Ontario railroad key to town’s growth
While use has declined, transportation mode still key
By LARRY MEYER
ARGUS OBSERVER
Monday, September 1, 2008 10:40 AM PDT
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| Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski cuts the ribbon held by former state Rep. Tom Butler (left) and state Sen. Ted Ferrioli last fall during the 100th anniversary celebration of the Ontario Railroad Depot. The railroad and depot have played an important part in the development of Ontario. |
ONTARIO — The railroad’s impact on the Ontario community has shrunk during the past several years, and much of the hauling of commodities out of the local area is now handled by trucks, but in the early years, the railroad was a major factor in the growth of Ontario as it became a major shipping point for livestock and other commodities.
A large donation of land to the Oregon Shortline Railroad for a right of way by two of Ontario’s founders — William Morfitt and James Virtue — and a third party paved the way for construction of Ontario’s first railroad depot in 1883 as the Oregon Shortline Railroad was building its line to connect with the Oregon Rail and Navigation Company at Huntington.
The first passenger train arrived in 1884, and passengers were able to connect with the Transcontinental Railroad in Utah. The current depot at its existing location is now used as a community center and houses the Basque Center.
According to a story printed in the Ontario Argus Observer Diamond Jubilee Edition, the arrival of the railroad and Ontario’s location near the mouth of the Malheur River made it natural to become a cattle shipping center. By 1885, two years after the town was started, Ontario was the largest cattle-shipping point in the Northwest. Not only did the railroad improve travel for people in Ontario and the surrounding area, the arrival of the railroad brought about more commerce, particularly in agriculture, as Ontario and the valley were now tied to major markets in the Midwest and East. The Ontario depot was a busy place, and the railroad employed 50 people to handle the freight and livestock that came from the outlying areas and from as far away as Burns and John Day.
In addition to the big ranches that brought cattle off the range for sale, the Ontario depot handled the wool and other commodities from the interior counties on the heavy freight wagons. At the time, Ontario became a leading wool shipping center as well.
According to figures given to the Argus, 673 cars of livestock were shipped out of Ontario in 1886, and 10 years later, 1,039 cars, mostly cattle, were shipped. One year later the number of cars was 1,892, and during a six-week period of 1899, $1.5 million worth of cattle was shipped out of Ontario, the latter occurring because most of the cattle shipping was during those six weeks.
The existing depot structure was built in 1907, celebrating its 100-year birthday in a big celebration last year, and became a focal point for all communication and commerce.
Ontario’s depot had its time in the limelight as the first transcontinental crossing of the United States came through Ontario and picked up supplies that had been shipped to the depot. Other notables who made stops at the depot through the years were presidents Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman.
The depot was at its busiest during the two World Wars when it handled both civilian, military freight and passenger cars. After World War II, cars and airplanes took away passenger traffic, and much of the freight traffic now goes by truck, especially in the smaller communities.
The railroad was the whole reason for the growth of Ontario in its early years, Joe Mollahan, who supplied the information about the Ontario depot, said. Mollahan, a former Ontario City Council member, also took part in the depot restoration project.
“There was nothing here until the railroad arrived in 1883,” he said. “It was a tank town.”
Tank towns, he explained, were what settlements that grew up around water tanks, every 13 miles or so, were called at the time.
“Some of them died out,” he said. “Ontario grew.”
Noting Ontario was a major shipping center, Mollahan said, at one point, the railroad ran out of cars because of the number of commodities being shipped. Besides the cattle and wool, small farmers were attracted to the area and shipped their produce out by rail. Hogs were also shipped out as well, he said. There were also plans to expand the line to Burns, over the mountains and to the coast, he said.
“The railroad is still very important,” John Breidenbach, executive director of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, said. “Heinz uses it. Americold uses it. Packing sheds use it,” he said. “That line going through town is still very important.”
Breidenbach said he is hopeful the shortline from Ontario to Vale can still be used to boost economic development.
“We’re still an ag-based community,” he said, adding railroads still haul ag commodities. “It’s vital.”
