Umatilla County
The Byrd School House now at the Umatilla County Historical Museum in Pendleton. (Oregon State Archives Photo No. umaD0111)
Contact
County Seat: Courthouse, 216 SE 4th St., Pendleton 97801
Phone: 541-276-7111 (General); 541-278-0341, ext. 224 (Court Administrator)
Fax: 541-278-5463
E-mail: pattic@co.umatilla.or.us
Web: www.co.umatilla.or.us
About
Population: 72,245
Established: Sept. 27, 1862
Elev. at Pendleton: 1,069'
Area: 3,231 sq. mi.
Average Temp.: January 31.9° July 73.6°
Assessed Value: $4,218,688,539
Real Market Value: $5,850,138,868
Annual Precipitation: 12.97"
Economy: Agriculture, food processing, forest products, tourism, manufacturing, recreation, aggregate production and power generation
Related resources
History
Historical
Records Inventory
Scenic
Image
Economic
Information (from OECDD)
"County
Quick Facts" (from U.S.
Census Bureau)
County
Seat Map (from Yahoo!
Maps)
County
Map (from ODOT)
Incorporated cities
Adams | Athena | Echo | Helix | Hermiston | Milton-Freewater | Pendleton | Pilot Rock | Stanfield | Ukiah | Umatilla | Weston
Points of interest
Pendleton Round-Up, Pendleton Woolen Mills, Old Town Pendleton, County Historical Society, Pendleton Underground, McNary Dam and Recreation Area, Echo Museum and Historic Area, Hat Rock, Battle Mountain and Emigrant Springs State Parks, Weston Historic District, Frazier Farmstead Museum in Milton-Freewater, N. Fork Umatilla Wilderness Area, Tollgate-Spout Springs Recreation Area, Courthouse Clock Tower, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation’s Wildhorse Casino and Tamastslikt Cultural Center.
History and general information
Umatilla County traces its creation in 1862 to the regional gold rushes, which spawned the riverport of Umatilla City and brought stockraisers to the lush grasslands.
Although Lewis and Clark and the Oregon Trail pioneers passed through Umatilla County, it did not bloom until the arrival of the railroad in 1881 and the development of dryland wheat farming.
Water in the form of irrigation has been key to economic diversification and growth, most recently in the Hermiston area, where the desert now yields lush watermelons and other products. Tourism is also increasingly important to Umatilla County where “Let-er-Buck” is heard by Pendleton Round-Up crowds.
County officials
Commissioners—Dennis D. Doherty (NP) 2013, Larry Givens (NP) 2011, William S. Hansell (NP) 2011; Dist. Atty. Dean Gushwa (NP) 2013; Assess. Paul Chalmers; Rec. Mgr Jean Hemphill; Sheriff John Trumbo (NP) 2013; Surv. Dave Krumbein; Financial Mgr. Robert Pahl.