Pendleton, Oregon

Pendleton is a city located in Umatilla County, Oregon. Pendleton was named in 1868 by the county commissioners for George H. Pendleton, Democratic candidate for Vice-President in the 1864 presidential campaign. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 16,354. It is the county seat of Umatilla County{{GR|6}}.

History

A commercial center in the locality of Pendleton began as early as 1851 when Dr. William C. McKay established a trading post at the mouth of McKay Creek. A Post Office with the name of Marshall (named for the owner of another local store, and sometime gambler) was established April 21, 1865, and later renamed Pendleton. The city was incorporated in 1880.

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By 1900, Pendleton had a population of 4,406 and was the fourth-largest city in Oregon. Like many cities in eastern Oregon, it had a flourishing Chinatown from the 1880s into the 1920s.

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Pendleton Woolen Mills, founded in 1893, is known world-wide as a maker of fine Indian trading blankets and men's plaid shirts. http://www.pendleton-usa.com/index.cfm?action=about

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In addition to the woolen mills, Pendleton is also famous for its annual rodeo, the Pendleton Round-Up. First held in 1910, it is part of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) sanctioned rodeo circuit.

Related Topics:
Rodeo - Pendleton Round-Up - Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association

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In addition Pendleton had a noted red light district, which as late as 1947 counted 20 brothels in the heart of the city. While the threat of a Presbyterian minister in 1953 to read in church a list of names of patrons of the city's brothels closed the district, one survivor, Stella Darby continued to operate her establishment until she retired in 1965. The four blocks that this red-light district once covered is now the "old town" of Pendleton, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Related Topics:
Red light district - Brothel - Presbyterian - Stella Darby - National Register of Historic Places

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