It is southeast of Maupin and northwest of Shaniko along Bakeoven Creek, a tributary of the Deschutes River.

[2] Bakeoven was named for a clay and stone oven built in 1862 to make bread to sell to miners traveling along a trail from The Dalles to gold mines near Canyon City.

The baker was said to have been a trader with a pack train of flour whose horses were driven off in the night by Native Americans.

[3] In 1905, the community, at the intersection of two stagecoach roads, had a post office, a hotel, general merchandise store, and a blacksmith shop.

[5] A Bake Oven (two words) post office was established in 1875, and Ellen Burgess was the first postmaster.