prominent position occupied by the name in the news dispatches. A post office with the name Sumter was established on the Grant County, Oregon, list June 24, 1874, with Joseph D. Young first postmaster. The office was soon changed to the Baker County list and was discontinued October 1, 1878. It was reestablished December 13, 1883, with the spelling Sumpter. The compiler has been unable to learn why the name of the place in Oregon is spelled differently from the name in South Carolina. A news item in the Baker Democrat-Herald, May 3, 1929, says that the immediate reason for selecting the name for the Oregon town was that a local resident found a rock, as perfectly spherical as a cannon ball, and this, along with the name of Fort Sumter in the news, suggested the use of the name. This rock was on display in Baker in 1929.
SUNDIAL LAKE, Multnomah County. This lake is on the south side of the Columbia River near Fairview. It was named for the Sundial Ranch nearby. Charles F. Swigert of Portland told the compiler that the ranch was named by his business associate, the late Homer C. Campbell, also of Portland. Swigert said he did not know why Campbell chose the name Sundial Ranch, because as far as he knew, there never was a sundial on the place.
SUNNY VALLEY, Josephine County. Sunny Valley post office was established in the summer of 1945 at the point where the Pacific Highway crosses Grave Creek, about 18 miles north of Grants Pass. The name takes the place of several that have had great historic significance in Oregon. The first establishment in this vicinity was the Grave Creek House of Harkness and Twogood, also called Fort Leland in the Indian wars of the '50s. The first post office here was Leland, on March 28, 1855, with McDonough Harkness first postmaster. For the history of the name Leland, see under that name. Some time after the railroad was extended from Roseburg south in the '80s, Leland post office was moved about four miles west to the railroad location. There had already been a railroad station at Altamont at or near the station later called Leland. The compiler cannot learn when the name Leland was moved to the railroad, but it must have been in the early '90s. On July 24, 1894, a post office named Grave, with Samuel B. Pettengill postmaster, was established to serve the locality on Grave Creek from which Leland post office had been moved. Grave office was operated until October, 1913. It was opened again in March, 1928, with the name Grave Creek, and with Mrs. Nora Dunham postmaster. This office continued to serve the locality until the office Sunny Valley was established by change of name from Grave Creek. Local residents were apparently a little morbid about the old name. For the origin of the name Grave Creek, see under that heading.
SUNNYSIDE, Clackamas County. The area called Sunnyside lies south of Mount Scott and is rather loosely defined. There is a Sunnyside Road, well known and also a Sunnyside School about two miles west of Damascus. These features are all near the north border of the county. Sunnyside post office was established December 17, 1888, with John R. Welch first postmaster. The office was closed August 12, 1903, probably because of the extension of rural free delivery. The compiler does not know the exact location. The fact that this office was in operation in the early '90s made it impossible to have a Sunnyside post office to serve Sunnyside, now a part of Portland. Accordingly the Sunnyside addition in Multnomah County was served by an office called Sunnyview.
