Westfir Map
Westfir is a city in Lane County, Oregon, United States. The population was 276 at the 2000 census. It is located about 35 miles south of Eugene and about four miles west of Oakridge in the Willamette National Forest.
The name Westfir was first used for the community in July 1923. The name came from the Western Lumber Company, which produced Douglas-fir lumber and had established Westfir as a company town. A major customer of the mill at this time was the Southern Pacific Railroad, which was building its line over Willamette Pass between Eugene and Klamath Falls in the 1920s and passing through Westfir. Westfir post office was established in November 1923. The population in 1931 was 500. The Western Lumber sawmill was later sold to the Westfir Lumber Company and in 1946 to the Edward Hines Lumber Company. Hines established a plywood mill in Westfir in 1952. In 1977, Hines closed the mills and sold the entire town, including the water and sewer system. The town's new owers wanted the utilities to be in public ownership, so local residents voted to incorporate in 1979. The mill operations closed in 1984, after a series of fires.
Oregon's longest existing covered bridge, the Office Bridge, was built across the North Fork Middle Fork Willamette River in 1944 to connect the Westfir Lumber Company mill to the main office.
Nearby cities include Oakridge, Lowell.