Sumpter and Granite

Saturday, August 12, 2017

A drive in the mountains west from Baker City takes us along the Powder River slowly climbing into the mountains and passing the Phelps Reservoir with many recreation areas with campgrounds until we reach the old mining town of Sumpter.

Before reaching Sumpter, we drive down a short road to the railroad station at McEwen, the end of the line for the narrow gauge Sumpter Valley Railroad which runs between the towns of Sumpter and McEwen on designated weekends and for special events.  

The railway began in Baker City in 1890 to haul timber to McEwen and Sumpter.   Business declined in the 1930’s and by 1947 the railway had been abandoned.  In 1976 the first excursion train run by volunteers began its current six mile run.

The town of Sumpter was named for Fort Sumpter, South Carolina by five ex-Confederate soldiers who discovered gold in 1862.  The railroad reached Sumpter in 1896 and the town boomed with a population of 3,500 people and three dozen saloons.  On August 13, 1917 a fire raged through the town destroying 11 city blocks.  Fire and dwindling returns of gold led to the town’s demise. 

The town today has a population of 205 with a few restaurants, a motel, and a gas station plus some old historic buildings and homes.  Many of the old homes appear to be under renovation.  We stop to view the railroad station, take some pictures of the buildings then stop at this Working Dredge sitting along the river.  We had never seen such before and were intrigued with how it worked.

The Dredge was used for mining the river bed for gold.  It was called an expensive but powerful improvement over the shovel and rocker box.  Miners called it the “goose”.  It was fed at the front end, digested soil inside the dredge, keeping the gold it collected, then expelled excess soil    

out the back.  Interesting. 

Continuing for another 18 miles we drive this windy mountain two lane road again climbing and then descending into the town of Granite. 

 Albert Tabor discovered gold on July 4, 1862 and named the area Independence.  However, in 1876 the name was changed to Granite.  The town was the center of mining activity for over 60 years with over 40 registered gold mines at one time.  Today there is little in the way of business but it appears that many people have restored some of the old buildings and homes or built new ones.  Some of the old businesses have also been converted to homes though the signs on the outside reflect their original use.  Lots of ATV activity here.

We came upon this deer as we drove around.  Unfortunately, he/she never moved away from the post so it is part of the picture.

We return the way we came and are subjected to the first good rain we have seen since we left Albuquerque in late May.  It had pretty much stopped by the time we reached our RV but again came down quite hard as we ate our dinner.  At one point, I saw lightening and then nearly jumped out of my skin as a hard clap of thunder boomed directly overhead.  

Museums and Old Buildings and Homes

Friday, August 11, 2017

Adler House

The Adler House in Baker City is a beautiful restored home which was built in 1889 and was a Sears catalog kit home.  In 1899 it became the home of Carl Adler, his wife and three children and later was the home of son Leo until his death in 1993.  Leo Adler was a bachelor businessman and philanthropist who willed the house to the Baker County Museum Commission.   After probate of the will in 1994, renovation work began and the home was opened as the Adler House Museum in 1998.  It was not an easy transition as the house was in very poor condition but thanks to four local ladies, grant money, volunteer labor, garage sales, etc. the house was opened and provides a wonderful picture of life in this small town during the early 1900’s.   Below are several pictures from the inside of the home.

Driving around the residential areas turned up these few interesting old Victorian homes.

Heading back toward downtown we stop at the Baker Heritage Museum which is housed in an old 1921 Natatorium and Community Center located on the main street.   If you are not familiar with the word natatorium, it is a building containing a swimming pool usually with locker rooms and in this case steam room, meeting rooms and a maple floored ballroom.  It closed at the beginning of World War II and was used for other purposes and was finally abandoned until 1982 when it became the Oregon Trail Regional Museum which houses beautiful displays of memorabilia, furniture, equipment, photographs, etc. from the local area  We spent about an hour taking in the displays enjoying learning more about Oregon and Baker City. 

