Albany, Oregon
Encyclopedia
Albany is the eleventh largest city in the U.S. state
of Oregon
, and is the county seat
of Linn County
. It is located in the Willamette Valley
at the confluence of the Calapooia River
and the Willamette River
in both Linn and Benton
counties, just east of Corvallis
and south of Salem
. It is largely a farming and manufacturing based city. Settlers founded the community in 1848. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population of Albany is 50,158 making it the 3rd fastest growing city in Oregon at 22.8% growth behind Bend
(47.3%) and Hillsboro
(30.5%)
Albany has a home rule charter
and is a Council-Manager management style to the municipality where the full time unelected City Manager
administers the day-to-day operations and affairs of the city for the Council and is the administrative head of the city. The city provides the population with access to over 30 parks and trails along with running the senior center and many cultural events such as River Rhythms and Mondays at Monteith. On top of having a large farming and manufacturing base the city largely depends on Retail trade, Health care & social assistance to drive its economic structure. In recent years the city has taken great efforts to revive the downtown shopping area, with help from The Central Albany Revitalization Area
(CARA), in to a major portion of the economy.
that makes up modern day Albany was inhabited by one of the tribes of the Kalapuya, a Penutian
-speaking, Native American
people. The Kalapuya had named the area Takenah. a Kalapuyan word used to describe the deep pool where the Calapooia River
meets the Willamette River
. A variation of the place name can also be written as Tekenah.
The Kalapuya population was between 4,000 and 20,000 individuals throughout the Valley before contact with whites, but shortly after contact was made and new diseases were introduction the tribes suffered from the . smallpox
epidemic
that raged through the Pacific Northwest
in 1782-83. Then followed by Malaria
sweeping through the region between 1830 and 1833. It is estimated that as many as ninety percent of the Kalapuya population died during this period. That coupled with the treaties signed during the 1850s the area was nearly free for Europeans to move on to the land.
In 1845, the first European settler to come to the area was a farmer from Iowa by the name of Abner Hackleman. Mr. Hackleman took up a land claim for himself and Hiram N. Smead to hold another land claim for him until his son arrived for the claim from Iowa, but in 1846 only a year after arriving in Oregon, Abner died while returning to Iowa to fetch his family. Shortly after in 1847 a pair of brother Walter and Thomas Monteith, who had traveled by ox team over the Oregon Trail
from their native New York State . They were a family of early prominence in the area, in 1848, when they bought the claim of 320 acres (1.3 km²), plotting out 60 acres (242,811.6 m²) for the townsite from Hiram Smead for $400 and a horse. They founded named the city "Albany", after their hometown
the state capitol of New York in 1848. During the same period Abner Hackleman's son Abram Hackleman returned to his fathers original land claim and built a log house in an oak grove still known as Hackleman's Grove. He later built the house that still stands at the corner of Fifth and Jackson. The small community that had formed on the Hackleman land formed the community of Takenah.
During the early period in Albany's history in mid-19th century, the Monteith family and the Hackleman family were literally and politically on opposite sides of the fence. Residents in the Monteith's portion of town were mainly merchants and professionals consisting mostly of Republican. They tended to sympathies with Union during the civil war. The residents from the Hackleman's portion of town to the east were made up mostly of working class Democrats who sided with the Confederacy. They even went so far as to plant a hedge separating the sides of town near Baker Street.
The Monteiths with help from Samuel Althouse. built the first frame house in Albany the following year in 1849. The Monteith House was considered the finest house in Oregon at the time. That same year with the start of the California Gold Rush
that had caught the attention of the Monteith brothers and lead to a successful venture to the Goldfields by the brothers provided them with the needed recourses to inter in to several business ventures . Such as the general store
they opened their parlor the same year. It was the establishment of their businesses that lead to Albany becoming a major Hub City in the Willamette valley. Also within 1849 the community of Takenah was established near Albany.
Albany's first school was established in 1851 by the town's first Physician R. C. Hill with the first school teacher being Eleanor B. Hackleman, the wife of Abram Hackleman, but it was not until 1855 that a building was specifically erected for use as a school. In 1852, the first steamboat, the Multnomah
arrived and the first flour mill was built.
A directorate was issued on January 8, 1850, to establish a post office in Albany. Upon the post office being established, John Burkhart was assigned as the first Postmaster. It was eventually renamed to "New Albany" on November 4, 1850. The name was changed back to Albany in 1853. In 1851, Albany was designated as the county seat replacing Calapooia (near modern day Brownsville
and Sweet Home
) and all court meetings were held there. The first Albany courthouse was built in 1852 on 10 acres (4 ha) of land donated by the Monteiths to assure Albany would remain the seat of the county. The new two-story octagonal courthouse was completed on April 26, 1853. The courthouse has since been replaced but the new courthouse stands in the same place.
During 1853–1854, residents of the east side of Albany persuaded the Oregon Legislative Assembly
to name both town Takenah. Though Takenah meant deep pool in reference to where the Calapooia River meets the Willamette River, it was commonly translated to mean Hole in the Ground. Partly due to this translation Albany was restored by the legislature in 1855. Finally in 1864, 16 years after the Monteiths founded the town and 19 years after the first European to arrive, it became an incorporated city.
In 1871, the first locomotive whistle was heard in Albany. The arrival of the first train was celebrated as the greatest event in Albany's history. Albany businessmen raised $50,000 to ensure that the rails would come through their city, instead of bypassing it a few miles eastward. The train brought the farmers' markets close as stagecoaches and steamboats gave way to the railroad. The world's longest wooden railroad drawbridge was built in 1888 for the Albany-Corvallis run. By 1910, 28 passenger trains departed daily from Albany going in five directions.
In 1872, the Santiam Ditch and Canal Company was organized and a canal running from the Santiam near Lebanon and completed that autumn. The canal was 18 miles (29 km) to the south side of Albany. It divides at the corner of Vine and Eight Streets, one branch running down Vine Street and emptying into Calapooia Creek, with a drop of 32 feet (9.8 m). The other runs down Eighth to Thurston Street. In 1924 Pacific Power installed a turbine where the canal meets the river. In 1984 The city bought the water system from Pacific Power and the plant was shut down in 1991. By 2003 the city had approved a plan to restart the four megawatt-hour hydroelectric plant and in February 2009 the plant opened again.
Albany was the headquarters for the Mountain States Power Company from its establishment in 1918 until its merger into Pacific Power & Light (now PacifiCorp) in 1954.
In the 1940s, the city started the Albany World Championship Timber Carnival which drew in competitors from all over the world to participate in logging skills contests. The event took place over the four days of the Fourth of July weekend, men and women would compete in climbing, chopping, bucking, and burling contests. Though in 2001 it was canceled because of smaller crowds and the state’s declining timber economy. An attempt was made to revive it in 2008 but not since.
In 1942, the U.S. Bureau of Mines established a research center on the former Albany College campus, focusing on the development of new metallurgical processes. First known as the Northwest Electro-development Facility, the site produced titanium and zirconium and fostered the growth of a new rare metals industry in Albany led by internationally recognized companies like the Oregon Metallurgical Company, Oremet and Wah Chang.
In the 1970s, Albany attempted to extend its city limits to cover the land to include a zirconium processing plant of Wah Chang Corporation
. Wah Chang responded in 1974 by sponsoring a vote to incorporate the desired properties as Millersburg
.
. It rests along the confluence of the Calapooia River and the Willamette River and though most of Albany falls within Linn County
a smaller portion of it rests to the north of downtown on the west bank of the Willamette River
in Benton County
.
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the city has a total area of 16.1 square miles (41.7 km²). 15.9 sq mi (41.2 km²) of it is land and 0.2 sq mi (0.517997622 km²) of it (1.18%) is water. Albany has 21.7 square miles (56.2 km²) within the Urban Growth Boundary. throughout the city limits and urban growth area there is limited hills and the city is one of the lower points along the Willamette Valley with elevations ranging 180 to 430 ft (54.9 to 131.1 m) above sea level. The North Albany District makes up the most varied area in elevation in the city while the down town and southern end of town having little elevation change throughout.
