The first known photograph of Burns, Oregon, taken in 1884, reveals the primitive, rocky beginnings of a cow town rising from the Great Basin. Looking beyond the thick dust of a rutted wagon road, the first pioneers saw a valley that was then a sea of grass growing belly-high to a large horse—grass that would sustain innumerable livestock. These earliest settlers experienced blistering summer heat and long frigid winters in sod dugouts and crude wood frame buildings yet were not deterred in their quest to eke out a living. Building by building, the first trappings of modern civilization slowly appeared: a saloon, a livery stable, a blacksmith shop, a hotel. Homes, schools, and businesses soon followed.
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Click the button below to download a pdf guide booklet to some of the historic buildings in the downtown Burns business corridor. Learn more about each of these buildings in our online digital archives.

Walking Tour Guide Booklet of Historic Downtown Burns, Oregon

WALKING TOUR GUIDE OF DOWNTOWN BURNS HISTORIC BUILDINGS

This booklet gives a brief overview of some of the historic buildings in the downtown business corridor of Burns. The guide begins at the Harney County Library and proceeds south eight blocks along the west side of Broadway Avenue to Monroe Street, then returns north on the east side of Broadway Avenue, ending at the Harney County Historical Museum. Walk the entire route or tailor sections to fit your schedule.

For the sake of standardization, physical addresses used in this guide correspond with addresses in the Harney County GIS database. The official address of various businesses within the buildings have varied across time as partitions were added or removed.

Dates given indicate the construction and/or demolition of individual buildings. Names of buildings refer to the original owner or most closely identified business occupying the building.

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