Welcome to Van ...

Van is located in Harney County<1>.

The location of Van has been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (ie- the GNIS).<2>

While we don't have a date for the founding of Van, you might get a feel for it by knowing that during our research the earliest mention that we found (so far) was in a book dated 1895.

Van is 4,120 feet [1,256 m] above sea level.<3> In other words, the altitude of Van is about ¾ mile [or 1¼ km] above sea level.

Time Zone: Van lies in the Pacific Time Zone (PST/PDT) and observes daylight saving time

Note: If you travel east from Van, you will leave Pacific Time and cross into the Mountain Time Zone (MST/MDT).

Telephone area codes for Van: (541) and (458)<4>

Communities Also Named Van ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 14 communities that are also named Van - they are located in Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio (2), Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Van.

Communities near Van ...

We have created a list of 3 communities that are near Van.

• Seneca
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Seneca have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seneca
  • Seneca is located in Grant County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 225 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Seneca <5>
• Drewsey
  (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drewsey
  • Drewsey is located in Harney County
  • Former names for Drewsey:
  • Drusy
  • Gouge Eye
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Drewsey <5>
• Canyon City
  (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Canyon City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canyon City
  • Canyon City is located in Grant County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 659 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Canyon City <5>

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Van. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Van.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Van. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Van.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Van. See our Newspapers Page for Van.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Van ...

Looking for more information about Van? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

While we are unaware of a Tourism page that is specific to Van, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for Van.

Adding Van to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Van in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Van was in the book titled Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Van.

Off-the-Road Links ...

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Van. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Harney County: www.co.harney.or.us/

The official website for State of Oregon: https://www.oregon.gov/