Page:Oregon Geographic Names, third edition.djvu/39

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ARGENTI, Marion County. Argenti townsite was near Silver Creek about a dozen miles southeast and upstream from Silverton, very close to Silver Creek Falls. Argenti post office was established in April, 1889, with George A. Lehman first of six postmasters. The office was closed in September, 1904, with all papers to Sublimity. There is a local story in Silverton and in Salem to the effect that Herbert Hoover, then a resident of Salem, worked as a chainman on the survey party that laid out the original townsite. See Dean Collins' story in the Oregon Journal, April 19, 1940. It is said that there was a post office, store, blacksmith shop, hotel and two sawmills in the place, but these establishments have completely disappeared. Argenti is a Latin word meaning "of silver," a name obviously suggested by Silver Creek nearby.

ARKANSAS Hollow, Wallowa County. This small valley empties into Swamp Creek about eight miles north of Enterprise. James T. Baker, formerly of Madison County, Arkansas, homesteaded there in the early '90s and the place was named for his former home. Arko, Wallowa County. Arko was at one time a post office, but was discontinued some years ago. The place was in the north end of the county, a few miles northwest of Troy. It was named by Mary C. Loy for Arkoe, Nodaway County, Missouri, but the spelling was somehow changed.

ARLETA, Multnomah County. Arleta is part of Portland. It was named for Arleta Potter, daughter of T. B. Potter of the Potter-Chapin Realty Company, which put the addition on the market.

ARLINGTON, Gilliam County. This town is on the south bank of the Columbia River at the mouth of Alkali Canyon. In pioneer days the place was known as Alkali. The post office at Alkali which was then in Wasco County, was established on November 7, 1881. Local residents did not consider the name Alkali suitable for a growing community, and at a town meeting N. A. Cornish suggested that the town be named Arlington. The Post Office Department changed the name to Arlington on December 31, 1885. There were a number of southerners living in the community at the time and Cornish suggested the name of Arlington because it was the home of General Robert E. Lee. The name of the community Alkali was changed to Arlington by an act passed at a special session of the leg. islature and approved November 20, 1885.

ARMET, Lane County. Armet is a station on the Southern Pacific. Cascade line between Lowell and Oakridge. The place was formerly called Blakelyville, which was the name of the post office, but the railroad adopted the name Eula for the station. See under Eula for the history of these names. The post office was later changed to Eula, but by that time the railroad found there was confusion between Eula and Eola, so about 1925 the station name was changed to Armet, the name of a head armor used in the middle ages. This name was selected arbitrarily by railroad officials. Properly the word is accented on the first syllable, but the name of the station is accented on the last syllable. Eula post office was taken out of service in the fall of 1943.

ARMIN, Wallowa County. Armin is said to have been named for one Armin Bodmer, of the Wallowa Valley, at a time when he was courting a young widow, Affie B. Hanna, who lived in the place.

ARMITAGE, Lane County. Armitage was named for George H. Armitage, an early settler nearby. He was born in New York in 1824, and came to Oregon in 1848, by way of California. For his biography, see Walling's