# Prospect, Oregon

Prospect is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Jackson County, in the U.S. state of Oregon. It lies along Oregon Route 62 on the Rogue River, in the Rogue River – Siskiyou National Forest. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 449.

## History

Prospect began as a logging town; its first sawmill began operating in 1870. Prospect had a post office established in 1882 that was first named "Deskins" after the first postmaster. In 1888, there was a mill named Deskins Sawmill. The name of the community was changed to "Prospect" in 1889 because of plans made to run a railroad up the Rogue River, which would ostensibly improve the community's prospects.
The Prospect Hotel, which opened in 1892, was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

## Local events and sites of interest

On the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, Prospect holds the Mill Creek Memorial festival. It honors veterans with a parade, a flag retirement ceremony, live music and games for children. All the proceeds go to a fund to help veterans.
In July Prospect hosts an airplane "fly-in" that helps support the Jackson County Search and Rescue, and in August a jamboree and timber carnival (a festival that includes lumberjack contests such as log rolling) are held.
On the last weekend in September, Prospect hosts Music in the Mountains, a two-day festival of bluegrass, country, folk and Americana music on the grounds of the Prospect Hotel.
Prospect is the site of Prospect State Airport (FAA LID: 64S), which has one asphalt runway. It is used for general aviation operations, totaling about 1200 annual movements. The Prospect State Scenic Viewpoint is nearby.

## Climate

This region experiences warm (but not hot) and dry summers, with no average monthly temperatures above 71.6 °F (22.0 °C). According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Prospect has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated "Csb" on climate maps.
Climate data for Prospect, Oregon (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1905–present) :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 73 (23) | 76 (24) | 88 (31) | 95 (35) | 102 (39) | 109 (43) | 107 (42) | 110 (43) | 106 (41) | 98 (37) | 82 (28) | 71 (22) | 110 (43) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 50.0 (10.0) | 53.6 (12.0) | 57.9 (14.4) | 62.4 (16.9) | 71.0 (21.7) | 77.9 (25.5) | 88.7 (31.5) | 89.3 (31.8) | 83.5 (28.6) | 70.4 (21.3) | 54.7 (12.6) | 47.6 (8.7) | 67.2 (19.6) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 40.1 (4.5) | 42.2 (5.7) | 45.2 (7.3) | 48.7 (9.3) | 55.9 (13.3) | 61.5 (16.4) | 69.5 (20.8) | 69.3 (20.7) | 63.6 (17.6) | 54.0 (12.2) | 44.1 (6.7) | 38.8 (3.8) | 52.7 (11.5) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 30.2 (−1.0) | 30.8 (−0.7) | 32.6 (0.3) | 35.0 (1.7) | 40.7 (4.8) | 45.1 (7.3) | 50.3 (10.2) | 49.2 (9.6) | 43.7 (6.5) | 37.5 (3.1) | 33.5 (0.8) | 29.9 (−1.2) | 38.2 (3.4) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −12 (−24) | −2 (−19) | 5 (−15) | 17 (−8) | 20 (−7) | 27 (−3) | 30 (−1) | 27 (−3) | 20 (−7) | 12 (−11) | 2 (−17) | −8 (−22) | −12 (−24) |
| Average precipitation inches (mm) | 5.97 (152) | 4.42 (112) | 4.38 (111) | 3.71 (94) | 2.59 (66) | 1.27 (32) | 0.57 (14) | 0.47 (12) | 1.16 (29) | 3.25 (83) | 6.31 (160) | 7.20 (183) | 41.30 (1,049) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 7.6 (19) | 3.1 (7.9) | 2.3 (5.8) | 1.0 (2.5) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 2.9 (7.4) | 4.0 (10) | 20.9 (53) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) | 16.4 | 14.4 | 16.0 | 14.9 | 10.8 | 5.1 | 2.4 | 2.0 | 3.8 | 9.0 | 17.3 | 17.3 | 129.4 |
| Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 in) | 2.9 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.9 | 2.2 | 9.0 |
| Source: NOAA ||||||||||||||