Wheeler County, Oregon

Wheeler County is a located in the  of. In 2000, its population was 1,547. It in honor of Henry H. Wheeler, an early settler who owned a farm near. The county's is.

Wheeler County is known for having a large depository of s, the most extensive in the state.

History
Wheeler County was created on, from parts of , , and  Counties. There have been no boundary changes since its creation. Fossil was designated the temporary county seat at the time of the county's creation. In 1900 there was an election to determine the permanent county seat between the three towns of the county, which ended with Fossil winning the election.

Economy
Principal industries in this county are agriculture, livestock, and lumber.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 4,443 (1,715 ). 4,442 km² (1,715 sq mi) of it is land and 1 km² (1 sq mi) of it (0.03%) is water.

Adjacent Counties

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Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 1,547 people, 653 households, and 444 families residing in the county. The was 0/km² (1/sq mi). There were 842 housing units at an average density of 0/km² (0/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 93.34%, 0.06% or , 0.84% , 0.26% , 0.06% , 3.49% from , and 1.94% from two or more races. 5.11% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 653 households out of which 21.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.20% were living together, 4.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.90% were non-families. 27.40% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.32 and the average family size was 2.76.

In the county, the population was spread out with 22.70% under the age of 18, 3.40% from 18 to 24, 19.30% from 25 to 44, 31.40% from 45 to 64, and 23.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 48 years. For every 100 females there were 102.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.00 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $28,750, and the median income for a family was $34,048. Males had a median income of $29,688 versus $22,361 for females. The for the county was $15,884. About 12.70% of families and 15.60% of the population were below the, including 22.20% of those under age 18 and 4.20% of those age 65 or over.

Unincorporated communities

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