The climate in Albany ranges from 34/46 °F (average daily low/high) in January to 52/82 °F in August.
of 2000, there were 40,852 people, 16,108 households, and 10,808 families residing in the city. The population density
was 2,571.8/sq mi. There were 17,374 housing units at an average density of 1,093.8 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 91.68% White, 0.53% African American, 1.22% Native American, 1.14% Asian, 0.21% Pacific Islander, 2.65% from other races
, and 2.56% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.09% of the population.
There were 16,108 households out of which 33.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.1% were married couples
living together, 11.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.9% were non-families. 26.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 2.99. In the city the population was 26.4% under the age of 18, 9.6% from 18 to 24, 29.3% from 25 to 44, 21.9% from 45 to 64, and 12.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 94.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.7 males. The median income for a household in the city was $39,409, and the median income for a family was $46,094. Males had a median income of $36,457 versus $24,480 for females. The per capita income
for the city was $18,570. About 9.3% of families and 11.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.1% of those under age 18 and 7.5% of those age 65 or over.
and is a Council-Manager management style to the municipality where the full time unelected City Manager administers the day-to-day operations and affairs of the city for the Council and is the administrative head of the city. The current city manager is Wes Hare. The mayor is elected at larger every two years and the position is currently held by Sharon Konopa, and Six-person city council are elected represent the three geographic wards of the city, and have overlapping 4-year terms. The city charter was first adopted in 1891, and the most recent version of the city charter became effective on January 1, 1957.
Albany City Hall is located on Broadalbin Street in the downtown section of the city and was built in 1995. The city hall houses the city managers officer, Finance office, Community development office, public works-engineering office, parks and recreation department officer, and the fire administration office. The city provides its own fire department, police department
, library system, and also provides both their own water supply and wastewater treatment through the Albany Public Works. and the current wastewater treatment plant was completed in 2009. In total the local government employs about 370 people with law enforcement and fire services being the leading aspects.
The Albany city government was nationally recognized in 2009 and 2010 with the Certificate of Distinction and in 2011 with the Certificate of Excellence from the International City/County Management Association
(ICMA) for its dedication to improving governmental performance. In 2010 the Sunshine Review
awarded Albany an A+ perfect score for government transparency and online accessibility with its website along with other government agencies from around the country. Also in September 2010 the League of Oregon Cities awarded Albany the Good Governamce Award for the "Where Does My Money Go? and Albany Dashboard" web applications and featured Albany for governmental transparency. In January 2011 Government Computer News cited Albany as one of ten "Top Public Sector Websites" in the nation for government transparency.
Albany is also home to the county government and the Linn County Courthouse.
, hafnium
and titanium
. One of the major producers of theses metals in Albany is Wah Chang Corporation who has a 110 acre (0.4451546 km²) site that primarily focuses on the production of zirconium.
Albany and the surrounding communities are major exporters of grass
seed. Other crops produced include corn
, beans, mint
, strawberries, and hazelnut
s. The city is also referred to as the “Grass Seed Capital of the World”.
The decline of the timber industry and the outsourcing of manufacturing jobs has left Linn County with a relatively high unemployment rate. The Oregon Employment Department does not maintain unemployment statistics for cities. The losses in the timber industry in around Albany have led the city to a more diverse economic base for the city, led by retail trade, health care and social assistance, and manufacturing as the three leading aspects of the economy. Oregon Freeze Dry is a leading employer in the manufacturing sector of the Albany economy with its headquarters located in the city. The company employs over 300 people and was incorporated in 1963. The Albany facility is the company's main research and development site in the industry, and has recently partnered with EnerG2 to produce carbon electrode material, in a 74000 square feet (6,874.8 m²) former distribution center of Oregon Freeze Dry by 2011 bringing a new green technology industry to Albany.
Albany is also home to The Albany Research Center
, which is part of National Energy Technology Laboratory
(NETL). They employ a staff of 120. Albany Research Center was founded in 1943, the laboratory specializes in life cycle research starting with the formulation, characterization, and/or melting of most metals, alloys, and ceramics; casting and fabrication, prototype development; and the recycle and remediation of waste streams associated with these processes.
Albany has a per capita income
of $18,570 putting it ranked at 81st
in the state.
, River Rhythms, Mondays at Monteith, Veteran's Day Parade, Albany Nosh Tour, Albany Wine Walk, Willamette River Festival
, and Albany Timber Carnival which ended in 2000 with an attempt to revive it in 2008.
, Whitespires Church
(another historically registered building) is the tallest building in town, The Albany Regional Museum (which has exhibits about Albany history housed in a historic building originally built by S.E. Young in 1887), Historic Downtown Albany (which has antique stores, restaurants, Albany Civic Theater, and one of the oldest Carnegie libraries
still being used as a library. As of December 2006, a carousel
was under construction. It is due to be finished by 2012 and is housed at the Historic Carousel Art Studio and Museum. Downtown Albany is a National Historic District
), and the Albany Civic Theater (one of the oldest civic theaters in Oregon, has operated continuously since the opening of its first production on March 2, 1951).
Albany has a total of 4 historic districts throughout the city including the Albany Municipal Airport
, Monteith Historic District
, Hackleman Historic District
, and the Albany Downtown Commercial Historic District. Albany's historic districts have just about every housing style built from 1840 and 1920, those including Federal
, Gothic Revival
, American Farmhouse, Second Empire, Eastlake
, Italianate
, and Colonial Revival
. Those historic districts were recognized as one of the best places to buy a historic home in the nation by This Old House
online. In total there are over 700 historic buildings within the 4 historic districts.
Albany's Timber Linn Memorial Park house the 63rd Blue Star
veterans memorial in the state of Oregon. The memorial is dedicated to Linn County servicemen who lost their lives during all of the 20th century wars. The memorial lists the names of those from Linn county killed in action for each war fought throughout the 20th century. The memorial was sponsored by the Santiam District Garden Club and the Linn County Veterans Memorial Association. Albany's Timber-Linn Memorial Park also hosted the American Veterans Traveling Tribute, a replica of the Vietnam Memorial wall in Washington, D.C. in July 2009.
The department also has a urban forestry program which involves the Legacy Forest at Lexington Park, that consists of commemorative tree planting designed to perpetuate the memory or work of individuals and organizations. Also the Heritage Tree Program which was established to recognize trees having historic significance in the community. The city has also been involved with the Tree City USA
program that is sponsored by The National Arbor Day Foundation
since 1993. The city and Parks Department also take part in Arbor Week.
, which was established in 1966. The college offers certificates and associates degrees and has many transfer and dual enrollment programs with OSU (through a degree partnership program )totaling over 60 programs of study. LBCC serves over 24,000 full and part time students in and around Albany and is supported financially through tuition, property taxes and the State of Oregon.
The Albany area has also been served since 1979 by the Greater Albany Public School District, including West Albany High School
, and South Albany High School
Which combine server to educate about 2,700 students. Albany is also served by Albany Options School
as an alternative to traditional school for grades 6 through 12. In total Greater Albany Public School District serves roughly 8,900 students throughout its 23 different schools. Along with the K-12 schools Albany also offers student services at the Maple Lawn Preschool.
The Albany Collegiate Institute was founded in 1867 and served as Albany's higher education institute for 70 years before it was moved to Portland, Oregon
, and renamed Lewis & Clark College
.
which is owned and published by Lee Enterprises
. The Democrat-Herald started as a political tool for one of Oregon's first senators. The Democrat-Herald traces its origin to the Albany Democrat newspaper, founded by Delazon Smith
in 1859. Lee Enterprises also publishes the Mid-Valley Times the Sunday version of the paper.
that uses the tagline (HOPE-FM) which is a Christian contemporary music radio station, and 99.9FM KRKT-FM
, a country radio station that both broadcast from Albany. There is also 101.5FM KFLY
, which is based out of Eugene, Oregon
but maintains an office is the Albany area.
Along with the FM stations there are 5 AM stations. 790 AM KWIL
, is the AM version of KHPE (107.9FM). The others range from adult standard such as KSHO
(920 AM), comedy radio and Seattle Mariner's baseball games KTHH
(990 AM), to sports KEJO
(1240 AM), and KGAL
(1580 AM) the local news and talk radio station.
