Oregon State...
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Oregon Counties
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Union County, Oregon
Union County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education
County Seat:
Year Organized:
Square Miles:
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Court House: 1001 Fourth St Suite
D
La Grande, OR 97850
Clerk: (541) 963-1006
Courts: (541) 962-9500 Ext. 232
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Named: Union County's name reflects the support of the people in this
area toward maintaining the United States during the Civil War.
State & County QuickFacts:
History
The population growth in eastern
Oregon during the early 1860s prompted the Legislative Assembly to split
Umatilla and Baker Counties from Wasco County on September 22, 1862. Further
development of the Grande Ronde Valley led to calls for the legislature to split
Union County from Baker County. This finally occurred on October 14, 1864. Union
County's name reflects the support of the people in this area toward maintaining
the United States during the Civil War.
Between 1875 and 1913, adjustments were made to Union County's borders with
Baker, Umatilla, and Wallowa Counties. Union County, lying between the Blue and
Wallowa Mountains, is bordered by Wallowa County on the east and north, Umatilla
County on the west, and Grant and Baker Counties on the south.
The establishment of a county seat resulted in competition, based on geography
and on economic and population growth, between La Grande and the city of Union.
The county seat moved between Union and La Grande until it was permanently
transferred to La Grande in 1905.
With each transfer of the county seat, there was a similar removal of the county
courthouse. The first courthouses were rented structures in Union and La Grande.
When the city of Union was designated as the county seat in 1874, the county's
records were quickly moved to a new brick courthouse in the area where Union
High School now stands. La Grande regained the county seat in 1905 and moved
into the courthouse that had been built the previous year as the city hall. The
courthouse was razed in 1996 and offices for the county clerk, assessor,
treasurer, and planning department were relocated to the nearby Chaplin
Building.
The government of Union County consisted originally of a county judge, two
county commissioners, clerk, sheriff, treasurer, assessor, school
superintendent, and coroner. It changed from a county court to a board of
commissioners in 1991.
The county historically has been a slow growth area. The first census of the
county in 1870 showed only 2,552 inhabitants. It has grown steadily and by 2000
the population was 24,530, representing an increase of 3.95% since 1990.
The initial economic interest in the area was mining, but most of the mines were
in the area annexed by Baker County in 1901. Over the years farming (wheat,
fruit, vegetables, and grass seeds), cattle, sheep raising, and timber replaced
mining as the primary economic forces in the county. Nearby mountains and
streams provide hunting, fishing, skiing, and camping opportunities.
Neighboring Counties:
Cities:
County Resources:
Enter County Resources and Information Here
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County Resource Guide
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The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we’ve given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the “characteristic features of
our country!”
But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn’t the only reason to explore counties’ role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.
Today’s counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990’s political slogan “Think globally, act locally.” |
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Penn Foster High School
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