| Lake Creek, Oregon | |
| Settlement Type: | Unincorporated community |
| Pushpin Map: | USA Oregon#USA |
| Pushpin Label: | Lake Creek |
| Pushpin Label Position: | left |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | United States |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | Oregon |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | Jackson |
| Unit Pref: | Imperial |
| Population As Of: | 2000 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Timezone: | Pacific (PST) |
| Utc Offset: | -8 |
| Timezone Dst: | PDT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | -7 |
| Coordinates: | 42.4225°N -122.625°W |
| Postal Code Type: | ZIP code |
| Postal Code: | 97524 |
| Area Code: | 458 and 541 |
| Blank Name: | FIPS code |
| Blank1 Name: | GNIS feature ID |
Lake Creek is an unincorporated community about 20miles east of Medford, in Jackson County, Oregon, United States. The community takes its name from Lake Creek, an important local stream.[1]
The stream joins Little Butte Creek at Lake Creek. Little Butte Creek is formed by its north and south forks slightly upstream of the community.[2] The shortest covered bridge in Oregon is near Lake Creek, along Lost Creek, a tributary of South Fork Little Butte Creek.[3] The Lost Creek Bridge is on the National Register of Historic Places and is also possibly the oldest standing covered bridge in Oregon.[3]
The Lake Creek post office was established on December 10, 1886. At the time the Post Office Department declined many proposed two-word post offices, thus the name of the post office was submitted as "Lakecreek" on the application of September 17, 1886.[4] This official style remained even after the post office was discontinued on June 5, 1959, but the two-word name is what is used locally.[5]
All correspondence originally destined for the "Lakecreek" post office was rerouted to the Eagle Point office, where it has been ever since. The post office building in Lake Creek also housed a general store, which still stands today (as of June 2007 it is closed for renovations). UPDATE: The Lake Creek General Store reopened its doors on July 24, 2009.
In June 2007, Brian Zablocky, a resident of Medford, Oregon, filed a request with the United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) that the name be restored to the two-word local usage. The request was approved by the BGN on September 27, 2007 and went into effect a few days later.
The Lake Creek Pioneer Hall was established in 1990 in the former Community Hall building. A group of local citizens, some of whom worked on the restoration of the nearby Lost Creek Bridge, congregated and restored the building, giving it a foundation, insulation, and a kitchen.[6]
This region experiences warm (but not hot) and dry summers, with no average monthly temperatures above 71.6 °F. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Lake Creek has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated "Csb" on climate maps.[7]