, the national passenger rail system, provides service to Albany from its Albany Station at 10th Avenue SW on two routes. Long-haul train route the Coast Starlight
(with service from Los Angeles
to Seattle) stops in Albany daily in both directions. Amtrak Cascades
commuter trains operate between Vancouver, British Columbia and Eugene, Oregon
, and serve Albany several times daily in each direction. The Amtrak Cascade line is the proposed path of the Pacific Northwest Corridor
high-speed rail
line. The Albany station would be one of many stops along the proposed 466 mile long, 110-mph passenger line.
The station itself was constructed in 1909 for the Southern Pacific Railroad
and is built of masonry
. It is one of the oldest continuously operating passenger rail stations in the U.S. and has one of the best equipped engine shops in the northwest – Southern Pacific 4449
, which lives at the Brooklyn Roundhouse in Portland
, occasionally visits the shop for repairs, as do several other locomotives stored at the roundhouse. The Albany Train Yard was also used to store a pair of ALCO PA
diesel-electric locomotives from the mid-1990s to early-first decade of the 21st century. One was shipped to the Brooklyn Roundhouse for restoration, and the other shipped to the east coast to be restored for static display (no engine) in the Smithsonian. Beginning in 2004, the station and the surrounding area underwent an $11.3 million restoration that was funded with a combination of federal, state, local, and Amtrak money. In 2006 the city received the Award in Downtown Excellence from the Oregon Downtown Development Association for the renovation of the station.
are provided by bus service via the Linn-Benton Loop and the Valley Retriever Thruway inter-county bus systems. ATS, the Linn-Benton Loop, and the Valley Retriever all provide bus service to and from the Amtrak station.
is a general aviation
airport on the eastern edge of Albany and has been open since 1920 and is believed to be the oldest operating airfield in Oregon.In 1998, the airport became the first airport in Oregon to be named to the National Register of Historic Places, and was the City of Albany's fourth National Historic District, And has been home to parts of the Northwest Art & Air Festival since its first air show in 1931. It has a single runway with the specs of 16-34 3,004 X 75, and is an asphalt runway. The closest airports with commercial air service available is the Eugene Airport
to the south and at Portland International Airport
to the north.
which was constructed in 1926 and the Lyon Street Bridge bridge that was constructed in 1973. They are both 2 lane bridges that make up part of U.S. Route 20. The two bridges connect Linn to the south with Benton county in the north as they pass across the Willamette River
. this makes up the major connection of downtown Albany with the north end of town and to Corvallis.
Albany has made a growing effort to increase itself as a bicyclist friendly town through increasing the number of paths and trails that are open to them. The city was recently recognised as a Bicycle-Friendly Community for 2010 by the League of American Bicyclists for its efforts.
, a 76-bed medical facility which is the main hospital for the city. Albany is also served by Samaritan North Albany Urgent Care and Geary Street Urgent Care, all are part of Samaritan Health Services. Outside of Samaritan Health Services there is Albany Family & Specialty Medicine that provides medical services to the community.
44.630188°N 123.095992°W
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, and is the county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
of Linn County
Linn County, Oregon
Linn County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is named in honor of Lewis F. Linn, a U.S. Senator from Missouri who advocated the American occupation of the Oregon Country. By the 2010 US census the population of Linn county was 116,672 showing a 13.2% growth since the 2000 census...
. It is located in the Willamette Valley
Willamette Valley
The Willamette Valley is the most populated region in the state of Oregon of the United States. Located in the state's northwest, the region is surrounded by tall mountain ranges to the east, west and south and the valley's floor is broad, flat and fertile because of Ice Age conditions...
at the confluence of the Calapooia River
Calapooia River
The Calapooia River is a tributary of the Willamette River in the U.S. state of Oregon.The Calapooia runs through Crawfordsville and Brownsville in the Willamette Valley. The river converges with the Willamette near Albany. It was named for the Kalapuya , a tribe of Native Americans.-References:...
and the Willamette River
Willamette River
The Willamette River is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States...
in both Linn and Benton
Benton County, Oregon
-National protected areas:*Siuslaw National Forest *William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 78,153 people, 30,145 households, and 18,237 families residing in the county. The population density was 116 people per square mile . There were 31,980...
counties, just east of Corvallis
Corvallis, Oregon
Corvallis is a city located in central western Oregon, United States. It is the county seat of Benton County and the principal city of the Corvallis, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Benton County. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 54,462....
and south of Salem
Salem, Oregon
Salem is the capital of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, which runs north through the city. The river forms the boundary between Marion and Polk counties, and the city neighborhood...
. It is largely a farming and manufacturing based city. Settlers founded the community in 1848. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population of Albany is 50,158 making it the 3rd fastest growing city in Oregon at 22.8% growth behind Bend
Bend, Oregon
Bend is a city in and the county seat of Deschutes County, Oregon, United States, and the principal city of the Bend, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area. Bend is Central Oregon's largest city, and, despite its modest size, is the de facto metropolis of the region, owing to the low population...
(47.3%) and Hillsboro
Hillsboro, Oregon
Hillsboro is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and is the county seat of Washington County. Lying in the Tualatin Valley on the west side of the Portland metropolitan area, the city is home to many high-technology companies, such as Intel, that compose what has become known as the...
(30.5%)
Albany has a home rule charter
Home rule
Home rule is the power of a constituent part of a state to exercise such of the state's powers of governance within its own administrative area that have been devolved to it by the central government....
and is a Council-Manager management style to the municipality where the full time unelected City Manager
City manager
A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city, in a council-manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are sometimes referred to as the chief executive officer or chief administrative officer in some municipalities...
administers the day-to-day operations and affairs of the city for the Council and is the administrative head of the city. The city provides the population with access to over 30 parks and trails along with running the senior center and many cultural events such as River Rhythms and Mondays at Monteith. On top of having a large farming and manufacturing base the city largely depends on Retail trade, Health care & social assistance to drive its economic structure. In recent years the city has taken great efforts to revive the downtown shopping area, with help from The Central Albany Revitalization Area
Central Albany Revitalization Area
Central Albany Revitalization Area was established by the Albany, Oregon City Council in the summer of 2001 following a series of public forums held in the fall and winter of 2000-2001. CARA contains or 9.7 percent of the total acreage of Albany...
(CARA), in to a major portion of the economy.
History
Prior to the arrival of the first European settlers to the area of the Willamette ValleyWillamette Valley
The Willamette Valley is the most populated region in the state of Oregon of the United States. Located in the state's northwest, the region is surrounded by tall mountain ranges to the east, west and south and the valley's floor is broad, flat and fertile because of Ice Age conditions...
that makes up modern day Albany was inhabited by one of the tribes of the Kalapuya, a Penutian
Oregon Penutian languages
Oregon Penutian is a hypothetical language family in the Penutian language phylum comprising languages spoken at one time by several groups of Native Americans in present-day western Oregon and western Washington in the United States...
-speaking, Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
people. The Kalapuya had named the area Takenah. a Kalapuyan word used to describe the deep pool where the Calapooia River
Calapooia River
The Calapooia River is a tributary of the Willamette River in the U.S. state of Oregon.The Calapooia runs through Crawfordsville and Brownsville in the Willamette Valley. The river converges with the Willamette near Albany. It was named for the Kalapuya , a tribe of Native Americans.-References:...
meets the Willamette River
Willamette River
The Willamette River is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States...
. A variation of the place name can also be written as Tekenah.
The Kalapuya population was between 4,000 and 20,000 individuals throughout the Valley before contact with whites, but shortly after contact was made and new diseases were introduction the tribes suffered from the . smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
epidemic
Epidemic
In epidemiology, an epidemic , occurs when new cases of a certain disease, in a given human population, and during a given period, substantially exceed what is expected based on recent experience...
that raged through the Pacific Northwest
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
in 1782-83. Then followed by Malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
sweeping through the region between 1830 and 1833. It is estimated that as many as ninety percent of the Kalapuya population died during this period. That coupled with the treaties signed during the 1850s the area was nearly free for Europeans to move on to the land.