School Bus

Wheat Thresher

School Room

Old Laundry Room

Old Washing Machine

Skirt Hoop Form

Downtown Baker City is also full of old historic brick buildings from the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s.  A post office was established in 1866 and it was incorporated in 1874.  The city and county were named for U.S. Senator Edward D. Baker, the only sitting senator who was killed leading a charge in Virginia during the Civil War.  In 1900 it was the largest city between Salt Lake City and Portland and a trade center.  The city is situated between the Wallowa Mountains to the east and the Elkhorn Mountains (part of the Blue Mountains) to the west with the Powder River running through the middle of town on its was to the Snake River.

Buildings of note include the Geiser Grand Hotel, circa 1889 ; Baker Tower constructed in 1929 in the Art Deco style ; Bowen Bldg, c.1888 ; Bamburgr Building, c 1888; Mint Building, c.1889 ; and Pythian Castle, c. 1907 and many, many other buildings of the same time period.  

 

Grand Geiser Hotel

Baker Tower

Bowen Building

Bamburger Building

Mint Building

Pythian Castle

We really enjoyed seeing all these old buildings and museums today and look forward to getting out on the road out of town tomorrow to see what the countryside has to offer.    

Underground

Wednesday, August 9, 2017

  

Chinese laundry, Shamrock Card Room, Empire Ice Cream Parlor, Empire Meat Market, Prohibition Card Room, Duck Pin Bowling Alley, opium dens, Stella Darby and her working girls, and tunnels.  This is just a bit of what we saw today taking the Underground Tour here in Pendleton.

Our one and three quarter hour underground tour began above ground watching a video that explained a bit of the history of Pendleton

and the discovery of these underground tunnels and retail businesses that existed and ran about four square blocks  under the city from the river to the railroad tracks.  The underground was discovered when potholes began appearing in the downtown city streets in the 1980’s.  When they tried to fill them in, it was discovered that a whole little city of legal and illegal businesses had existed below ground connected by tunnels.   In the 1800’s there were two Pendleton’s, one above ground and one below.  The entire system no longer exists but a portion of it has been restored and run by a non profit organization.

The long and short of the story is that after the railroad was completed, the Chinese (who had been doing much of the building), were no longer welcome in town and/or on the streets of the city.  To facilitate the curfews and abuse, underground tunnels were built under the city and residences and  businesses of all kinds began to spring up there.  Our tour included only about a block or so of this once extensive system and we had a very knowledgeable and interesting young lady as our guide.

Tunnel

Closeup of wall built by Chinese

Metal tile ceiling found underground

Glass panels in sidewalk above to bring in light

Chinese living quarters underground

Bathroom in underground

Hop Sing Laundry

Shamrock Card Room

Bar in Shamrock Card Room

Pint ice cream carton

Empire Meat Market in the day

Empire Meat Market Underground

Window into an opium den

Finished with the underground, we walk around the front of the building to the “Stairway to Heaven”, 32 stairs that go to the upper floor of the building  to the famous “Cosy Rooms Brothel” run by Madam Stella Darby.  She ran the Brothel from 1928 to 1967 when she retired.  Stella paid her girls more than most working girls earned and taught the girls to budget money and save so they could escape the life as soon as possible.   This was the last brothel to close in the city.  All the others were closed in 1953.  Our tour here included the parlor where gentleman waited to see one of the girls, Stella’s own apartment, the “working rooms”, chapel, kitchen, laundry room, bathroom, and the girls personal bedrooms.  Much of the flooring and wallpaper is original.  

The "Madam"

The Hallway leading to the Working Girl Roooms

Gentlemen's Waiting Parlor

Sofa in the Madam's Private Living Room

The Working Girls Room

Brothel Kitchen

Brothel Laundry Room

Working Girls Private and Personal Bedroom

While the price of the tour was a bit high, $15 each, it was well worth the cost and very interesting.

Tomorrow we leave here for a 95 mile trip south to Baker City, OR where we will spend almost another week seeing the sites.  This is our ninth day of smoky air and we are hoping that we will find cleaner air further south.