Mitchell Map

Mitchell is a city in Wheeler County, Oregon, United States. The population was 170 at the 2000 census. It was founded in 1873 and was named after John H. Mitchell, a politician.

The Painted Hills unit of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument is about 9 miles (14 km) northwest of Mitchell. Mitchell School, a public school with an enrollment of about 70 students, is in Mitchell.

At the request of William "Brawdie" Johnson, a blacksmith, a post office was established at Mitchell in 1873. Johnson, the first postmaster, suggested the name Mitchell after John Hippple Mitchell, a U.S. Senator from Oregon. Senator Mitchell held the office in 1873–79, 1885–97, and 1901–05. Platted in 1885, the community was incorporated in 1893.