Author's Entries

• Benson Bubblers

  At the turn of the twentieth century, logging magnate Simon Benson was reportedly tired of his loggers drinking alcohol to excess while in Portland. To quench their thirst, he decided to install a number of continuously running water fountains. Benson donated $10,000 to the city for what would become …

  Oregon Encyclopedia

• Boardman

  Boardman, located on the Columbia River in northeastern Oregon, is named for Samuel Boardman, the state’s first full-time superintendent of state parks. Boardman homesteaded the land in 1903, and he planted trees in the area along the highway. Eventually, that practice became the policy of the Oregon Highway Commission …

  Oregon Encyclopedia

• Jane Sherar (1848-1907) and Joseph Sherar (1833-1908)

  Jane and Joseph Sherar, early settlers in central Oregon, were responsible for the construction of Sherar's Bridge, which crosses the Deschutes River southwest of Grass Valley in Wasco County and is now part of Highway 216. Born in Vermont on November 16, 1833, Joseph Sherar headed west to California in …

  Oregon Encyclopedia

• Obo Addy (1936-2012)

  Obo Addy, a celebrated Ghanian drummer and dancer, lived in Portland for over thirty years and taught at Lewis & Clark College. Addy helped popularize a genre known as worldbeat, a combination of European and African musical traditions. Born in 1936 in Accra, the capital of Ghana, Addy was …

  Oregon Encyclopedia

• Silver Falls State Park

  Silver Falls State Park, located about twenty miles southeast of Salem, is the largest state park in Oregon. The 9,064-acre park is notable for its numerous waterfalls, the tallest of which is Double Falls, at 178 feet. The best-known falls in the park is South Falls, at 177 feet. The …

  Oregon Encyclopedia