O'Brien, Oregon


O'Brien is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Josephine County, Oregon, United States. As of the 2010 census, O'Brien had a population of 504. The unemployment rate is 6.9%, slightly higher than the national average of 5.2% The community was named after John O'Brien, who was one of the first settlers to arrive at the locality. In 2012, a small group started protecting the town when the police were cut due to budget cuts.

Infrastructure

The town consists of a market, the O'Brien Country Store, Oregon Discount Gas, part of the country store, a post office, a fire station, the McGrew's restaurant, Lone Mountain RV Park, the Almost Heaven Resort and a small U-Haul rental area. It is the southernmost town in Josephine county, Oregon before the California border on Highway 199. The post office and country store are share a building. To the east of O'Brien is the ghost town of Waldo, then further east is Takilma, an unincorporated town known to have a high amount of hippies. To the north of O'Brien is the Illinois Valley's only city, Cave Junction, and further north are the towns of Kerby and Selma. To the northeast is the unincorporated Holland, which has only a store and private properties.

Geography

O'Brien is in southwestern Josephine County in the valley of the West Fork of the Illinois River, a north-flowing tributary of the Rogue River. U.S. Route 199 passes through the community, leading north to Cave Junction and to Grants Pass, and south to the California state line and to Crescent City, California.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the O'Brien CDP has a total area of, of which, or 0.26%, are water.

Climate

O'Brien has a climate that is a Mediterranean in nature with hot and dry summer days and cool and wet winters. It is also subtropical in nature due to its hot summer days, some of the hottest in Oregon, with temps often topping. Summer lows are very low in comparison to its highs.