that Lincoln J. Meserve, his brother, and the first postmaster at Delena, named the post office. W. N. Meserve says that his brother found the name in a classical dictionary or in a book on mythology. Stories that the place was named for a town in Nebraska are wrong, says Mr. Meserve. Also it has been reported that Delena was the name of a girl in the Meserve family, but Mr. Meserve says that this is not a fact. The compiler has been unable to find any trace of a place called Delena in Nebraska.
DELL, Malheur County. An army map of 1887 shows a place called Dell about 20 miles northwest up Willow Creek from Vale. Dell post office was established in June, 1881, with George W. Perkins first postmaster. The office continued in operation until February, 1911. The compiler does not know why it was named unless the title was descriptive of some locality on Willow Creek. The difficulty in getting localized information about a place like Dell is shown in the following quotation from the Illustrated History of Baker, Grant, Malheur and Harney Counties, page 553, written as of about 1902: "Dell is located at Cole's ranch ... on Willow Creek. It is simply a post office, which shifts from one ranch to another as the postmasters die or resign, or the national administration changes. In this portion of Willow Creek Valley are located some of the best hay and grain ranches in the county." To add to the difficulty about the history of the post office Dell is the fact that old postal records indicate the existence of an office called Snake that may have been a predecessor of Dell. Snake office was established April 5, 1881, with James S. Stark first postmaster. The records seem to show that the name was changed to Dell within a couple of months, but the date and nature of the change are not clear. The name Snake seems to indicate that the office was on or near Snake River. The office may have been moved from Snake River not far away to Willow Creek when the name was changed.
DELLMOOR, Clatsop County. Dellmoor is a station and locality about three miles north of Gearhart and just east of the Oregon Coast Highway. It was named for the late J. S. Dellinger of Astoria, editor of the Astorian. Dellinger, among other things, was interested in cranberry culture on Clatsop Plains, and it is probable that he devised the name Dellmoor himself. The style Delmoor is wrong and not in accord with the original spelling.
DELLWOOD, Coos County. Dellwood is a place on South Fork Coos River about 12 miles airline east of Coos Bay. The locality was formerly called Idlewood, but when the post office was established November 2, 1940, postal officials would not approve of that name because of possible confusion with Idleyld in Douglas County. Several new names were suggested, but the form Dellwood was chosen because it was not unlike the old name. Leo A. Lindros was the first postmaster and kindly sent the compiler the above information.
DELMAR, Coos County. Delmar is a well-known name for a place on Isthmus Slough a few miles south of Coos Bay and a little to the north of Coaledo. It is on the Oregon Coast Highway and is near the mouth of a drain coming in from the west that is sometimes called Delmar Creek or Delmar Gulch. The best available information is to the effect that Delmar was named for Delmar Hennessey. The Hennessey family was interested in a coal mine project near the head of the gulch. Del