In 1845, the first European settler to come to the area was a farmer from Iowa by the name of Abner Hackleman. Mr. Hackleman took up a land claim for himself and Hiram N. Smead to hold another land claim for him until his son arrived for the claim from Iowa, but in 1846 only a year after arriving in Oregon, Abner died while returning to Iowa to fetch his family. Shortly after in 1847 a pair of brother Walter and Thomas Monteith, who had traveled by ox team over the Oregon Trail
Oregon Trail
The Oregon Trail is a historic east-west wagon route that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon and locations in between.After 1840 steam-powered riverboats and steamboats traversing up and down the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri rivers sped settlement and development in the flat...
from their native New York State . They were a family of early prominence in the area, in 1848, when they bought the claim of 320 acres (1.3 km²), plotting out 60 acres (242,811.6 m²) for the townsite from Hiram Smead for $400 and a horse. They founded named the city "Albany", after their hometown
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
the state capitol of New York in 1848. During the same period Abner Hackleman's son Abram Hackleman returned to his fathers original land claim and built a log house in an oak grove still known as Hackleman's Grove. He later built the house that still stands at the corner of Fifth and Jackson. The small community that had formed on the Hackleman land formed the community of Takenah.
During the early period in Albany's history in mid-19th century, the Monteith family and the Hackleman family were literally and politically on opposite sides of the fence. Residents in the Monteith's portion of town were mainly merchants and professionals consisting mostly of Republican. They tended to sympathies with Union during the civil war. The residents from the Hackleman's portion of town to the east were made up mostly of working class Democrats who sided with the Confederacy. They even went so far as to plant a hedge separating the sides of town near Baker Street.
The Monteiths with help from Samuel Althouse. built the first frame house in Albany the following year in 1849. The Monteith House was considered the finest house in Oregon at the time. That same year with the start of the California Gold Rush
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...
that had caught the attention of the Monteith brothers and lead to a successful venture to the Goldfields by the brothers provided them with the needed recourses to inter in to several business ventures . Such as the general store
General store
A general store, general merchandise store, or village shop is a rural or small town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, sometimes in a small space, where people from the town and surrounding rural areas come to purchase all their general...
they opened their parlor the same year. It was the establishment of their businesses that lead to Albany becoming a major Hub City in the Willamette valley. Also within 1849 the community of Takenah was established near Albany.
Albany's first school was established in 1851 by the town's first Physician R. C. Hill with the first school teacher being Eleanor B. Hackleman, the wife of Abram Hackleman, but it was not until 1855 that a building was specifically erected for use as a school. In 1852, the first steamboat, the Multnomah
Multnomah (sidewheeler 1851)
The Multnomah was one of the first steamboats to operate on the Willamette and Yamhill rivers. This vessel should not be confused with the Multnomah, a steamboat built in Portland, Oregon in 1885, which was larger and of a much different design....
arrived and the first flour mill was built.
A directorate was issued on January 8, 1850, to establish a post office in Albany. Upon the post office being established, John Burkhart was assigned as the first Postmaster. It was eventually renamed to "New Albany" on November 4, 1850. The name was changed back to Albany in 1853. In 1851, Albany was designated as the county seat replacing Calapooia (near modern day Brownsville
Brownsville, Oregon
Brownsville is a city in Linn County, Oregon, United States. As of the 2010 census the population was 1,668. It is the setting for the fictional Castle Rock, Oregon in the film Stand by Me.-History:...
and Sweet Home
Sweet Home, Oregon
Sweet Home is a city in Linn County, Oregon, United States. The population was 8,016 at the 2000 census. Sweet Home is sometimes referred to as the "Gateway to the Santiam Playground", due to its proximity to nearby lakes, rivers and the Cascade Mountains....
) and all court meetings were held there. The first Albany courthouse was built in 1852 on 10 acres (4 ha) of land donated by the Monteiths to assure Albany would remain the seat of the county. The new two-story octagonal courthouse was completed on April 26, 1853. The courthouse has since been replaced but the new courthouse stands in the same place.
During 1853–1854, residents of the east side of Albany persuaded the Oregon Legislative Assembly
Oregon Legislative Assembly
The Oregon Legislative Assembly is the state legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. The Legislative Assembly is bicameral, consisting of an upper and lower house: the Senate, whose 30 members are elected to serve four-year terms; and the House of Representatives, with 60 members elected to...
to name both town Takenah. Though Takenah meant deep pool in reference to where the Calapooia River meets the Willamette River, it was commonly translated to mean Hole in the Ground. Partly due to this translation Albany was restored by the legislature in 1855. Finally in 1864, 16 years after the Monteiths founded the town and 19 years after the first European to arrive, it became an incorporated city.
In 1871, the first locomotive whistle was heard in Albany. The arrival of the first train was celebrated as the greatest event in Albany's history. Albany businessmen raised $50,000 to ensure that the rails would come through their city, instead of bypassing it a few miles eastward. The train brought the farmers' markets close as stagecoaches and steamboats gave way to the railroad. The world's longest wooden railroad drawbridge was built in 1888 for the Albany-Corvallis run. By 1910, 28 passenger trains departed daily from Albany going in five directions.
In 1872, the Santiam Ditch and Canal Company was organized and a canal running from the Santiam near Lebanon and completed that autumn. The canal was 18 miles (29 km) to the south side of Albany. It divides at the corner of Vine and Eight Streets, one branch running down Vine Street and emptying into Calapooia Creek, with a drop of 32 feet (9.8 m). The other runs down Eighth to Thurston Street. In 1924 Pacific Power installed a turbine where the canal meets the river. In 1984 The city bought the water system from Pacific Power and the plant was shut down in 1991. By 2003 the city had approved a plan to restart the four megawatt-hour hydroelectric plant and in February 2009 the plant opened again.
Albany was the headquarters for the Mountain States Power Company from its establishment in 1918 until its merger into Pacific Power & Light (now PacifiCorp) in 1954.
In the 1940s, the city started the Albany World Championship Timber Carnival which drew in competitors from all over the world to participate in logging skills contests. The event took place over the four days of the Fourth of July weekend, men and women would compete in climbing, chopping, bucking, and burling contests. Though in 2001 it was canceled because of smaller crowds and the state’s declining timber economy. An attempt was made to revive it in 2008 but not since.
In 1942, the U.S. Bureau of Mines established a research center on the former Albany College campus, focusing on the development of new metallurgical processes. First known as the Northwest Electro-development Facility, the site produced titanium and zirconium and fostered the growth of a new rare metals industry in Albany led by internationally recognized companies like the Oregon Metallurgical Company, Oremet and Wah Chang.
In the 1970s, Albany attempted to extend its city limits to cover the land to include a zirconium processing plant of Wah Chang Corporation
Wah Chang Corporation
Wah Chang Corporation is a manufacturing company based in Albany in the U.S. state of Oregon. In 1916, mining engineer Dr. K. C. Li founded the company, an international tungsten ore and concentrate trading company, in New York state from his native China. In early 1956, the Atomic Energy...
. Wah Chang responded in 1974 by sponsoring a vote to incorporate the desired properties as Millersburg
Millersburg, Oregon
Millersburg is a city in Linn County, Oregon, United States. Millersburg originally was the name of a station on the Southern Pacific railroad line, which was named for a local farming family...
.
Geography
Albany is located in the central part of Oregon's most populated region, the Willamette ValleyWillamette Valley
The Willamette Valley is the most populated region in the state of Oregon of the United States. Located in the state's northwest, the region is surrounded by tall mountain ranges to the east, west and south and the valley's floor is broad, flat and fertile because of Ice Age conditions...
. It rests along the confluence of the Calapooia River and the Willamette River and though most of Albany falls within Linn County
Linn County, Oregon
Linn County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is named in honor of Lewis F. Linn, a U.S. Senator from Missouri who advocated the American occupation of the Oregon Country. By the 2010 US census the population of Linn county was 116,672 showing a 13.2% growth since the 2000 census...
a smaller portion of it rests to the north of downtown on the west bank of the Willamette River
Willamette River
The Willamette River is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States...
in Benton County
Benton County, Oregon
-National protected areas:*Siuslaw National Forest *William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 78,153 people, 30,145 households, and 18,237 families residing in the county. The population density was 116 people per square mile . There were 31,980...
.
According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the city has a total area of 16.1 square miles (41.7 km²). 15.9 sq mi (41.2 km²) of it is land and 0.2 sq mi (0.517997622 km²) of it (1.18%) is water. Albany has 21.7 square miles (56.2 km²) within the Urban Growth Boundary. throughout the city limits and urban growth area there is limited hills and the city is one of the lower points along the Willamette Valley with elevations ranging 180 to 430 ft (54.9 to 131.1 m) above sea level. The North Albany District makes up the most varied area in elevation in the city while the down town and southern end of town having little elevation change throughout.
