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U.S. NEWS Saturday 22 april 2017

Want to own a town? Tiny Oregon community for sale for $3.5M

Highway 227 as a gather- and its picturesque setting namon rolls on Fridays and
ing spot and one of the in a bend in the emerald- collect their mail at the
only places to shop for gro- tinted South Umpqua River. one-room post office —
ceries in miles. They want to make reopen- when it’s open. Some have
“Between the dying econ- ing the market a priority. a sense of humor: A small,
omy and the dying owners, “The buyers understand weathered sign affixed to
Tiller became a new oppor- that they only have one the defunct market reads,
tunity that had never been shot at a first impression,” “Last one out of Tiller turn
available before,” said said Garrett Zoller, principal out the light.”
Richard Caswell, execu- broker for LandandWildlife. Sarah Crume and a few oth-
tor of the estate. “I started com, the seller’s realtor. er mothers cling to a sense
getting inquiries from all “They want to address this of community by meeting
over the world, essentially, project with the community with their young children
In this April 5, 2017 photo, the Tiller Market stands abandoned ‘What was it? And what in mind.” for playtime at the church,
in downtown Tiller, Ore. Tiller, a dot on a map in remote south- could you do with it?’ It’s Beyond that, Tiller’s future one of the few places not
western Oregon, is for sale for $3.5 million, including the market,
and the elementary school is for sale separately for $350,000. A the buyer and their imagi- remains shrouded in mys- for sale. She’s raising five
potential buyer has come forward but is remaining anonymous nation that’s going to de- tery. daughters here and had to
-- and back-up offers are still being accepted. termine what Tiller can be- The downtown is a ghost send her younger children
(AP Photo/Gillian Flaccus) come.” town, but plenty of peo- to school in the next closest
The potential buyers have ple still live tucked into town when Tiller Elementa-
GILLIAN FLACCUS miners, loggers, ranchers said through the seller’s the mountains in a region ry shut down.
Associated Press and farmers flocked to the broker that they intend to where bears wander onto “It is a little scary, especially
TILLER, Ore. (AP) — In the community along a pristine turn the school into some porches and where picking raising our kids in this place
tiny, dying timber town of river. type of campus and create up a cellphone signal takes that we love,” Crume said.
Tiller, the old cliche is true. If By the 1940s and 1950s, a “permaculture” devel- a 30-minute drive. “I’m just wondering what
you blink, you might actu- there were three timber opment that respects the Residents gather at the kind of impact it’s going to
ally miss it. mills running, and the town town’s remaining residents church for coffee and cin- have on the people.”q
But these days, this dot on expanded the elementary
a map in southwestern Or- school and built a new
egon is generating big-city general store.
buzz for an unlikely reason: Then, nearly three de-
Almost the entire town is for cades ago, logging on the
sale. federal forest lands that en-
The asking price of $3.5 mil- circle Tiller came to a near
lion brings with it six houses, standstill because of envi-
the shuttered general store ronmental regulations. The
and gas station, the land mills closed, and families
under the post office, un- moved away. One long-
developed parcels, water time resident began buy-
rights and infrastructure ing up properties. When he
that includes sidewalks, fire died three years ago, the
hydrants and a working family owned much of the
power station. Tiller Elemen- town.
tary School, a six-classroom Then the Tiller Elementary
building that closed in School closed and was up
2014, is for sale separately for sale, as well as a small
for $350,000. market, and the man’s es-
Potential buyers have tate bought those too —
come forward but are re- and the potential became
maining anonymous, and clear.
backup offers are still being The listing includes more
accepted. than 256 acres (1 square
The listing represents a kilometer) in 29 distinct
melancholy crossroads for parcels, water and timber
Tiller, a once-bustling log- rights, and a variety of zon-
ging outpost that sprang ings, from residential to in-
up after the turn of the last dustrial.
century deep in what is About 235 people still live
now the Umpqua Nation- in the unincorporated area
al Forest, about 230 miles around Tiller, and have
south of Portland. The post long relied on the buildings
office opened in 1902, and now for sale along historic