Vanished Towns of Benton County, Oregon, Pt. 2
The three towns (Bruce, Dusty, and Fern) that were the subject of the previous story were not the only ones which the 1902 map showed but which do not appear today. Another such town is Granger which, as this ticket shows, was located along the Oregon Pacific Railroad between Corvallis and Albany. The railroad began […]
Vanished Towns of Benton County, Oregon
The map above, one of many in the historical society’s collection, dates from 1902. Some parts look familiar, such as the rivers and highway 20. What is unusual are the names Bruce, Dusty, Fern– places which no longer exist under those names. This envelope in the collection proves the existence of at least one of […]
Father’s Day
June 16 is Father’s Day. The idea of a day on which to honor one’s father and fathers in general was first proposed by Sonora Smart Dodd in Spokane, Washington in 1910. Periodically, others also suggested this parallel to Mother’s Day. By the 1930s, people regularly celebrated it on the third Sunday in June but […]
Maypole
The sun shines. Temperatures rise. Flowers bloom. Spring has arrived. For centuries, this event has been a cause for celebration. In many cultures this took the form of a festival on May 1. In other cultures, the celebration was in June. Such festivals frequently featured games, pageants, and the crowning of a young woman as […]
Continued: Bill Dixon’s Recollections of Kings Valley, Oregon
This post continues selections from the 2001 interview with Bill Dixon. Dixon, who was born in 1927, was the son of Virgil and Martie Plunkett Dixon, the grandson of Henry Plunkett and the great grandson of Ashna and James Plunkett. Ashna was thought to be the first white child born in Kings Valley (in 1847). […]
Bill Dixon’s Recollections of Kings Valley, Oregon
One of the many documents in the Benton County Historical Society archive is a write-up of a 2001 interview with Bill Dixon. Dixon, who was born in 1927, was the son of Virgil and Martie Plunkett Dixon, the grandson of Henry Plunkett and the great grandson of Ashna and James Plunkett. Ashna was thought to […]
Featured Artifact: Jim The Fix’r sign
This neon sign is on exhibit in the entry hall of the Corvallis Museum. Originally, the sign indicated the site of the Jim the Fix’r store at 115 NW Second Street in Corvallis. The shape of the sign indicated that owner Lawrence E. “Axel” Howard was a locksmith and sold locks and keys. The “fix’r” […]