A history of Irrigon,
since 1957
Postcards, papers and photographs of Irrigon from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗Irrigon is near the site of a former Columbia River landing called "Grande Ronde Landing" that vied with Umatilla Landing (Umatilla), 8 miles (13 km) upriver, for water-transportation business. Umatilla Landing prospered but Grande Ronde Landing did not; the latter was eventually renamed "Stokes". In 1903, a newspaper editor, Addison Bennett, renamed the community "Irrigon", a portmanteau assembled from "Irrigation" and "Oregon". Bennett, who saw irrigation as important to business in the city, published its first newspaper, the Oregon Irrigator, later renamed the Irrigon Irrigator.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowFinish Irrigon’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
1 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewDetail of barn in northern Oregon…, 1939: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Irrigon, decade by decade
LOCDetail of barn in northern Oregon. Irrigon, Morrow County, …1939
LOCType of hay derrick characteristic of Oregon landscape. Irr…1939
LOCDetail of railroad station painted "railroad yellow." Irrig…1939
LOCRoad leading to small farm in northern Oregon. Irrigon, Mor…1939
LOCCouple digging their sweet potatoes in the fall. Irrigon, M…1939
LOCDetail of old railroad station. Small farming town, populat…19391990s
Nothing in Irrigon is on the National Register yet
That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Irrigon has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Joseph Cunha Farmstead in Echo, 17.4 miles away.
Irrigon and the nearest listed places
How a place gets listed
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Detail of barn in northern Oregon. Irrigon, Morrow County, Oregon (1939) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom the Library of Congress (6). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.