This Clip is of Looking Glass, Oregon
Lookingglass is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in the Lookingglass Valley of Douglas County, Oregon, United States, about 9 miles (14 km) southwest of Roseburg.[2] As of the 2010 census it had a population of 855.[4] Lookingglass is considered a suburb of Roseburg.[5]
History[edit]
The valley was named in 1846 by surveyor Hoy Flournoy, who said the beautiful green grass of the valley reflected light almost as well as a mirror.[5][6] Flournoy later returned to settle in the area.[7]
The Lookingglass Store, built in 1852, was once the terminus for the Oakland to Lookingglass stage and freight road.[7] It was also the beginning of the Coos Bay Wagon Road. Today the store continues to serve as the hub of the community[7] and is the oldest business in Douglas County. Lookingglass also has a school, a grange hall, a church and a fire station.[7] Lookingglass post office closed in 1942.[7]
In the 1970s, Lookingglass, population 40 at the time, received national media attention for installing a two-horse parking meter, a telephone booth, and a fire hydrant.[8][9] Lookingglass became a minor tourist attraction.[8][10] When the fire hydrant was dedicated in 1971, it was accompanied by two manhole covers, which covered nothing, donated by a Eugene, Oregon iron company and the mayor of Cedar Rapids, Iowa.[11]
David Brinkley anchored his segment of the NBC Nightly News from the steps of the Lookingglass Store in 1974, while passing through Oregon to do a series of short news stories.[7] Chet Huntley, David Brinkley's co-anchor of the Huntley-Brinkley Report, was the great-grandson of the Lookingglass area's first settler, Daniel Huntley, who arrived in 1851.[7][12]
The James Wimer Octagonal Barn near Lookingglass was built in 1892 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[13][14]
Geography[edit]
Lookingglass is located in west-central Douglas County in the valley of Lookingglass Creek, a tributary of the South Umpqua River. The community is 9 miles (14 km) southwest of Roseburg, the county seat, via Lookingglass Road.