The climate in Albany ranges from 34/46 °F (average daily low/high) in January to 52/82 °F in August.
Demographics
2000 Census data
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 40,852 people, 16,108 households, and 10,808 families residing in the city. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 2,571.8/sq mi. There were 17,374 housing units at an average density of 1,093.8 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 91.68% White, 0.53% African American, 1.22% Native American, 1.14% Asian, 0.21% Pacific Islander, 2.65% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 2.56% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.09% of the population.
There were 16,108 households out of which 33.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.1% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 11.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.9% were non-families. 26.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 2.99. In the city the population was 26.4% under the age of 18, 9.6% from 18 to 24, 29.3% from 25 to 44, 21.9% from 45 to 64, and 12.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 94.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.7 males. The median income for a household in the city was $39,409, and the median income for a family was $46,094. Males had a median income of $36,457 versus $24,480 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the city was $18,570. About 9.3% of families and 11.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.1% of those under age 18 and 7.5% of those age 65 or over.
Government
Albany has a home rule charterHome rule
Home rule is the power of a constituent part of a state to exercise such of the state's powers of governance within its own administrative area that have been devolved to it by the central government....
and is a Council-Manager management style to the municipality where the full time unelected City Manager administers the day-to-day operations and affairs of the city for the Council and is the administrative head of the city. The current city manager is Wes Hare. The mayor is elected at larger every two years and the position is currently held by Sharon Konopa, and Six-person city council are elected represent the three geographic wards of the city, and have overlapping 4-year terms. The city charter was first adopted in 1891, and the most recent version of the city charter became effective on January 1, 1957.
Albany City Hall is located on Broadalbin Street in the downtown section of the city and was built in 1995. The city hall houses the city managers officer, Finance office, Community development office, public works-engineering office, parks and recreation department officer, and the fire administration office. The city provides its own fire department, police department
Albany Police Department (Oregon)
The Albany Police Department is the law enforcement agency of Albany, Oregon, United States.- Services :The Albany Police Department provides a number of services to the approximately 50,000 residents of Albany.- Patrol :...
, library system, and also provides both their own water supply and wastewater treatment through the Albany Public Works. and the current wastewater treatment plant was completed in 2009. In total the local government employs about 370 people with law enforcement and fire services being the leading aspects.
The Albany city government was nationally recognized in 2009 and 2010 with the Certificate of Distinction and in 2011 with the Certificate of Excellence from the International City/County Management Association
International City/County Management Association
ICMA is an association representing professionals in local government management. It is based in Washington, D.C., USA....
(ICMA) for its dedication to improving governmental performance. In 2010 the Sunshine Review
Sunshine Review
Sunshine Review is a nonprofit wiki promoting proactive disclosure of government information online. The organization developed a ten-point transparency checklist to evaluate if government websites proactively and voluntarily disclose information to the public and media.The wiki-based website was...
awarded Albany an A+ perfect score for government transparency and online accessibility with its website along with other government agencies from around the country. Also in September 2010 the League of Oregon Cities awarded Albany the Good Governamce Award for the "Where Does My Money Go? and Albany Dashboard" web applications and featured Albany for governmental transparency. In January 2011 Government Computer News cited Albany as one of ten "Top Public Sector Websites" in the nation for government transparency.
Albany is also home to the county government and the Linn County Courthouse.
City Council
-
- Mayor Sharon Konopa
- Councilor Dick Olsen, Ward I
- Councilor Floyd Collins, Ward I
- Councilor Ray Kopczynski, Ward II
- Councilor Bill Coburn, Ward II
- Councilor Bessie Johnson, Ward III
- Councilor Jeff Christman, Ward III
Economy
Albany calls itself the "rare metals capital of the world", producing zirconiumZirconium
Zirconium is a chemical element with the symbol Zr and atomic number 40. The name of zirconium is taken from the mineral zircon. Its atomic mass is 91.224. It is a lustrous, grey-white, strong transition metal that resembles titanium...
, hafnium
Hafnium
Hafnium is a chemical element with the symbol Hf and atomic number 72. A lustrous, silvery gray, tetravalent transition metal, hafnium chemically resembles zirconium and is found in zirconium minerals. Its existence was predicted by Dmitri Mendeleev in 1869. Hafnium was the penultimate stable...
and titanium
Titanium
Titanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ti and atomic number 22. It has a low density and is a strong, lustrous, corrosion-resistant transition metal with a silver color....
. One of the major producers of theses metals in Albany is Wah Chang Corporation who has a 110 acre (0.4451546 km²) site that primarily focuses on the production of zirconium.
Albany and the surrounding communities are major exporters of grass
Grass
Grasses, or more technically graminoids, are monocotyledonous, usually herbaceous plants with narrow leaves growing from the base. They include the "true grasses", of the Poaceae family, as well as the sedges and the rushes . The true grasses include cereals, bamboo and the grasses of lawns ...
seed. Other crops produced include corn
Maize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
, beans, mint
Mentha
Mentha is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae . The species are not clearly distinct and estimates of the number of species varies from 13 to 18. Hybridization between some of the species occurs naturally...
, strawberries, and hazelnut
Common Hazel
Corylus avellana, the Common Hazel, is a species of hazel native to Europe and western Asia, from the British Isles south to Iberia, Greece, Turkey and Cyprus, north to central Scandinavia, and east to the central Ural Mountains, the Caucasus, and northwestern Iran. It is an important component of...
s. The city is also referred to as the “Grass Seed Capital of the World”.
The decline of the timber industry and the outsourcing of manufacturing jobs has left Linn County with a relatively high unemployment rate. The Oregon Employment Department does not maintain unemployment statistics for cities. The losses in the timber industry in around Albany have led the city to a more diverse economic base for the city, led by retail trade, health care and social assistance, and manufacturing as the three leading aspects of the economy. Oregon Freeze Dry is a leading employer in the manufacturing sector of the Albany economy with its headquarters located in the city. The company employs over 300 people and was incorporated in 1963. The Albany facility is the company's main research and development site in the industry, and has recently partnered with EnerG2 to produce carbon electrode material, in a 74000 square feet (6,874.8 m²) former distribution center of Oregon Freeze Dry by 2011 bringing a new green technology industry to Albany.
Albany is also home to The Albany Research Center
Albany Research Center
The Albany Research Center, now part of National Energy Technology Laboratory , is a U.S. Department of Energy laboratory staffed by Federal employees located in Albany, Oregon...
, which is part of National Energy Technology Laboratory
National Energy Technology Laboratory
The National Energy Technology Laboratory is a science, technology, and energy laboratory owned and operated by the U.S. Department of Energy . As part of DOE's national laboratory system, NETL supports DOE's mission to advance the national, economic, and energy security of the United States...
(NETL). They employ a staff of 120. Albany Research Center was founded in 1943, the laboratory specializes in life cycle research starting with the formulation, characterization, and/or melting of most metals, alloys, and ceramics; casting and fabrication, prototype development; and the recycle and remediation of waste streams associated with these processes.
Albany has a per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
of $18,570 putting it ranked at 81st
Oregon locations by per capita income
The following is a list of Oregon counties and places in order of per capita income.Oregon has the twenty-third highest per capita income in the United States of America, at $20,940 . Its personal per capita income is $29,340 ....
in the state.
Annual cultural events
The annual events in Albany include the Northwest Art and Air FestivalNorthwest Art and Air Festival
The Northwest Art and Air Festival is an annual festival in Albany, Oregon, United States that celebrates local art and aeronautics. The Oregon Festival and Events Association has twice named the festival "best in its budget class" and in recent years the festival has averaged 40,000 visitors...
, River Rhythms, Mondays at Monteith, Veteran's Day Parade, Albany Nosh Tour, Albany Wine Walk, Willamette River Festival
Willamette River Festival
The Willamette River Festival is an annual festival held in Albany, Oregon, United States that Featuring BBQ Cook off, pie eating & rib eating contest, pirates, live entertainment, jet ski demonstrations, and pirate themed carnival games along the Willamette River. The festival is head every year...
