Oregon History
Latest Stories

New OPB documentary examines the troubling history of Fairview, Oregon’s primary institution for those with developmental disabilities
OPB's new documentary exposes the complex and often shocking history of one of Oregon’s most notorious institutions — the Fairview Training Center. For many residents, it was the only home they ever knew. For others, it was a living nightmare.
How Oregon’s GOP governor teamed up with hippies to throw a festival and prevent clashes in the streets
In August of 1970, at the height of the Vietnam War, President Richard Nixon was slated to come to Portland, and so were thousands of antiwar protesters. That's when some young liberal Oregonians teamed up with Republican Gov. Tom McCall on a plan to lure thousands of potential antiwar demonstrators into the woods for a weekend of rock 'n' roll and avoid a projected violent clash in the City of Roses. This is the story of Oregon Vortex 1: A Biodegradable Festival of Life.

‘It was like a blubber snowstorm’: Why Oregon blew up a whale in 1970
The exploding whale is a piece of Oregon lore that just won’t go away. It’s one of those real-life stories that just sounds too strange to be real.
‘Give me the damn letter’: How Portland got the Trail Blazers
The story of the Portland Trail Blazers started with a forgotten raincoat, a locked bathroom and a harrowing drive through downtown Los Angeles to Beverly Hills.
The Oregon town where money grows on trees and wood is as good as cash
In 1933, with its only bank closed and the country in the midst of the Great Depression, the Oregon shipbuilding and timber city of North Bend turned to a local resource to keep its economy afloat.

Portland Was Once A Poster Child For Nuclear Preparedness
During the Cold War, Portland was a national poster child for nuclear preparedness. But in just a few years, the city dismantled the very same program that earned it recognition.
The 2 years Oregon had 2 Thanksgivings
It was brief, but for a moment, Oregon was the undisputed Thanksgiving capital of the nation. The state officially held Thanksgiving twice in 1893 and again in 1894.

Luxury And Hardship At Mount Hood's Cloud Cap Inn
The Cloud Cap Inn is the oldest Alpine lodge in the United States.

The Portlander Who Inspired Krusty The Clown
Before there was Krusty, there was Rusty. Meet the Portlander who inspired "The Simpsons" Krusty the Clown.
The unlikely bond between an Oregon town and the man who bombed it
In 1962 the junior chamber of commerce in Brookings invited a Japanese fighter pilot to be an honored guest in the town's Azalea Festival. The pilot had tried to destroy the town 20 years earlier.