Myrtle Creek

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#003399" TEXT="#080000" background="040c8c00erkjxk.jpg"> <div> <B>If this town has a claim to fame it is the myrtle wood trees. . .</B></div> <bR> <div> <B><IMG SRC="8f6aa700.jpg" border=0 width="170" height="368" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"> </B></div> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#0066CC" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#99CCFF" FACE="Arial" ><B>Small Town Oregon</B></FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#FFFF99" FACE="Arial" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#CC0000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT>  |     <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Small Town Oregon"><U>home</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id72.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Canyonville"><U>Canyonville</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id255.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Dillard"><U>Dillard</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id122.htm" 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every form imaginable that a tourist might buy.  Allen (one of your hosts) was raised here after being imported from Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, and survived.  This was logging country after world war II, but like so many other places the loggers just stripped the forests without much thought for tomorrow.  In the 60's and 70's the mills died.</FONT></div> <div>      When I-5 came through the engineers chose to put the freeway on the opposite side of the river.  That was in the 1950's and the population was about 1800 people.  With a population now of about 3100 the town shows some signs of life.  It is still hard to find a job there, but the town boasts a new golf course and a very nice downtown park on the site of the old plywood mill.  Main street is a classic American strip with a couple of pretty good antique stores.</div> <bR> <div> Ed Cadman recently sent me some photos of the demolition of the Myrtle Creek High School gym in 2007.  They are linked below:</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id554.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Myrtle Creek gym1"><U>Myrtle Creek gym1</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id555.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Looking up hill"><U>Looking up hill</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id556.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Nothing but the foot print"><U>Nothing but the foot print</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id557.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Myrtle Creek hills"><U>Myrtle Creek hills</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id558.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Myrtle Creek Elementary"><U>Myrtle Creek Elementary</U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <A HREF="http://maps.expedia.com/pub/agent.dll?qscr=mmvw&msds=95F7A7A6$E4$FE$36w$F0$FC$36w94!L0$0C0Myrtle.Creek20OR!60!4$FF000!8$FF!60$2A$3F$25$BE$C5$84E$40I$90$21$32r$D1$5E$C0$190001000$C24006$9F$10!60$14000!4$FF!I010" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://maps.expedia.com/pub/agent.dll?qs"><U>Area Map</U></A>      <A HREF="http://maps.expedia.com/pub/agent.dll?qscr=mmvw&msds=8072B8B6$E4$FE$36w$F0$FC$36w94!L0$0C0Myrtle.Creek20OR!60!4$FF000!8$FF!60$2A$3F$25$BE$C5$84E$40I$90$21$32r$D1$5E$C060001000$C24006$9F$10!60$14000!4$FF00!6U5$C0!60$10$C010" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://maps.expedia.com/pub/agent.dll?qs"><U>Street Map</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="8d080e00.jpg" border=0 width="640" height="480" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> At first I mistakenly posted this photo of Main Street to Riddle.  Given the rivalry that used to exist that could have </div> <div> been disasterous.  The white roof on the right is where Cadman's Hardware used to be.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="0c780e00.jpg" border=0 width="640" height="480" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> This is the Mill Site park in Myrtle Creek.  This large depression used to be the pond where my father worked both as a pond man and log scaler.  The log dump and scaling platform used to be about where I was standing when I took the picture.  Those days were the mid 1950's.  In addition to the pond and mill, a plywood plant worked here.  Long after the lack of logs closed the plants the whole thing burned, nearly taking the town with it. </div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="0c880e00.jpg" border=0 width="640" height="480" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> This beautifully restored old building was part of the milling operations.  I believe it was a power generating site, but I will have to ask my Dad (I was too slow, Dad died 1/18/2007).</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="8d180aa0.jpg" border=0 width="640" height="426" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> This photo is from the Myrtle Creek High School class reunion in 2006 at Evergreen park.  I graduated here in 1963 and the high school was closed about 1965.  No wonder these people are looking old!</div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" width=150 BGCOLOR="#0066CC" TEXT="#080000"> <div> "Gateway to the Hundred Valleys of the Umpqua"</div> </td> </tr></table></body>