, and Albany Timber Carnival which ended in 2000 with an attempt to revive it in 2008.
Museums and other points of interest
Areas of interest include the Thomas and Walter Monteith House. Originally constructed near the Calapooia River, the Monteith house is one of the oldest buildings in Albany. It has been relocated twice, most recently to downtown Albany where is serves as the Monteith House Museum and is on the National Register of Historic PlacesNational Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
, Whitespires Church
United Presbyterian Church and Rectory (Albany, Oregon)
The Albany Presbyterian Church and Rectory, also known as Whitespires, is a historic church building in Albany, Oregon, United States. It was built in 1891 in the Carpenter Gothic style. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979...
(another historically registered building) is the tallest building in town, The Albany Regional Museum (which has exhibits about Albany history housed in a historic building originally built by S.E. Young in 1887), Historic Downtown Albany (which has antique stores, restaurants, Albany Civic Theater, and one of the oldest Carnegie libraries
Carnegie library
A Carnegie library is a library built with money donated by Scottish-American businessman and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. 2,509 Carnegie libraries were built between 1883 and 1929, including some belonging to public and university library systems...
still being used as a library. As of December 2006, a carousel
Carousel
A carousel , or merry-go-round, is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating circular platform with seats for riders...
was under construction. It is due to be finished by 2012 and is housed at the Historic Carousel Art Studio and Museum. Downtown Albany is a National Historic District
Historic district (United States)
In the United States, a historic district is a group of buildings, properties, or sites that have been designated by one of several entities on different levels as historically or architecturally significant. Buildings, structures, objects and sites within a historic district are normally divided...
), and the Albany Civic Theater (one of the oldest civic theaters in Oregon, has operated continuously since the opening of its first production on March 2, 1951).
Albany has a total of 4 historic districts throughout the city including the Albany Municipal Airport
Albany Municipal Airport (Oregon)
Albany Municipal Airport is a general aviation airport located east of the city of Albany in Linn County, Oregon, United States. It is publicly owned and operated by the City of Albany. It is the oldest known operating airfield in Oregon, opening in 1920. There are 58 aircraft based at the...
, Monteith Historic District
Albany Monteith Historic District
The Albany Monteith Historic District, also known as Monteith Historic District, in Albany, Oregon, United States, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. It includes the Alfred Dawson House, which is separately listed on the NRHP...
, Hackleman Historic District
Albany Hackleman Historic District
The Hackleman Historic District in Albany Oregon, was placed on the list of National Register of Historic Places in 1982. The district contains 228 historic properties within about a 28 city blocks area. The district was named after Abner Hackleman who came to Albany in 1845....
, and the Albany Downtown Commercial Historic District. Albany's historic districts have just about every housing style built from 1840 and 1920, those including Federal
Federal architecture
Federal-style architecture is the name for the classicizing architecture built in the United States between c. 1780 and 1830, and particularly from 1785 to 1815. This style shares its name with its era, the Federal Period. The name Federal style is also used in association with furniture design...
, Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
, American Farmhouse, Second Empire, Eastlake
Eastlake Movement
The Eastlake Movement was a nineteenth century architectural and household design reform movement started by architect and writer Charles Eastlake . The movement is generally considered part of the late Victorian period in terms of broad antique furniture designations...
, Italianate
Italianate architecture
The Italianate style of architecture was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. In the Italianate style, the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian Renaissance architecture, which had served as inspiration for both Palladianism and...
, and Colonial Revival
Colonial Revival architecture
The Colonial Revival was a nationalistic architectural style, garden design, and interior design movement in the United States which sought to revive elements of Georgian architecture, part of a broader Colonial Revival Movement in the arts. In the early 1890s Americans began to value their own...
. Those historic districts were recognized as one of the best places to buy a historic home in the nation by This Old House
This Old House
This Old House is an American home improvement magazine and television series aired on the American television station Public Broadcasting Service which follows remodeling projects of houses over a number of weeks.-Overview:...
online. In total there are over 700 historic buildings within the 4 historic districts.
Recreation
Albany has two golf courses Golf Club of Oregon a public course and Spring Hill Country Club a private course both located in North Albany. Albany Oregon also has two different bowling alleys AMF Albany Lanes and Lake Shore Lanes which also has a mini golf course outside the bowling alley to provide entertainment to the population.Parks and recreation
The Albany Parks and Recreation Department is the agency responsible for the Senior Center, the Periwinkle Creek Bike Path, and the other 8 trails that are within Albany. The Parks Department is also responsible for all 30 of the listed local city parks in the city, along with the city organized events that occur at theses parks. Such as River Rhythms, Mondays at Monteith, and many others.The Parks department is incharge of running and maintaining the Albany community pool and the Swanson Park Action Center which houses the Albany Cool Pool. Albanys Parks and Recreation Department aims to make it where everyone within the city limits lives within 2 miles (3.2 km) of a park. The Parks department is also in the process of adding an additional park to the city, to be named Teloh Calapooia Park.Albany's Timber Linn Memorial Park house the 63rd Blue Star
Blue Star Mothers Club
During World War II, in March 1942, the Blue Star Mothers of America, Inc. organization was formed in the United States to provide support for mothers who had sons or daughters in active service in the war. The name came from the custom of families of servicemen hanging a banner called a Service...
veterans memorial in the state of Oregon. The memorial is dedicated to Linn County servicemen who lost their lives during all of the 20th century wars. The memorial lists the names of those from Linn county killed in action for each war fought throughout the 20th century. The memorial was sponsored by the Santiam District Garden Club and the Linn County Veterans Memorial Association. Albany's Timber-Linn Memorial Park also hosted the American Veterans Traveling Tribute, a replica of the Vietnam Memorial wall in Washington, D.C. in July 2009.
The department also has a urban forestry program which involves the Legacy Forest at Lexington Park, that consists of commemorative tree planting designed to perpetuate the memory or work of individuals and organizations. Also the Heritage Tree Program which was established to recognize trees having historic significance in the community. The city has also been involved with the Tree City USA
Tree City USA
Tree City USA is a tree planting and tree care program sponsored by the National Arbor Day Foundation for cities and towns in the United States.- Requirements :...
program that is sponsored by The National Arbor Day Foundation
Arbor Day
Arbor Day is a holiday in which individuals and groups are encouraged to plant and care for trees. It originated in Nebraska City, Nebraska, United States during 1872 by J. Sterling Morton. The first Arbor Day was held on April 10, 1872, and an estimated 1 million trees were planted that day.Many...
since 1993. The city and Parks Department also take part in Arbor Week.
Education
Albany is the home to a two year junior college called Linn-Benton Community CollegeLinn-Benton Community College
Linn-Benton Community College is a two year junior college, located in Linn County, Oregon.-Accreditation:LBCC is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities...
, which was established in 1966. The college offers certificates and associates degrees and has many transfer and dual enrollment programs with OSU (through a degree partnership program )totaling over 60 programs of study. LBCC serves over 24,000 full and part time students in and around Albany and is supported financially through tuition, property taxes and the State of Oregon.
The Albany area has also been served since 1979 by the Greater Albany Public School District, including West Albany High School
West Albany High School
West Albany High School is a public high school in Albany, Oregon, United States.West Albany High School was formerly named Albany Union High School prior to the completion of South Albany High School in 1972.-Academics:...
, and South Albany High School
South Albany High School
South Albany High School is a public high school located in Albany, Oregon, United States.Built in 1970, South Albany occupies the largest facility in the Greater Albany Public School District, encompassing more than of classrooms and other facilities.-Academics:In 2008, 75% of the school's...
Which combine server to educate about 2,700 students. Albany is also served by Albany Options School
Albany Options School
Albany Options School is a public alternative school in Albany, Oregon, United States. The school provides alternative education for students for students who are working below or above state benchmark standards. These opportunities include transitional programs, credit-recovery programs,...
as an alternative to traditional school for grades 6 through 12. In total Greater Albany Public School District serves roughly 8,900 students throughout its 23 different schools. Along with the K-12 schools Albany also offers student services at the Maple Lawn Preschool.
