Leland, Oregon History

Leland was formerly called "Maloneyville" and "Altamont;" it was established in 1882. The founder of Leland, Edward Maloney, owned the first saloon in the town.

The post office was established on April 16, 1884 by Ben Parker. William H. Dodd established the post office under the name of Leland on December 15, 1892.

Leland was established mainly because of two reasons: 1 )it was the major camp for building the railroad from 1882 to 1883; 2)in 1884 it became a supply center for the Grave Creek watershed with mining and mercantile stores.

The oldest hydraulic mine was located a quarter of a mile west of town in 1878 by Roseburg merchants Criteser and Rast. The Goff Mine, established by John Goff in 1886, is about one-half mile north of the townsite. The third largest mine is located approximately one mile west of Leland. Originally patented by James Twogood in 1859, it went through various ownerships until the Lewis Investment Company of Portland, Oregon purchased it and other claims adjoining it.

These three large mines ran for many years and produced unknown quantities of gold.