Oregon Nursery Company

Last updated
Oregon Nursery Company
Industry Plant nursery
FateBankrupt
Founded1867
Defunct1927
Headquarters Orenco, Oregon, U.S.A.
Key people
Malcolm McDonald; Archibald McGill
ProductsFruits, nuts, berries, and nursery stock
Number of employees
150

The Oregon Nursery Company (also known as Orenco) was a nursery company founded and originally operated in Salem, Oregon, United States. The company later expanded to a site in Washington County, Oregon west of Portland. The entire operation was eventually moved to Washington County, where the company founded the town of Orenco. The company went bankrupt in 1927. Its legacy is the Orenco place name that is still widely used in the Hillsboro area.

Salem, Oregon State capital city in Oregon, United States

Salem is the capital of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, which runs north through the city. The river forms the boundary between Marion and Polk counties, and the city neighborhood of West Salem is in Polk County. Salem was founded in 1842, became the capital of the Oregon Territory in 1851, and was incorporated in 1857.

Oregon State of the United States of America

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region on the West Coast of the United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. The parallel 42° north delineates the southern boundary with California and Nevada. Oregon is one of only three states of the contiguous United States to have a coastline on the Pacific Ocean.

United States Federal republic in North America

The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States or America, is a country comprising 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles. With a population of over 327 million people, the U.S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the largest city by population is New York City. Forty-eight states and the capital's federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico. The State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U.S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The extremely diverse geography, climate, and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries.

Contents

History

The Capital City Nursery company was founded by 1867. [1] It originally operated from a site in Salem just east of the Willamette University campus, along State Street. The company changed its name to the Oregon Nursery Company in 1896 to reflect its expanding business. By 1904, the company was one of the largest nursery companies in the country, shipping nursery stock throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico. It was well known enough that Luther Burbank chose the company to propagate his Maynard plum and introduce it into the market. [2]

Willamette University private university located in Salem, Oregon

Willamette University is a private liberal arts college in Salem, Oregon. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest university in the Western United States. Willamette is a member of the Annapolis Group of colleges, and is made up of an undergraduate College of Liberal Arts and post-graduate schools of business and law. The university is a member of the NCAA's Division III Northwest Conference and was featured in Loren Pope's Colleges That Change Lives. Willamette's mascot is the bearcat and old gold and cardinal are the school colors. Approximately 2,800 students are enrolled at Willamette between the graduate and undergraduate programs. The school employs over 200 full-time professors on the 60-acre (240,000 m2) campus located across the street from the Oregon State Capitol.

Canada Country in North America

Canada is a country in the northern part of North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering 9.98 million square kilometres, making it the world's second-largest country by total area. Canada's southern border with the United States, stretching some 8,891 kilometres (5,525 mi), is the world's longest bi-national land border. Its capital is Ottawa, and its three largest metropolitan areas are Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. As a whole, Canada is sparsely populated, the majority of its land area being dominated by forest and tundra. Consequently, its population is highly urbanized, with over 80 percent of its inhabitants concentrated in large and medium-sized cities, with 70% of citizens residing within 100 kilometres (62 mi) of the southern border. Canada's climate varies widely across its vast area, ranging from arctic weather in the north, to hot summers in the southern regions, with four distinct seasons.

Mexico Country in the southern portion of North America

Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and to the east by the Gulf of Mexico. Covering almost 2,000,000 square kilometres (770,000 sq mi), the nation is the fifth largest country in the Americas by total area and the 13th largest independent state in the world. With an estimated population of over 120 million people, the country is the tenth most populous state and the most populous Spanish-speaking state in the world, while being the second most populous nation in Latin America after Brazil. Mexico is a federation comprising 31 states and Mexico City, a special federal entity that is also the capital city and its most populous city. Other metropolises in the state include Guadalajara, Monterrey, Puebla, Toluca, Tijuana and León.

By the early 1890s the Oregon Nursery Company was being run by two Canadian Scots, Malcolm McDonald and Archibald McGill. In 1896, the partners decided to expand their operation into the Portland area. They purchased 640 acres (2.6 km2) of farm land in rural Washington County 17 miles (27 km) west of Portland, in what is now Hillsboro. When a fire destroyed the company's packing plant in Salem in 1905, the entire business was moved to Washington County. [3]

The first building to be built at the Washington County site was a 2-acre (8,100 m2) packing shed, the largest building of its kind in the country. Because of its size the building was the home of the Washington County Fair for many years. Over the next several years, McDonald and McGill purchased additional farm land adjacent to their nursery, expanding the company's property to 1,200 acres (4.9 km2). Most of the land was quickly planted with fruit trees, nut trees, shade trees, berries, and other nursery stock. In 1909, the company built a new office next to the packing shed. That same year, the Oregon Electric Railway opened a line to the Oregon Nursery Company site, offering the opportunity to further expand the company's business. [3] [4]

Washington County Fair (Oregon)

The Washington County Fair is an annual event held at the Washington County Fairgrounds in Hillsboro, Oregon, United States. The fair includes amusement rides, live entertainment, livestock exhibits, and other exhibits. It is held during the last weekend of July.

