Hermiston history

Published 8:05 pm Thursday, July 31, 2014

1900s Hermiston was founded in 1904, when a pair of entrepreneurs named Horace Greely Skinner and William Newport filed a 40-acre townsite plat on Nov. 23, 1904. Two days later Maxwell Land and Irrigation Company filed a second townsite plat for the opposite side of the railroad tracks, setting up a rivalry that would split Hermiston for decades.

Hermiston grew in leaps and bounds during the first six years of its existence, spurred by construction of a government-funded reservoir and irrigation system. By 1910 the town was fully established with a school, post office, bank and other services.

The results of Hermiston’s first city council election in 1907 ended up in a court battle between the competing townsites and several subsequent elections also had to be determined in court.

1910s In 1911 residents of Hermiston and surrounding areas engaged in a fierce debate about whether to extend the Umatilla irrigation system that had spurred much of the towns growth into Morrow County. Eventually local authorities endorsed the project, which experienced years of delays due to arguments over speculation and water rights.

Hermiston continued to provide new services, including daytime electricity, a telephone company, a public library and a volunteer fire department.

During the 1910s Hermiston’s output of crops, especially alfalfa, was bountiful despite a long-running battle against crop-destroying rabbits that resulted in residents shooting and poisoning them by the thousands during regular rabbit drives.

1920s During the days of prohibition, Hermiston law enforcement was doing constant battle with moonshiners, who did good business in the area especially during the Pendleton Round-Up.

Companies drilling for oil in the first part of the decade stirred up excitement and hope in Hermiston but was ultimately a disappointment. Still, the 1920s were characterized by peace and prosperity for Hermiston.

1930s As the Great Depression hit its stride, prices of agricultural goods plummeted, reaching as little as one fourth of a cent per pound for potatoes, and local farmers were forced to survive mostly on a barter system. The rabbits that had for so many years been a curse turned into a blessing as farmers sold their meat and pelts to the Chinese in Portland for 15 cents per rabbit.

Unemployment in Hermiston ran high but was eased somewhat by CWA programs and a 200-man Civilian Conservation Corps camp in Stanfield in 1935. Voters approved a new $70,000 high school building that was completed in 1936.

In 1939 a Hermiston Boy Scout named Bill Belt announced his candidacy for the 1964 election for President of the United States, drawing the attention of the national media to Hermiston for the first time.

1940s The 1940 census placed Hermiston’s population at 803. As the United States confronted the possibility of entering World War II, the government seized 4,640 acres near Hermiston for construction of a munitions depot with the promise of hiring more than 200 civilians to help run the depot.

By September 1941 there were 6,500 men employed in building the depot, mostly living in tents, and the housing situation was desperate. Businesses were strained to the max and crime shot up. Even after the depot was completed, Hermiston’s population remained above 3,000.

The mid-1940s were marked by intense wartime conservation efforts, patriotism and suspicion of Umatilla County residents of Japanese descent. After the war was over the area continued to experience growth as workers once again flooded the area for construction of the McNary Dam.

1950s In 1951, construction of McNary Dam was in full swing and construction of the Hinkle rail terminal wrapped up, creating significant advances in the areas industrial development. Hermiston issued more than one million dollars in building permits that year alone.

Good Shepherd Hospital was dedicated in 1954 after decades of transporting all patients to Pendleton for emergency medical care. In 1955, Hermiston residents began receiving television for the first time, and a bridge across the Columbia River at Umatilla was dedicated.

In 1957, Leander Quiring became the first state senator from Hermiston. On Feb. 2, 1959, the Junior Chamber of Commerce selected future city councilor and mayor Frank Harkenrider as Outstanding Young Man of Hermiston.

1960s The 1960 census pegged Hermiston’s population at 4,397. Builders in the early 1960s once again could not keep pace with the housing demand.

Police Chief William Silvey and a patrolman were suddenly relieved of their duties in 1965, and Silvey promptly filed suit against Mrs. Gerald McCoy for making false and defamatory statements that led to his firing. Later that year another officer was fired after accusing the new police chief of making improper arrests and mistreating suspects.

Hermiston became the center of national controversy in 1969 over a proposed shipment of nerve gas from Okinawa to the Umatilla Army Depot. Hermiston residents supported the shipment as a way to promote the depots continued existence but the plan was adamantly opposed by much of the rest of the country, including Oregon governor Tom McCall. In the end the nerve gas was not brought to Umatilla County.

1970s Hermiston welcomed Lamb-Weston to the city in 1971. Later a $20 million project doubled the size of the Hinkle rail yard. Citizens also rejoiced when Alumax announced plans to build an aluminum plant in 1975, but a series of obstacles, including environmental concerns, eventually derailed the project in 1984.

In the mid-1970s citizens pressed the city repeatedly to clean up the stretch of Highway 395 between Hermiston and Umatilla, calling it the five ugliest miles in Oregon.

Nerve gas leaks were found at the Umatilla Army Depot in 1979 but the public was assured there was no danger.

1980s A growing drug problem and resulting raids made headlines with increasing frequency in the 1980s. In 1982 a sting operation by police posing as job interviewers ended the interview with a request for drugs. It sparked a series of protests in McKenzie Park. Citizens decried the sting as entrapment, and the city eventually settled a lawsuit with the 10 people ensnared in the operation.

In 1985 Hermiston School District told the city it wanted the Umatilla County Fairgrounds for future expansion of the high school; early plans were formed to move the fairgrounds out of town in what would eventually be known as the Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center.

New public buildings such as Hermiston’s current public library and city hall were built in the 1980s.

1990s In 1992 more than 150 adults attended a meeting at Armand Larive Junior High to discuss a growing gang problem in Hermiston. Fights, graffiti, suspensions for bringing weapons to school, drive-by shootings and other signs of teenage gang activity increased throughout the decade.

In 1994, the city council voted to buy and renovate the old Safeway building for use as the Hermiston Community Center. Other development in the 1990s included the opening of a Wal-Mart, a Wal-Mart distribution center and a new water reservoir on the Hermiston Butte.

In 1995 a hailstorm raining chunks of ice as big as golf balls wiped out $37 million worth of crops around Hermiston, including all of the extension centers crops and two of its greenhouses.

In 1998 the mayor’s race caused some excitement when it was announced that Mayor Frank Harkenrider had lost by three votes to write-in candidate Rustin Brewer. A recount later declared Harkenrider the winner by two votes.

2000s In 2004 the U.S. Army began destruction of chemical weapons at the Umatilla Army Depot, marking the end of an era for Hermiston as the city lost one of its major employers.

Hermiston voters passed a bond in 2001 for a new high school and two new elementary schools; a second bond in 2008 replaced three more schools.

In 2010 Hermiston surpassed Pendleton in population, becoming Eastern Oregon’s largest city.

Information from this story was drawn from the Hermiston Herald and East Oregonian archives and Oasis in the Desert,a book by Ronald E. Ingle. Contact Jade McDowell at jmcdowell@eastoregonian.com or 541-564-4536.