Rugged alpine conditions meant that the town had extremely harsh winters. Homes and other buildings were regularly buried in many feet of snowfall. The frigid winters, along with the town’s isolation, old mining equipment, and reliance on horses over machines limited mine output in the town’s early days. Not so by the 1920s. Massive lode discoveries in the decade brought improved technology. A railroad connected the town to the world, and shipped in parts for a twenty stamp (ore crushing hammer) mill constructed on site.

Cornucopia’s decline began in 1929 when the stock market crash dropped the town’s population to 10 people. The town recovered slightly in the 1930s. In fact, Cornucopia made up over 60% of state gold output in 1939. World War II tolled a death knell for the town, however. In all, an estimated $20 million in gold was extracted from thousands of feet of tunnels beneath Cornucopia. By the 1940s, production was already declining. In 1942, President Roosevelt declared gold mining non-essential to the war effort. Industry ground to a halt, the mines shut down for good, and Cornucopia never recovered.

Homes in Cornucopia. (Oregon State Archives, 2019) Get a high resolution copy of the homes from the Oregon Scenic Images Collection​.

Men pose with their sleds on Main Street in Cornucopia in the 1910s. (Courtesy of Baker County Library District) Enlarge Image