As Bend edged toward 80 years old, the town was facing a drastic shift from an industrial town to a recreational one after the shutdown of Brooks-Scanlon Mill in 1983 because of dwindling lumber sources. In the subsequent decade, Bend’s population didn’t change much, growing slightly over the decade, 17,000 to 20,000 from 1980 to […]
Old Timers Issue
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OLD TIMERS: The 1980s
Jim Fields, owner of Fields Farm, located on the east side of Bend, has seen the neighborhood surrounding his approximate 10 acres transform from a rural landscape into urban living space. The earthy island of greenery and compost piles is now bordered by houses that have overtaken what were once fields and orchards. Just across […]
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OLD TIMERS: The Changing Face of Bend
As the largest city in the state’s fastest growing county—Deschutes County’s population jumped more than 36 percent between 2000 and 2010—Bend and its demographics are also changing at a rapid pace. Today’s Bendite is increasingly likely to be young, female, multi-racial, politically independent and employed in the service industry. For our Old Timers Issue, meet […]
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The Old Timers Issue
A look back, to see forward
Face it, if you moved to Bend after 1990, you are a newcomer. There is a distinct before and after for Central Oregon’s hub, a time before one out of five jobs were supporting the housing boom here, as realtors or construction workers, and a time before you needed all your fingers and toes to […]
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OLD TIMERS: The 1930s
Bend remained festive throughout the era of the Great Depression, seeing its first Pet Parade and Bend Water Pageant. It also saw the opening of Erickson’s grocery and the Pine Tavern during the 1930s. Carmen Capell is a second-generation Bendite; her father moved here in 1915, and she is mom to city councilor Mark Capell. […]
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OLD TIMERS: The 1940s
In the 1940s, Bend was abuzz with military activity thanks to nearby Fort Abbot (now Sunriver), the Redmond airbase, and military maneuvers staged on the high desert. Despite all the commotion, it was still a small town, with few paved roads and no traffic lights. Shirley Ray, 87, recalls a time when every face was […]
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OLD TIMERS: Bend Historical Timeline
Bend Historical Timeline 1920s- Population: 5,415 June 1920- First airplane crosses Cascades March 1922- St. Charles opens on “water tank hill” July 1922- First car drives up Pilot Butte May 1928- Frank T. Johns, national leader of the Socialist Party and candidate for president, drowns in Mirror Pond in attempt to save drowning boy April […]
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OLD TIMERS: The 1950s
In the 1950s, Bend, like so many American towns, was enjoying a lull between the upheaval of World War II and the radical social changes of the 1960s. Polly Gervais Jacobson, 79, reflects on the changes she’s witnessed since those “mellow” times. Source Weekly: When did you move to Bend? Polly Gervais Jacobson: We moved to […]
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OLD TIMERS: The 1960s
The 1960s were a thriving time for small-town Bend. Lumber production was on the rise, the population remained steady and downtown was bustling. Although the once booming Pilot Butte Inn fell into disrepair and was demolished just months after being added to the historic registry of buildings in 1973, the 1960s marked the addition of […]