Library 500 W. First St. P.O. Box 339 Arlington, OR 97812 Phone Number: 541-454-2444

In 1984, William Marshall created a map of the old town with an attached key (click on Icon to view key) to that map. The buildings are drawn on the map and numbered. The key identifies the name of the business (or businesses), churches, homes, school, public buildings that were on that property. In the case of the businesses, the proprietor is named and a brief memory of the individual.

[[Media:Arlington Map.pdf]] [[Media:Arlington Map Key.pdf]] To view documents, click on the links.

Arlington holds a strong sense of identity. Descendants from the hundreds of different families whose roots go to Arlington, Oregon might find it interesting to see the layout of the town, where their families bought their groceries, the identity of the pharmacist, where the children attended school and where families attended church. "