The Albany Collegiate Institute was founded in 1867 and served as Albany's higher education institute for 70 years before it was moved to Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, and renamed Lewis & Clark College
Lewis & Clark College
Lewis & Clark College is a private institution of higher learning located in Portland, Oregon. Made up of an undergraduate College of Arts and Sciences, a School of Law, and a Graduate School of Education and Counseling. Lewis & Clark is a member of the Annapolis Group of colleges with athletic...
.
Newspaper
The primary media outlet is the daily newspaper Albany Democrat-HeraldAlbany Democrat-Herald
The Albany Democrat-Herald is the daily newspaper of Albany, Oregon, United States. Lee Enterprises owns both the Democrat-Herald and the Corvallis Gazette-Times. The two papers publish a joint Sunday edition, the Mid-Valley Times...
which is owned and published by Lee Enterprises
Lee Enterprises
Lee Enterprises is a publicly traded American media company. It publishes 54 daily newspapers in 23 states, and more than 300 weekly, classified, and specialty publications. Lee Enterprises was founded in 1890 by A.W. Lee and is based in Davenport, Iowa....
. The Democrat-Herald started as a political tool for one of Oregon's first senators. The Democrat-Herald traces its origin to the Albany Democrat newspaper, founded by Delazon Smith
Delazon Smith
Delazon Smith was a Democratic Party politician who briefly represented the state of Oregon in the U.S. Senate in 1859. He served for less than one month , making his term among the shortest on record in the Senate...
in 1859. Lee Enterprises also publishes the Mid-Valley Times the Sunday version of the paper.
Radio
Albany has 8 different radio stations that are either broadcast or have offices within Albany and many others that serve the area. the FM stations are, 107.9FM KHPEKHPE
-External links:*...
that uses the tagline (HOPE-FM) which is a Christian contemporary music radio station, and 99.9FM KRKT-FM
KRKT-FM
-External links:*...
, a country radio station that both broadcast from Albany. There is also 101.5FM KFLY
KFLY
KFLY is an American commercial rock music radio station in Eugene, Oregon, broadcasting to the Eugene-Springfield, Oregon area on 101.5 FM.The station features the Bob & Tom show from 6am to 10am and the local Donkey Show featuring Tanner, Drew, "Buster Ass" Marcus, and their new intern, "Lurch" or...
, which is based out of Eugene, Oregon
Eugene, Oregon
Eugene is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.As of the 2010 U.S...
but maintains an office is the Albany area.
Along with the FM stations there are 5 AM stations. 790 AM KWIL
KWIL
KWIL is a radio station licensed to serve Albany, Oregon, USA. The station is owned by Extra Mile Media, Inc.-Programming:KWIL broadcasts a religious radio format to the greater Corvallis, Oregon, area...
, is the AM version of KHPE (107.9FM). The others range from adult standard such as KSHO
KSHO
KSHO is a radio station licensed to serve Lebanon, Oregon, USA. The station, which began broadcasting in 1950, is currently owned by the Eads Broadcasting Corporation.-Programming:KSHO broadcasts an adult standards music format...
(920 AM), comedy radio and Seattle Mariner's baseball games KTHH
KTHH
KTHH is a radio station licensed to serve Albany, Oregon, USA. The station, which began broadcasting in 1959, is currently owned by Bicoastal Media and the broadcast license is held by Bicoastal Media Licenses V, LLC.-Programming:...
(990 AM), to sports KEJO
KEJO
KEJO is a radio station licensed to serve Corvallis, Oregon, USA. The station, which began broadcasting in August 1955, is currently owned by Bicoastal Media and the broadcast license is held by Bicoastal Media Licenses V, LLC....
(1240 AM), and KGAL
KGAL
KGAL is a radio station licensed to serve Lebanon, Oregon, USA. The station, which began broadcasting in 1995, is owned by the Eads Broadcasting Corporation.-Programming:...
(1580 AM) the local news and talk radio station.
Infrastructure
Highway
Albany is adjacent to Interstate 5, while Oregon Route 99E runs through it in a north and south direction and U.S. Route 20 runs through it in an east and west direction. Just outside the south end of Albany Oregon Route 34 runs from east to west.Train
AmtrakAmtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
, the national passenger rail system, provides service to Albany from its Albany Station at 10th Avenue SW on two routes. Long-haul train route the Coast Starlight
Coast Starlight
The Coast Starlight is a passenger train operated by Amtrak on the West Coast of the United States. It runs from King Street Station in Seattle, Washington, to Union Station in Los Angeles, California. The train's name was formed as a merging of two of Southern Pacific's train names, the Coast...
(with service from Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
to Seattle) stops in Albany daily in both directions. Amtrak Cascades
Amtrak Cascades
The Amtrak Cascades is a passenger train route operated by Amtrak in partnership with the states of Washington and Oregon in the Pacific Northwest of the United States and the province of British Columbia in Canada...
commuter trains operate between Vancouver, British Columbia and Eugene, Oregon
Eugene, Oregon
Eugene is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.As of the 2010 U.S...
, and serve Albany several times daily in each direction. The Amtrak Cascade line is the proposed path of the Pacific Northwest Corridor
Pacific Northwest Corridor
The Pacific Northwest Corridor or the Pacific Northwest Rail Corridor is one of eleven federally designated high-speed rail corridors in the United States. The corridor extends from Eugene, Oregon to Vancouver, British Columbia via Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington...
high-speed rail
High-speed rail in the United States
High-speed rail in the United States currently consists of one high-speed rail service: Amtrak's Acela Express runs on the Northeast Corridor from Boston to Washington, D.C...
line. The Albany station would be one of many stops along the proposed 466 mile long, 110-mph passenger line.
The station itself was constructed in 1909 for the Southern Pacific Railroad
Southern Pacific Railroad
The Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company, and usually simply called the Southern Pacific or Espee, was an American railroad....
and is built of masonry
Masonry
Masonry is the building of structures from individual units laid in and bound together by mortar; the term masonry can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are brick, stone, marble, granite, travertine, limestone; concrete block, glass block, stucco, and...
. It is one of the oldest continuously operating passenger rail stations in the U.S. and has one of the best equipped engine shops in the northwest – Southern Pacific 4449
Southern Pacific 4449
Southern Pacific 4449 is the only surviving example of Southern Pacific Railroad's GS-4 class of steam locomotives. The GS-4 is a streamlined 4-8-4 type steam locomotive...
, which lives at the Brooklyn Roundhouse in Portland
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, occasionally visits the shop for repairs, as do several other locomotives stored at the roundhouse. The Albany Train Yard was also used to store a pair of ALCO PA
ALCO PA
ALCO PA refers to a family of A1A-A1A diesel locomotives built to haul passenger trains that were built in Schenectady, New York in the United States by a partnership of the American Locomotive Company and General Electric between June, 1946 and December, 1953...
diesel-electric locomotives from the mid-1990s to early-first decade of the 21st century. One was shipped to the Brooklyn Roundhouse for restoration, and the other shipped to the east coast to be restored for static display (no engine) in the Smithsonian. Beginning in 2004, the station and the surrounding area underwent an $11.3 million restoration that was funded with a combination of federal, state, local, and Amtrak money. In 2006 the city received the Award in Downtown Excellence from the Oregon Downtown Development Association for the renovation of the station.
Bus
Public transportation within Albany is provided by Albany Transit System (ATS). Connections to Corvallis, OregonCorvallis, Oregon
Corvallis is a city located in central western Oregon, United States. It is the county seat of Benton County and the principal city of the Corvallis, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Benton County. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 54,462....
are provided by bus service via the Linn-Benton Loop and the Valley Retriever Thruway inter-county bus systems. ATS, the Linn-Benton Loop, and the Valley Retriever all provide bus service to and from the Amtrak station.
