Balsamroot and lupine wildflowers near Tom McCall Preserve on Rowena Crest along the Historic Columbia River Highway in the Columbia River Gorge. (Oregon State Archives Photo)
County Seat: Courthouse, 511 Washington St., The Dalles 97058
Phone: 541-506-2500 (General); 541-506-2700 (Court Administrator)
Fax: 541-506-2531
About
Population (2018): 27,200
Established: Jan. 11, 1854
Elev. at The Dalles: 98'
Area: 2,396 sq. mi.
Average Temp.: January 33.4° July 73.1°
Assessed Value: $2,439,000,000
Real Market Value: $4,096,000,000 (includes the value of non-taxed properties)
Annual Precipitation: 14.9"
Economy: Agriculture, forest products, manufacturing, electric power, aluminum and transportation
Related Resources
Incorporated Cities
Points of Interest
Designation for the Wasco County Fair & Rodeo.
Columbia and Deschutes Rivers, Fort Dalles Museum, Pulpit Rock, The Dalles Dam, Celilo Converter Station, Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation, Mount Hood, Sorosis Park, original Wasco County Courthouse, St. Peter’s Landmark, Columbia River Gorge Discovery Center
History and General Information
When the Territorial Legislature created Wasco County in 1854 from parts of Clackamas, Lane, Linn and Marion Counties, it embraced all of Oregon east of the Cascade Range, most of Idaho and parts of Montana and Wyoming. It was named for the Wasco, or Wascopam, Tribe.
Wasco’s county seat is The Dalles. Now the trading hub of north-central Oregon, The Dalles gained earlier fame as the town at the end of the Oregon Trail. Thousands of years before that, humans scratched pictographs on rocks overlooking the Columbia River in this area. Later, tribes gathered for generations near Celilo Falls to trade and fish. The county’s tribal heritage continues in evidence today.
County Officials
Commissioners—Scott Hege 2021, Steve Kramer 2021, Kathy Schwartz 2023; Dist. Atty. Eric J. Nisley 2021; Assess. Jill Filla Amery 2021; Clerk Lisa Gambee 2021; Sheriff Lane Magill 2021; Surv. Brad Cross; Treas. Elijah Preston 2021