Klamath Falls and Altamont, Oregon

Klamath Falls and its suburb, Altamont, are located in south-central Oregon, east of the Cascades and near the California border. Most of Klamath County's 60,000 people live in these two urban areas, on or near the bed of Pluvial Lake Modoc, a large Pleistocene lake in Oregon and California. The sites of the two urban units are quite different; Klamath Falls is on a narrow channel of the old lake and part of the residential area is on hilly land. Altamont, by contrast, is almost entirely on the nearly level lake plain, with plenty of room to grow. Klamath Falls was founded in 1867 and had almost stopped growing by 1930. Altamont grew rapidly after 1930, equaled the parent city in population by 1970, and surpassed it in 1980. The juxtaposition of these units presents some unique geographic and administrative problems.