| Meacham | |
| Settlement Type: | Unincorporated community |
| Pushpin Map: | USA Oregon#USA |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location within the state of Oregon |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | United States |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | Oregon |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | Umatilla |
| Unit Pref: | Imperial |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Total Km2: | 5.87 |
| Area Land Km2: | 5.87 |
| Area Water Km2: | 0.00 |
| Area Total Sq Mi: | 2.27 |
| Area Land Sq Mi: | 2.27 |
| Area Water Sq Mi: | 0.00 |
| Population Density Sq Mi: | 37.49 |
| Population As Of: | 2020 |
| Population Total: | 85 |
| Population Density Km2: | 14.47 |
| Timezone: | Pacific (PST) |
| Utc Offset: | -8 |
| Timezone Dst: | PDT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | -7 |
| Elevation Ft: | 3740 |
| Coordinates: | 45.5231°N -118.4394°W |
| Postal Code Type: | ZIP code |
| Postal Code: | 97859[2] |
| Area Code: | 458 and 541 |
| Blank Name: | FIPS code |
| Blank Info: | 41-46800 |
| Blank1 Name: | GNIS feature ID |
| Blank1 Info: | 2805457 |
Meacham is an unincorporated community in Umatilla County, Oregon. It is located on the old alignment of U.S. Route 30 off Interstate 84, in the Umatilla National Forest, near Emigrant Springs State Heritage Area and the route of the Oregon Trail. It is part of the Pendleton - Hermiston Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Meacham was a station on the Union Pacific Railroad, near the summit of the Blue Mountains. Major Henry A. G. Lee established a troop encampment, called Lee's Encampment, there in 1844. Meacham was named for Harvey J. and Alfred B. Meacham, who operated Meacham Station, a stage station, in the 1860s and 1870s. The first post office in the locality, established in 1862, was named "Encampment". The name was changed to "Meacham" in 1890.[3] [4]
On July 3, 1923, Meacham was visited by President Warren G. Harding, who stopped for the day during his Voyage of Understanding and participated in the exercises commemorating the eightieth anniversary of the Oregon Trail.[5] Harding gave a speech in Pendleton on July 4, commemorating the Oregon Trail, at which time his wife, Florence Harding was presented with a Pendleton blanket shawl in a design that became popular as the "Harding design".[6] [7] According to local tradition, Harding in his speech said (or, as a historic marker tells it, "reporters noted") [8] that the little town of Meacham was the nation's capital "all day long".[9] [10] However, the transcript of the event contains no such declaration.[11]
Meacham has a dry-summer humid continental climate (Köppen Dsb) with cold snowy winters and mild summers. It was widely reported that Meacham set the state record for lowest recorded temperature in February 1933 at -52°F. Seneca, in Grant County, however, was colder at -54°F.[4]