Boring, Oregon

Boring
Cyclists at the west entrance to Boring on Oregon Route 212
Cyclists at the west entrance to Boring on Oregon Route 212
Motto: 
"The most exciting place to live!"
Boring is located in Oregon
Boring
Boring
Location within the state of Oregon
Boring is located in the United States
Boring
Boring
Boring (the United States)
Coordinates: 45°25′50″N 122°22′18″W / 45.43056°N 122.37167°W / 45.43056; -122.37167
CountryUnited States
StateOregon
CountyClackamas
Settled1856
Platted1903
Named forWilliam Harrison Boring
Area
 • Total30.0 sq mi (77.7 km2)
Elevation505 ft (154 m)
Population
 (2010)
 • Total7,762
 • Density260/sq mi (100/km2)
Time zoneUTC-8 (Pacific (PST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-7 (PDT)
ZIP Codes
97009
Area code(s)503 and 971
Sister citiesDull, Scotland
Bland, Australia
GNIS feature ID2805447[1]

Boring is an unincorporated community in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States. It is located along Oregon Route 212 in the foothills of the Cascade mountain range, approximately twelve miles (19 km) southeast of downtown Portland,[2] and fourteen miles (23 km) northeast of Oregon City. A bedroom community,[a] Boring is named after William Harrison Boring, a Union soldier and pioneer whose family built a farm in the area in 1856, before Oregon had received statehood.

The community was officially platted in 1903 after the Portland Railway, Light and Power Company constructed an electric rail line, which operated from Portland to Cazadero. The former railway is now part of the Springwater Corridor, a rail trail which begins in Boring and ends at the Eastbank Esplanade along the Willamette River in southeast Portland. The Boring Lava Field, an extinct volcanic field zone that comprises terrain extending from Boring to downtown Portland, took its name from the community.

Boring was a hub of the timber industry in the Pacific Northwest prior to and during World War I due to the abundance of surrounding temperate coniferous and evergreen forests, as well as its proximity to the Port of Portland. In addition to logging, plant nurseries and agriculture have also historically been major economic forces in Boring.

Boring has often been included in lists of places with unusual names.[5] In 2012, Boring was named a sister city of the village of Dull, Scotland, and later joined Bland, Australia, in the "Trinity of Tedium."[6]

  1. ^ a b U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Boring, Oregon
  2. ^ "The Boring Volcanic Field — Hills of the Portland Basin". United States Geological Survey. Cascades Volcano Observatory. Retrieved July 9, 2015.
  3. ^ Portland, Oregon: Including the Metro Area and Vancouver, Washington. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 276. ISBN 978-0-762-755806.
  4. ^ "Not So Boring News". Oregon Trail School District. Archive. Archived from the original on August 29, 2017. Retrieved August 29, 2017.
  5. ^ a b Campbell, Glenn (August 8, 2014). "Dull, Scotland, makes Boring, Oregon, more interesting". BBC. Retrieved October 26, 2015.
  6. ^ Brazell, Emma (September 8, 2022). "Three areas called 'Dull', Boring' and 'Bland' are named 'Trinity of Tedium'". Metro. Retrieved April 3, 2023.


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