Nolin is an unincorporated community

Unincorporated area

In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

 in Umatilla County

Umatilla County, Oregon

Umatilla County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is included in the 8 county definition of Eastern Oregon. The county is named for the Umatilla River. In 2010, its population was 75,889...

, Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

, United States. Nolin is about eight miles southeast of Echo

Echo, Oregon

Echo is a city in Umatilla County, Oregon, United States. The population was 650 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Pendleton–Hermiston Micropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...

, next to the Umatilla River

Umatilla River

The Umatilla River is an tributary of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Oregon. Draining a basin of , it enters the Columbia near the city of Umatilla in the northeastern part of the state...

. At one time the area was known as "Happy Canyon". Adam "Ad" W. Nye, a settler of the 1860s, named the Nolin area Happy Canyon, for the spirit of the people who lived there. The name was later adopted by Pendleton Round-Up

Pendleton Round-Up

The Pendleton Round-Up is a rodeo held in Pendleton, Oregon, United States, during the second full week of September each year, since 1910. The rodeo brings roughly 50,000 people every year to the city of Pendleton...

 for its indoor show in commemoration of this time. Nye was County Sheriff from 1872-74. The nearby community of Nye

Nye, Oregon

Nye is an unincorporated community in Umatilla County, Oregon, United States. It is located about eight miles west of Pilot Rock, at the junction of U.S. Route 395 and Oregon Route 74....

 was named for him.

At one time Nolin had a post office, a store, and a school. Nolin also has a cemetery. An Oregon Railway and Navigation Company (now Union Pacific) railroad line was built through Nolin, crossing the Umatilla River on a steel bridge constructed in 1907.

The Cunningham Sheep Ranch, founded in the 1880s by Charles Cunningham, is based in Nolin. It was once one of the largest sheep-raising operations in the United States. Today it raises rambouillet

Rambouillet (sheep)

The Rambouillet is also known as the Rambouillet Merino or the French Merino. The development of the Rambouillet breed started in 1786 when Louis XVI purchased over three hundred Spanish Merinos from his cousin, King Charles III of Spain...

 sheep.

External links

• Historic images of Nolin from the Oregon State University
  Oregon State University
  Oregon State University is a coeducational, public research university located in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. The university offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees and a multitude of research opportunities. There are more than 200 academic degree programs offered through the...
  
   Extension Service
• Images of trains on the Union Pacific at Nolin from Railpictures.net
• Panorama of Nolin from Flickr, including Cunningham Sheep Company grain elevator
  Grain elevator
  A grain elevator is a tower containing a bucket elevator, which scoops up, elevates, and then uses gravity to deposit grain in a silo or other storage facility...
  
  
• Images of Nolin from Flickr