[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 93 (Tuesday, July 12, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1470-E1471]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  TRIBUTE TO THE CITY OF HINES, OREGON

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. GREG WALDEN

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 12, 2005

  Mr. WALDEN of Oregon. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the 
City of Hines, Oregon, on the occasion of its 75th Anniversary. 
Although incorporated on December 8, 1930, Hines has a rich history 
going back to the 1870s.
  In 1873, Mr. George A. Smyth was the earliest recorded settler near 
what is now Hines. He and his immediate family moved from the 
Willamette Valley to the ``Warm Spring'' area just south of Hines. 
Shortly thereafter, two brothers by the names of William and Montz 
Currey set up their ranch headquarters at a small spring, which is now 
located in the northwest section of Hines. They had a small general 
store and saloon that was used occasionally as a barricade by nearby 
settlers when rumors of attacks were circulated after the Paiute Indian 
uprising in 1878. The Warm Spring was also the site of year-round 
cattle grazing and many buckaroo camps for the fall and spring cattle 
round-ups.
  In 1924, the Fred Herrick Lumber Company received a contract to start 
construction of the Malheur Railroad company's tracks to the City of 
Burns. The lumber company anticipated harvesting 890,000,000 board feet 
of Ponderosa pine from the nearby Bear Valley District of the Malheur 
National Forest. They chose the site of the Warm Spring for the 
construction of a lumber mill because it provided an ice-free log pond. 
In 1928, the Edward Hines Lumber Company of Chicago took over the 
Herrick interests of both the railroad and uncompleted lumber mill 
because of numerous delays in the project.
  Due to the Hines Company's strong interest in the area, the Stafford-
Derbes & Roy Company, a real estate development firm from New Orleans, 
purchased land from various ranchers and homestead owners to develop 
the beginnings of a new city. This project was advertised across the 
country as ``The greater Burns development in the Great Harney Valley, 
it is Oregon's first made-to-order community, and one of the first 
scientifically planned cities undertaken in America.'' Edward Hines and 
his wife designed and planned the new city around a circular park that 
was to be, and still is, the heart of Hines. Mrs. Hines stipulated that 
every house be constructed with slight differences. She wanted this new 
city to

[[Page E1471]]

look different from other mill towns. In 1929, Edward Hines ordered the 
first 150 homes built for his employees who were due to arrive within a 
year from Minnesota and Mississippi. In December 1930, the City of 
Hines was incorporated. The first officers to serve the city were 
selected, and by 1931 they had their first elementary school and post 
office. For the next sixty years, Hines Lumber and its employees 
prospered in this hidden oasis of the high desert.
  Development slowed when the mill closed in the early 1990's. However, 
the loggers who lived there were very proud to have worked for the 
Edward Hines Lumber Company. Hines has always maintained its own 
identity. Even today, its residents are fiercely independent people who 
pride themselves on being from Hines and not from the adjacent city of 
Burns. This strong sense of community and history is evident by the 
families that still gather in Hines City Park, the hub of this pioneer 
town, as envisioned by Mr. and Mrs. Hines.
  Mr. Speaker, on the occasion of the 75th Anniversary of Hines, thank 
you for allowing me to share with my colleagues the history of this 
fine town.

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