Polk County observer. (Monmouth, Polk County, Or.) 1888-1927, 1914-01-16
INDEPENDENCE
POLK COUNTY
HOP INDUSTRY ONE OF BIG
ASSETS.
Addison Bennett Tells in the Orego-
nian Something Of that City and
Surrounding Country.

Independence is one of the ancient
towns Of Oregon, if the word ancient
can be used to express a date within
the life Of the state. 1t was founded
somewhere along in the '40s. E. A.
Thorp being credited with building
the first house. The town was origi-
nally about mile below the center
OF the present city, the first settle
ment, being on the north side of Ash
Creek, which flows ito the Willamette
at the lower end of the principal bust
ness street. Some say it is the Oldest
town in the county, others claim that
Dallas was started few weeks earli-
er.
In the early days, before the era of
railroads, Independence was the dis
tributing point for large section of
country, the river then being the main
artery of trade. The Willamette as a
rule is navigable for seven or eight
months of the year and is often at low
water stages not navigable above here.
That fact gave Independence a big
advantage over towns farther up the
river. f
For many years the town had a
slow but steady growth, then came a
slump, through the upbuilding of ri
val towns, and for some 20 years
there was hardly building erected in
the place, and many of those already
erected stood vacant.
A few years ago the city began to
fill up and every building in town was
soon occupied, then new structures
were erected and old ones remodeled.
Since then the demand for both store
buildings and dwellings has been be-
yond the supply. Today there is not
desirable business room or a mod
ern dwelling for rent within the city
limits. l.a-.-
To those acquainted with condi-
tions here the very name Indepen-
dence signifies prosperity. The word
makes you think of hops, prunes and
the dairy cow. The place is in the
very center of the finest and largest
hop district in the United States,
some say in the world. But | always
hesitate about making those world
wide statements, not having Travelled
over some portions of the universe.
Hop Fields Are Best.
1t is sure, however, that herea-
bouts are the largest hop fields in this
country, and the Polk County output
to great extent controls the market
of the country, with Independence in
the very center of the district. 1t is
only fair to say, however, that a
portion of the Independence district
attributed in such statement to Polk
County really belongs to Marion
County. But that district is just
across the Willamette, a couple of
hundred yards from the heart of In
dependence, and to all intents and
purposes it is part of the Indepen-
dence territory.
To give an idea of the magnitude
of this industry it can be shown that
during the hoppicking season of an
average year there are congregated in
an area or circle 10 miles in diamet-
er, with Independence as the center,
fully 10000 pickers and their at
tendants. Practically every dollars
worth of supplies these 10000 strang-
ers buy is from the Independence
stores. During those periods, last
ing some 30 to 40 days, the popula-
tion of the city is multiplied, practi-
cally, by four or five.
The story of the prune industry
is almost as great as of the hopyards,
for this is in the heart of as good
a prune district as there is in the
state. As TO other fruits, apples,
peaches, pears, plums, and all sorts
of berries, Independence has led the
procession, or anyhow has stood well
up at the head, ever since it was
found that Oregon stood pre-eminent
as fruit-growing section. To go in
to all of the resources of the Indepen-
dence district would require several
pages of The 0regonian, and then the
article would tell not more than half
of what might be told.
Creamery.
The Independence Creamery, the
greatest concern of its kind on the
Pacific coast, it is well worth a trip
of several hundred miles to interview
X. c. Eldridge, the proprietor and
listen to his story of the business.
Here is a concern that draws its
cream from distances as great as 400
miles. from Northern California on
the south, British Columbia on the
north and Idaho on the east. Right