Oregon Electric Railway

The Oregon Electric Railway (OE) was an interurban railroad line in the U.S. state of Oregon that linked Portland to Eugene. Service from Portland to Salem began in January 1908. The Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway purchased the system in 1910, and extended service to Eugene in 1912. Regular passenger service in the Willamette Valley ended in May 1933. Freight operations continued and the railway survived into the 1990s, ultimately as a Burlington Northern feeder. Operation as an electric railroad ended July 10, 1945.

During that time, the company began sponsoring Hungarian immigrant families into the area to add to its workforce. To accommodate its workers, the company built residential homes, utilities, a school, and a church. It also encouraged small businesses to locate in the area. As a result, the town of Orenco was founded in 1908. The town name was an acronym for ORE-gon N-ursery CO-mpany. By 1910, the town population had reached 500, and a fire department was organized. The Orenco city hall was finished in 1912. The city of Orenco was officially incorporated on 6 January 1913, and Malcolm McDonald was elected the city's first mayor. [4]

In 1913, the Oregon Nursery Company was at its peak of production and sales. Its 1,200 acres (4.9 km2) were covered with millions of trees and shrubs, and its nursery stock was in great demand. On 21 June 1913, the company hosted a national horticultural event that brought three hundred nurserymen from around the country to visit the Orenco operation. A special train carried the attended from Portland to Orenco. A grand banquet was served in the packing shed, to impress the guests with the size of the building and show off company's modern processing and distribution facilities. [4]

Before 1916, the company had expanded production significantly, anticipating a move into the European agriculture market. The company planted more than a million apple trees specifically for that purpose. However, the outbreak of World War I ended any hope of selling nursery stock in Europe for many years. As a result of slow moving inventory that cost money to maintain and increasing competition from other nurseries, the company began losing money. It filed for bankruptcy and was dissolved in 1927. [3]

When the company closed, the city of Orenco lost its only large employer. Some families started small nurseries of their own, but most moved away looking for work elsewhere. In 1938, eight Orenco residents, representing the community's remaining families, voted to dissolve the city government. [3] [4]

Products

The Oregon Nursery Company had numerous nursery products. Over the years, the company introduced and marketed a number of new varieties of fruits, nuts, and berries. The company sold millions of plants. [1] During one week in 1909, a single Orenco salesman sold over 17,000 prune trees to farmers around in the central Willamette Valley community of Dallas, Oregon. [5]

Legacy

Today, the Orenco town site along with the rest of the Oregon Nursery Company property is part of Hillsboro, a suburb west of Portland. The house Malcolm McDonald built is a local landmark. It is sometimes called the McDonald-Russell House after McDonald, its first owner, and Eugene Russell who lived in the house while operating the Orenco Woods Golf Course in the 1960s. The house is now the House of Ruth, a home for single mothers. Archibald McGill's house, often called the McGill-Pitman House, still exists. It is also well known in the area. [4]

Today, the Orenco place name is widely used in the Hillsboro area. A major development on the old nursery land is called Orenco Station . One of the Hillsboro stops on the MAX Blue Line light-rail is Orenco/Northwest 231st Avenue . [8] According to the Hillsboro Chamber of Commerce and the Orenco Station Business Owners Association, many Hillsboro businesses still use the Orenco name including retail stores, apartments complexes, at least four restaurants, three banks, a number of professional offices, and a real estate company. In addition, the former Orenco Woods Golf Course is built on land once owned by the Oregon Nursery Company. [4] [9] [10] There is also an Orenco Elementary School in the Hillsboro School District. [11]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Mendelson, Kathy, "Apples: Orenco" (source: Oregon Nursery Company, Descriptive Catalogue of Fruit and Ornamental Trees, 8th ed., Orenco, Oregon: Oregon Nursery Company, 1913), Pacific Northwest Garden History, 4 August 2008.
  2. 1 2 Meyering, Joan Marie Toni, "Nurseries", Salem Online History, Salem Public Library, Salem, Oregon, 2006
  3. 1 2 3 4 Charles, John A. and Michael Barton, "The early settlement of Orenco", The Mythical World of Transit-Oriented Development Light Rail and the Orenco Neighborhood, Cascade Policy Institute, Hillsboro, Oregon, April 2003.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Slater, Frances, "Orenco History", Welcome to Award Winning Orenco Station, www.orencostation.net, Orenco Station Business Owners Association, Hillsboro, Oregon, 2006.
  5. ↑ "Local Happenings", Falls City News, Fall City, Oregon, 4 August 1909.
  6. ↑ "Plums", Greenmantle Nursery, Garberville, California, 2005.
  7. ↑ Cooper, J.C., "Varieties", Walnut Growing in Oregon, Passenger Department, Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company, Southern Pacific Company, Portland, Oregon, 1910, p. 41.
  8. ↑ Charles, John A. and Michael Barton, "Executive Summary", The Mythical World of Transit-Oriented Development Light Rail and the Orenco Neighborhood, Cascade Policy Institute, Hillsboro, Oregon, April 2003.
  9. ↑ "Relocating to Hillsboro", Greater Hillsboro Area Chamber of Commerce, Hillsboro, Oregon, 2008.
  10. ↑ Suh, Elizabeth. "Old Orenco braces for new way of life", The Oregonian , 6 September 2007.
  11. ↑ "Orenco Elementary School", Elementary Schools, Hillsboro School District, Hillsboro, Oregon, 10 September 2008.
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