Austin is an unincorporated community located in the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest on Route 7 and is, like Bates, between Sumpter and Austin Junction. At its height, Austin acted as an important logging community for the Oregon Lumber Company and an integral supply depot for the current ghost towns of Susanville and Galena until Bates was constructed a mile away. While the construction of Bates did not cause Austin to decline, the decline of Bates and the disappearance of the mining towns Austin supplied caused the town to fall into decline as well.