Milton-Freewater, Oregon
This just in! Check out this article about community development manager Mike Watkins and his work doing equine massage.
Established
1951
Incorporated
Yes (Milton incorporated in 1886)
Named After
Milton was originally called Freeport. When the construction of a mill was proposed about 1868, the community changed its name to Milltown, which became Milton by 1873. We heard a couple stories about how Freewater got its name. One of them is that a group of people wanted to have bars in Milton and were voted down– so they moved up the road a bit and started their own town, where the water was “free”. The city received its current name in 1951 when the neighboring rival cities of Milton and Freewater voted to merge, for economic reasons.
This first set of photos from our recent visit to Milton-Freewater is about the outdoor spaces we were taken to around the town: cemeteries, fields, parks, orchards, ranches. Click on a picture to get the full view.
Population
7,050
Demographics
Wikipedia tells us that M-F is 70% White, 30% Latino, less then 1% other; most folks in town told us the town was basically 50% White, 50% Hispanic.
Number of Private Schools
0
Number of Public Schools
6
Number of Churches
19
Number of Bars
4
Here are some photos of us with some of the folks we met and talked to in Milton-Freewater and some of the buildings in town:
Fascinating Historical Facts
Feewater was known for its saloons—six in 1902. Some were “The OR AND N”, “The Boozerino”, “The Palace”, operated by Taylor and Ireland, where games were played, including roulette, and horses could be ridden into the saloon; the “Ole Kentucky”; and “Gallon House”, owned by Hizekiah Keyes, and the Kelly brothers, Jack and Jess.
Challenges for the town
In the 1960s, Milton-Freewater was known as the pea capital of the world. They had several factories and packing plants which supported a lot of workers, and an elaborate yearly festival and parade known as the “Pea Festival.” When the canned pea industry gave way to the frozen pea industry (and some say American’s became less enamored of peas in general), the economy of Milton-Freewater died out. The Milton-Freewater Downtown Alliance is working with a lot of energy to revitalize the business district of MIlton-Freewater without it losing its identity and becoming simply a winery- and tasting room-based tourist destination like neighboring Walla Walla.
Town Celebrations
Muddy Frogwater Festival
Speaking of Muddy Frogwater, in 1971 the city manager hired a branding consultant– who recommended that the town brand itself with frogs. There are lots of different opinions amongst town members about whether that was a good or bad idea! Here is a frog photo gallery…
Phrases We’ve Learned to date
Like a fart in a skillet
Home cooking we’ve had to date
A great shrimp-and-salsa dip, grilled chicken and fish, roasted veggies, home baked buckwheat bread.
Typical “Milton” Foods
In some ways, the newly typical Milton-Freewater food is wine and hard cider! While a lot of the wineries are in nearby Walla Walla, most of the vineyards for the region are in Milton-Freewater. Otherwise cherries, apples, and prunes straight from the orchards were at one time a very big part of lots of people’s lives, especially the older adults we talked to.
One of our favorite places is Milton, OR to see the sky:
The ranch out past 7 Hills, the front yard of John aka “Santa”, the road between Milton-Freewater and Pendleton.
Town Website
Selfcare It is extremely important that the partners feel sexually satisfied with each other for strength and support cialis uk greyandgrey.com rather than looking elsewhere. This drug is used generic professional cialis for the treatment of the condition. Pregnant ladies need to specify their child’s existence to the physician viagra india price greyandgrey.com in order to help him in prescribing the drug only if the compositions will not harm the sexual performance in serious way. viagra online from canada Hemorrhagic Stroke occurs when there is a seeping of blood from the tissues or blood vessels.