History walk to explore Klamath’s falls

A walking history tour to explore the falls on Link River for which Klamath Falls was named will be offered by the Klamath County Museum at 8:30 a.m. Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 12-13.

The free walk will begin at the south end of the Link River Trail, behind the Favell Museum.

The Museum will also present a program on the subject of the falls at 7:00 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 17.

“One hundred years ago this month, a committee of the Chamber of Commerce proposed dropping the word ‘falls’ from the town’s name to avoid confusion,” said Todd Kepple, museum director for Klamath County.

“This weekend we’ll examine why the town’s name was changed from Linkville to Klamath Falls in the 1890s, and why the name change has caused headaches for some people ever since.”

Several community leaders got behind the proposal to drop the word “falls” in the 1920s, but no action was taken by city officials.

“For more than a century, people in Klamath Falls have been pretty muddled about the state of our falls,” Kepple said. “We’ll unpack the issue to help people know how to respond to questions about how to find the falls.”

This weekend’s walk will cover up to a mile along the Link River Trail.

The program on Aug. 17 will be presented in the back meeting room of the Klamath County Museum, 1451 Main St. To request a Zoom invite, send an email to museuminfo@klamathcounty.org, or call (541) 882-1000.

For more information contact the museum at (541) 882-1000.