By Steve Lent, Historian

Bly, Oregon is located in Klamath County, Oregon along Highway 140 between Klamath Falls and Lakeview. The name Bly comes from the Klamath Indian word p’lai, meaning ‘up’ or ‘high’, referring to its location at the upper South Fork of Sprague River. A small settlement began as the livestock industry was established in the meadows of Sprague River. A post office named Sprague Rive was established on November 12, 1873 with John Gearhart the first postmaster. At that time, the community was near the east end of the Klamath Indian Reservation The post office was later moved about three miles south and renamed Bly on January 12, 1883. Elizabeth Lofton was the post master of the newly named post office.

The livestock industry remained the primary economic operations in the area. In 1900 the community boasted of two general stores, a saloon and two hotels. The population was about 100 people. Some small sawmills were located near Bly. In 1919 the Oregon, California and Eastern Railroad was beginning construction from Klamath Falls to the east. Several sawmills located along the line helped financed the construction. The rail line reached Bly in 1927. H. R. Crane established a large sawmill in Bly. Shipments of lumber and logs began to move on the rail line. Bly was the eastern terminus of the railroad. Some branch lines were constructed to the south and north from Bly for logging operations.

Weyerhaeuser bought the OCE rail line in the 1970s and expanded the mill in Bly. The population increased to over 750 people in the community during this boom in logging and mill operations. Annual car loadings peaked at 35,000 in the late 1970s, including 4,000 loads of lumber and wood chips from the mill at Bly. Shipments began to decline by the late 1980s and Weyerhaeuser ceased operations on the rail line in 1990. The population declined to 485 by 2000 and the 2020 census lists the population as 207.

The line’s right of way was rail banked in 1992 to the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, which converted it and the right of way of the Woods Line into the OC&E Woods Line State Trail.