Pratum is an unincorporated community in Marion County, Oregon, United States. It is located northeast of Salem on Howell Prairie near the Pudding River. Pratum is Latin for "meadow".[1] The community was settled in the late 19th century by a group of Mennonites, many of them of Swiss extraction.[2][3] A branch of the narrow-gauge Oregonian Railway was built through the area in about 1880, and the station there was called "East Side Junction".[1] The railway was eventually converted to standard gauge, and is still in use today by the Willamette Valley Railway. In 1895, the station was renamed "Enger" by a Mr. Larson, who opened the first store there. "Enger" was confused with Eugene, however, and the name of the station changed to "Pratum" in 1898.[1] Pratum post office was established in 1887, and was originally called "Switzerland", then "Enger" and finally "Pratum" in 1898, matching the railroad station.[1] The post office ran until 1964.[1] Pratum School, built in 1928 and part of the Silver Falls School District, is still operating.[4]

Pratum
Unincorporated community
Pratum as seen from Howell Prairie Road
Pratum Location within the state of Oregon Show map of Oregon Pratum Pratum (the United States) Show map of the United States
Coordinates: 44°57′33″N 122°52′39″W
Country	United States
State	Oregon
County	Marion
Time zone	UTC-8 (Pacific (PST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-7 (PDT)
ZIP code	97305
Area code(s)	503 and 971

The community is part of the Salem Metropolitan Statistical Area.

References

External links

• Media related to Pratum, Oregon at Wikimedia Commons
• Pratum Elementary School
• Historic images of Pratum from Salem Public Library