Everything about The Dalles Oregon totally explained
» This page is about the Oregon town. For the nearby geological formation The Dalles, see Celilo Falls. For other uses see Dalles.
The Dalles is a city in
Wasco County,
Oregon,
United States, and the
county seat of Wasco County. The name of the city comes from the French word
dalle (meaning either "sluice" or "flagstone" and referring to the columnar basaltic rocks carved by the river), what the
French-Canadian employees of the
North West Company called the now-inundated rapids of the
Columbia River between the present-day city and
Celilo Falls. The population was 12,156 at the
2000 census and was estimated at 12,520 in 2006. Also in the same area was the Petite Dalles or Little Dalles, or Short Narrows, which is now also inundated.
History
Lewis and Clark camped near Mill Creek on October 25-27,
1805, and recorded the
Native American name for this creek as
Quenett. The first use of the name
Dalles, according to
Oregon Geographic Names, appears in fur trader Gabriel Franchère's
Narrative, on
April 12,
1814.
The Dalles was the end of the land route of the biannual "
Express" between
Fort Vancouver and
York Factory and later figured as the last stretch in the
Oregon Trail. In the fall of 1849
United States Army troops arrived in the new Oregon Territory and established a military outpost at The Dalles, with a log fort finished in 1850 and named
Fort Dalles.
A post office was established within the boundaries of the current city in 1851, and The Dalles was incorporated as a city in 1857. It has been the major commercial center between
Portland and
Pendleton since.
In 1864, the
U.S. Congress appropriated money to build a
U.S. mint in The Dalles that was to use gold from
Canyon City for
coinage. The supply of gold from Canyon City began to dwindle, however, and other problems, such as cost over-runs, workers leaving to work the gold fields, and flooding from the Columbia River, also contributed to the project running two years behind schedule and led eventually to the project's demise. In 1870 the
State of Oregon received the property from the U.S. Government and the building was put to other uses. The mint is now home to Erin Glenn Winery.
Construction of
The Dalles Dam in 1957 submerged the Long Narrows and
Celilo Falls.
In 1970, the
Bonneville Power Administration opened the
Celilo Converter Station nearby, the northern terminus of the
Pacific DC Intertie which sends 3,100
megawatts of electricity to
Los Angeles.
In
2006, the Internet company
Google began building a major data center, known locally as
Project 02, along the Columbia River in The Dalles, using the area's reliable hydroelectric power and the underutilized fiber optic capacity of the area. The new complex includes two buildings, each approximately the size of a
football field, and two cooling plants four stories high. The project has created hundreds of jobs in the area, mainly in construction, with an additional 60-200 permanent positions expected later in 2006.
Terrorism
In 1984, The Dalles was the scene of a
bioterrorist incident launched by the
Rajneeshee cult in an attempt to gain control of the local government of Wasco County. It was the first known
bioterrorism attack of the 20th century in the United States.
Geography
City of The Dalles is located at (45.601218, -121.182774). Highways
I-84,
US 30, and
US 197 meet at this city.
According to the
United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 14.4
km². 13.6 km² of it's land and 0.8 km² of it (5.23%) is water.
Demographics
As of the
census of 2000, there were 12,156 people, 4,896 households, and 3,226 families residing in the city. The
population density was 892.3/km². There were 5,227 housing units at an average density of 383.7/km². The racial makeup of the city was 87.83%
White, 0.39%
African American, 1.20%
Native American, 0.96%
Asian, 0.77%
Pacific Islander, 6.23% from
other races, and 2.62% from two or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 10.50% of the population.
There were 4,896 households out of which 30.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.1% were
married couples living together, 10.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.1% were non-families. 29.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.40, and the average family size was 2.94.
In the city, the population was spread out, with 24.8% under the age of 18, 7.9% from 18 to 24, 25.7% from 25 to 44, 23.5% from 45 to 64, and 18.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $35,430, and the median income for a family was $43,041. Males had a median income of $36,387 versus $22,583 for females. The
per capita income for the city was $17,511. About 9.0% of families and 12.4% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 16.6% of those under age 18 and 8.6% of those age 65 or over.
Sister city
The Dalles has one
sister city:
Trivia
The Dalles is the place of origin of a pedigreed breed of cat called the LaPerm. The breed was developed in the 1980s from a unique colony of curly-coated farm cats, which arose from a natural, spontaneous mutation and were owned by Linda and Richard Koehl on their farm in The Dalles. The breed is now owned and bred in many countries around the world.
The Dalles is also home to a Neo-Nazi group named the National Socialist Vanguard.
Notable residents
Alan Embree, Major League Baseball player
Ken Dayley, Major League Baseball playerFurther Information
Get more info on 'The Dalles Oregon'.
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