Biohazard Cleanup Near South Spray Spray, OR

Spray is a city in Wheeler County, Oregon, along the John Day River, nicknamed "The City by the River."

Spray was named for John Fremont Spray, the community's founder and first postmaster, and his wife, Mary E. Spray, and its post office was established in 1900.

In 1900, John Spray established a ferry to carry people across the John Day River and helped establish a school and a store in the community.

After Wheeler County was formed in 1899, Spray was suggested as a possible county seat, but a county-wide election in 1900 gave 436 votes to Fossil, 267 to Twickenham, and only 82 to Spray.

Spray became the last Wheeler County community to incorporate as a city, in 1958, with John Butler as its first mayor.

The 2020 census recorded 139 residents in Spray, down from 160 in 2010, and the 2010 census counted 69 households in the town.

Spray covers 0.29 square miles of land at an elevation of 1,772 feet, where Oregon Route 19 and Oregon Route 207 overlap as they pass through town.

Spray lies about 30 miles southeast of Fossil along Route 19 and about 55 miles south of Heppner along Route 207.

Spray's highest recorded temperature was 116 degrees Fahrenheit in 2007, and its lowest was minus 26 degrees Fahrenheit in 1962.

Spray features an annual half marathon and rodeo on Memorial Day weekend, with the half marathon running from Service Creek to downtown Spray and the rodeo continuing on Sunday.