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This is a major update of my original Google Maps “Historic Oregon” file.
Download here
About forty new towns were added. I’ve also separated them out by Category instead of just alphabetical listing. More battles and military sites have been added, along with some general spell checking and links to web pages with information about the site.
This statue is called “Allow Me” and was created by J. Seward Johnson. It sits in Pioneer Square near the Max station. Locals simply call it the “Umbrella Man.” As in, “Meet me at 6 by the Umbrella Man.”
It apparently has siblings though, one in Philadelphia on Broad and 15th, and another somewhere in New England with an yet to be determined location.
I’m amazed at how much more you see when you walk or bike around. I like to call this Micro Tourism, you get to see so much in your neighborhood that you never notice from within a car. This sign for instance has been laying here on the ground for at least three years. It simply gets mowed over and forgotten. I have to wonder why it has not been put back up. Laziness? Lack of knowledge of it’s demise? Is it even appropriate any longer?
On the same token, further down the street we have an old drier sitting outside an appliance store which itself is on a side street. It’s been made into a flower pot and looks just beautiful.
Then there is this gorgeous rock retaining wall in North East Portland. Odds of seeing this from a car are near zero. But walking along we found it quiet easily.
Here is version 1.0 of my “Historic Oregon” Google Earth file. Included in this file are Ghost Towns, Locations of Historic Events, Locations of Forts and Camps, lighthouses, Missions, Indian Battles, Historical Markers, Heritage Trees(coming soon,) Shipwrecks, and Native American Tribes (coming soon too,) and remaining covered bridges. In other words, pretty much anything of historical interest.
There is about 100 hours of work into this file. It could not have been done without much dependence on the following resources:
Fort Wiki
Ghost Towns.Com
Google
Covered Bridge Society of Oregon
www.markeroni.com
National Register of Historic Places
Oregon Travel Council Heritage Programs
And most importantly, Oregon Geographic Names by Lewis A. McArthur which is based off his father’s work.
This is a HUGE file and is roughly 25% complete by my estimate so it may take a while to load. If you have any information about locations please email rick@hamell.net and I’ll add it in with proper credit. New versions will be released to this page. Please feel free to redistribute it, but I would appreciate a link back here if you do.
Note on Ghost Town Classifications.
I found this to be a very handy guide but had to expand it. I added a Class H which is the same as a Class D, but with few original buildings. I also added a number guide to give an idea of the town’s main purpose during it’s peak population.
Ghost Town Classifications:
Class A: barren site
Class B: rubble and/or roofless building ruins
Class C: standing abandoned buildings (with roofs), no population, except maybe a caretaker.
Class D: semi/near ghost towns. A small resident population, many abandoned buildings.
Class E: busy historic community, yet still much smaller than in its boom years.
Class F: Not a stand-alone class, but an addition to any of the above. This class usually designates a restored town, state park, or indicates some other “additional” status.
Class G: the town joined or was absorbed by a neighboring thriving city.
Class H: Same as Class D, with no or very few original buildings
Originating Purpose:
1.) Mineral Explotation
2.) Agriculural or Live Stock
3.) Timber
4.) Shipping or Travel Depoe, Stage Coach Station, Train Station
5.) Religious or idelogical
6.) Recreation and Service (Saloon Towns)
Thus a towns classification of B1 means an abandoned gold town with a few traces of buildings and other structures such as mine entrances.
Classifications are assigned by myself based on direct observation of the town, or best guess based on Google Maps and Internet searches. Many towns main economic activity changed multiple times during their lifetimes. In these cases the first or largest is used for the classification.
****10/13/09 Updated
I have added a HUGE amount of more information to this. Many new towns, Cemetaries, Civilian Conservation Corps Projects, Events, Early Explorers, Musuems, Native American Tribal grounds and camps, and much more. Again, please be sure to email me rick@hamell.net with any updates and corrections you might have.