Air
Albany Municipal AirportAlbany Municipal Airport (Oregon)
Albany Municipal Airport is a general aviation airport located east of the city of Albany in Linn County, Oregon, United States. It is publicly owned and operated by the City of Albany. It is the oldest known operating airfield in Oregon, opening in 1920. There are 58 aircraft based at the...
is a general aviation
General aviation
General aviation is one of the two categories of civil aviation. It refers to all flights other than military and scheduled airline and regular cargo flights, both private and commercial. General aviation flights range from gliders and powered parachutes to large, non-scheduled cargo jet flights...
airport on the eastern edge of Albany and has been open since 1920 and is believed to be the oldest operating airfield in Oregon.In 1998, the airport became the first airport in Oregon to be named to the National Register of Historic Places, and was the City of Albany's fourth National Historic District, And has been home to parts of the Northwest Art & Air Festival since its first air show in 1931. It has a single runway with the specs of 16-34 3,004 X 75, and is an asphalt runway. The closest airports with commercial air service available is the Eugene Airport
Eugene Airport
Eugene Airport , also known as Mahlon Sweet Field, is a public airport located 7 miles northwest of Eugene, in Lane County, Oregon. Owned and operated by the City of Eugene, it is the fifth-largest airport in the Pacific Northwest, providing commercial air service to a six-county region in...
to the south and at Portland International Airport
Portland International Airport
Portland International Airport is a joint civil-military airport and the largest airport in the U.S. state of Oregon, accounting for 90% of passenger travel and more than 95% of air cargo of the state. It is located within Portland's city limits just south of the Columbia River in Multnomah...
to the north.
Bridges
Albany has both the Ellsworth Street BridgeEllsworth Street Bridge
The Ellsworth Street Bridge is a highway bridge that crosses the Willamette River in Albany, Oregon, United States. Built in 1925, the two-lane structure carries U.S. Route 20 eastbound traffic, with the adjacent Lyon Street Bridge carrying westbound traffic...
which was constructed in 1926 and the Lyon Street Bridge bridge that was constructed in 1973. They are both 2 lane bridges that make up part of U.S. Route 20. The two bridges connect Linn to the south with Benton county in the north as they pass across the Willamette River
Willamette River
The Willamette River is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States...
. this makes up the major connection of downtown Albany with the north end of town and to Corvallis.
Paths and trails
Albany has many paths and trails open to both pedestrian and bicyclists. Simpson Park Trail is a dirt pedestrian trail with a round trip distance of 2.36 miles (3.8 km). The dirt trail starts at the parking lot of Simpson Park and continuing until the path ends in a grassy area with one very narrow path heading back toward the river. Periwinkle Creek Trail though is the longest of all the paved trails. It is a flat bicycle and pedestrian path that runs along Periwinkle Creek from the northwest corner of Grand Prairie Park to the Albany Boys and Girls Club, and travels a round trip distance of 3.61 miles (5.8 km). There are many other trails throughout the city to include, Cox Creek Loop and Waverly Lake Loop, Dave Clark Trail, Oak Creek Greenbelt Trail, Takena Landing Trail, Timber Linn Park Trails, and a proposed Swanson Park Connector a paved path on the north side of highway 99 that connects Swanson Park with the nearby Amtrak/Transit Center.Albany has made a growing effort to increase itself as a bicyclist friendly town through increasing the number of paths and trails that are open to them. The city was recently recognised as a Bicycle-Friendly Community for 2010 by the League of American Bicyclists for its efforts.
Health care
Albany is served by Samaritan Albany General HospitalSamaritan Albany General Hospital
Samaritan Albany General Hospital is a 76-bed medical facility in Albany, Oregon. Services include a level III trauma center, as well as the first open magnetic resonance imaging facility in the middle Willamette Valley....
, a 76-bed medical facility which is the main hospital for the city. Albany is also served by Samaritan North Albany Urgent Care and Geary Street Urgent Care, all are part of Samaritan Health Services. Outside of Samaritan Health Services there is Albany Family & Specialty Medicine that provides medical services to the community.
Notable people
- Jerry AndrusJerry AndrusJerry Andrus was an American magician and writer known internationally for his original close-up, sleight of hand tricks and optical illusions, such as the famous "Linking Pins".-Early life:...
(1918–2007) - magician - Mike Barrett (1968–present) - TV announcer of the NBANational Basketball AssociationThe National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
. - Charles B. BellingerCharles B. BellingerCharles Byron Bellinger was a federal district court judge in Portland, Oregon, United States. A native of Illinois, he also served as a state circuit court judge in Oregon, fought in the Modoc War in 1873, and was a newspaper editor...
(1839–1905) - federal district court judge. editor of the States Rights Democrat (Now the Albany Democrat-Herald). - George Earle ChamberlainGeorge Earle ChamberlainGeorge Earle Chamberlain was an American politician, legislator, and public official in Oregon. A native of Mississippi and trained lawyer, he served as the 11th Governor of Oregon, a representative in the Oregon Legislative Assembly, a United States Senator.-Early life:Chamberlain was born near...
(1854–1928) - 11th Governor of Oregon. - Daveigh ChaseDaveigh ChaseDaveigh Elizabeth Chase is an American actress, singer, and voice over artist best known for playing Rhonda Volmer in the HBO series Big Love, Samara Morgan in The Ring and Lilo Pelekai in Lilo & Stitch.-Early life:Chase was born Daveigh Elizabeth Chase-Schwallier in Las Vegas, Nevada, but her...
(1990–present) - actress - Abigail Scott DuniwayAbigail Scott DuniwayAbigail Scott Duniway was an American women's rights advocate, newspaper editor and writer, whose efforts were instrumental in gaining voting rights for women.-Biography:...
(1834–1915) - A writer, newspaper publisher, and promoter for women's rights. - Alexis EbertAlexis (country singer)Alexis is an American country pop/rock singer from Albany, Oregon. She is best known for "The Real Me", a song on the soundtrack for the 2004 film Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen. She has opened for more prominent artists including Keith Urban, Tracy Byrd and Sawyer Brown.-Career:Alexis has...
(1990–present) - is an American country pop/rock singer from Albany - Falling Up - Christian rock band
- Gary The Retard (1952–present) - member of the Howard Stern Show's Wack Pack
- Dave JohnsonDave Johnson (athlete)David Allen Johnson is a former Olympic decathlete from the United States. A native of North Dakota, he grew up in Montana and Oregon. He was part of Reebok's "Dan & Dave" advertising campaign leading up to the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, where he won a bronze medal in the decathlon...
(1963–present) - Olympic athlete and former West Albany High School teacher. - Percy R. KellyPercy R. KellyPercy R. Kelly was an American attorney and jurist in the state of Oregon. He was the 26th Chief Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court, serving on Oregon’s highest court from 1930 to 1949...
(1870–1949) - American attorney and jurist in the state of Oregon. - Michael LowryMichael Lowry (actor)Michael Lowry is an American actor best known for his role as Jake Martin on All My Children from 1996 to 2000. He has also appeared in the soap opera As the World Turns as Les Sweeney in 2004 and 2005...
(1968–present) - An actor that used to live in Albany. - Frank MorseFrank Morse (Oregon politician)Frank Morse is a politician in the U.S. state of Oregon. A Republican, he represents District 8 in the Oregon State Senate. He was first elected in 2002, defeating Democrat Barbara Ross in a high-profile race, and was reelected in 2006.- Early life :...
(1943–present) - politician - Delazon SmithDelazon SmithDelazon Smith was a Democratic Party politician who briefly represented the state of Oregon in the U.S. Senate in 1859. He served for less than one month , making his term among the shortest on record in the Senate...
(1816–1860) - A politician - Elmo SmithElmo SmithElmo Everett Smith was an American politician, a Republican, and the 27th Governor of the state of Oregon, U.S., from 1956 to 1957.-Early life:...
(1909–1968) - 27th GovernorGovernor of OregonThe Governor of Oregon is the top executive of the government of the U.S. state of Oregon. The title of governor was also applied to the office of Oregon's chief executive during the provisional and U.S. territorial governments....
of Oregon. - Mae YihMae YihMae Yih , is a former member of both houses of the legislature of the U.S. state of Oregon. She is the first Chinese American to serve in a state senate in the United States.- Early life :...
(1928–present) - member of the Oregon Legislative AssemblyOregon Legislative AssemblyThe Oregon Legislative Assembly is the state legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. The Legislative Assembly is bicameral, consisting of an upper and lower house: the Senate, whose 30 members are elected to serve four-year terms; and the House of Representatives, with 60 members elected to...
External links
- City of Albany (official website)
- Albany Chamber of Commerce
- Albany Visitors Association
- City-Data entry for Albany
- Linn County Roots entry for Albany
- Oregon Blue Book entry for Albany
44.630188°N 123.095992°W