About Sisters, Oregon

Sisters is a city in Deschutes County, Oregon. It is part of the Bend, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 959 at the 2000 census, but more than doubled to 2,038 as of the 2010 census.

Camp Polk was established as a military post in 1865 in response to the Paiute Indian wars that were raging throughout eastern Oregon during the 1860s and 70s. Named after the Oregon county from which the camps commanding officer hailed, it’ consisted of a group of cabins along the west bank of Squaw Creek, now called Whychus Creek, about three miles (4.8km) northeast of Sisters. The troops spent the winter of 1865/66 there. After discovering that there was no Indian problem, they left.

Around 1870, the area was homesteaded by Samuel Hindeman who also ran the post office. The post office at Camp Polk was moved to the present site of Sisters in 1888, and the name was changed to Sisters after the Three Sisters mountains that dominate its western skyline.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.87 square miles (4.84km2), all of it land. The Santiam Highway (U.S. Route 20) and the McKenzie Highway (Oregon Route 126) merge briefly to form Cascade Avenue, the main thoroughfare through downtown Sisters. On Cascade Avenue, there is a lot of pedestrian traffic and many specialty stores and galleries.

East of Sisters the two highways split, with 126 heading to Redmond and 20 going to Bend. West of Sisters, the road splits once more, with the McKenzie Highway becoming Oregon Route 242 and running west over the McKenzie Pass (a summertime-only scenic route over the Cascades.) The Santiam Highway proceeds over the Santiam Pass.

For more information, please visit: www.sisterscountry.com