Where Sasha Went

Moro Hotel – Moro, Oregon

I have been researching for a while and unfortunately cannot find much on the history of the Moro Hotel in Moro Oregon. It was constructed in 1921 and had roughly 50 rooms, a lobby, a dining room and numerous facility rooms like laundry, kitchen, back office and storage areas.
Local newspapers have written up articles on things to do in the area and none seem to mention the old hotel or the antique store that now occupies the building. The women who owns the place now, Lisa, was kind enough to show us around after we had poked around in the lobby area for quite a while. The three floors above the lobby are in various stages of renovation.

The first an eerily jumble of rooms, most stuffed to the brim with odd collections of things from Christmas decor, to baskets, to floor to ceiling lamps.  A few rooms have been renovated and she offers them up to friends and family who make their way out to Sherman County for a visit.

The second floor having been mostly untouched. It still has remnants of the old rooms, which were Jack and Jill style with shared toilet rooms on one side and shower on the other.

The original floors, trim, heaters and kitchenettes still standing in most rooms, however many of the windows were blown out. In all the rooms the plaster was peeling away from the wall planks in various layers.

The top floor which I did not get a good picture of because it wasn’t lit was the original attic and where most of the renovation has taken place so far. All the old broken and weather damaged plaster has been removed as well as wood planking fully replaced. What remained was an eerie open poorly lit attic with exposed brick. On the bricks you could see the hand-prints of the people who layed the bricks still slightly wet nearly 100 years ago.
To experience the Moro Hotel for yourself, Moro Oregon can be found in north central Oregon in Sherman County. The hotel is on the main street, the only four story building on the block.

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Cecil, Oregon

Cecil Oregon today is no more than a few grain silos, a couple of houses and a store front that hasn’t been operational since the mid 90s. It was up until 1994 a stop on the Heppner branch of the Union Pacific Railroad, but in 1993 the company filed for abandonment and by 1994 all traces of the tracks on the line were gone. As such many of the towns that were serviced by the line are now also abandoned.

The site sits on a narrow stretch of the Willow Creek and before the town was established it was a crossing for the Oregon Trail and an important stagecoach route. The town was established officially in the late 1800s and with a operational post office from 1902 to 1974 as well as a gas station and store (pictured above) serviced the small town of 15 for a number of years.
The store, the only thing we could find still standing of what would have been the original town appeared to occupied by someone who has made it their home. As such we chose not to poke around the area too much for fear of bothering the residents. But the store still stands as cute as ever with its painted facade and wide porch.

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The Drive-In – Condon, Oregon

A few weeks ago I talked about the Condon Hotel which is a darling historic hotel in Condon Oregon. While we were there we obviously needed to eat dinner. There were a couple restaurants that we wanted to eat at, one was closed and the other was out of to go boxes. Third times a charm took us to The Drive-In, which is on the south end of town across the street from the newly built city park which was also having  a farmers market that we had wandered around earlier in the day.
We chatted with the owner a bit while we waited for our burger, which we split with a large order of curly fries and a chocolate shake. He had mentioned that they had recently opened but they were busy so I didn’t get the chance to get too many details about how new or the history of the building they occupied. It was clearly built as a drive in, and was very popular with the locals.

They had an extensive menu with some really fantastically inventive burgers. We chose one that had a slice of ham as well as the burger. It was incredible! If it weren’t a 10 hour drive from my house I would go there for dinner every week.
We had a wonderful time sitting there waiting for our food, not only chatting with the owner but the locals that came and went for their dinners as well. I love getting to witness this kind of small town community and caring. They do not have a full website but a Facebook page with their hours can be found here. I would highly suggest stopping in if you find your way out there. Though as I write this in August they are currently closed as they are feeding the firefighters in the area trying to keep the wildfires from burning any more farms and historic homes. Once again, small town caring and community, it’s so wonderful to see.
Additional Information:

433 S Main St. Condon Oregon
11am to 7pm
Closed Sunday

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Hotel Condon – Condon, Oregon

Condon Oregon was established in 1893, named by the first post master David B Trimbel after Harvey Condon whoes firm first sold the townsite lots in 1884 after having acquired the land from a local homesteader. The town was once the last southern stop on the Union Pacific line that ran down from the Columbia River. And like most towns in Oregon when the trains stopped running the people stoped coming.

The hotel sits on the main street of town, which thanks to an 1998 initiative has been listed on the National Registry of Historic places and has enjoyed some refurbishment money. Some new businesses have opened up including a number of excellent restaurants, a gift and bookshop as well as the theater and of course Hotel Condon.

Hotel Condon was first opened in 1920. It has been updated with modern amenities and offered complimentary breakfast as well as a wine and cheese reception in the evenings. Our room was just lovely, bright and clean. Updated with comfortable furniture, wi-fi and television. We thoroughly enjoyed the wine and cheese, which we ate outside as it was such a wonderful evening. Then we got burgers to go from down the street and hung around our room. I would highly recommend the hotel, even if it weren’t the only place in town.

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White River Falls – Tygh Valley, Or

White River Falls was a hydroelectric plant that supplied Sherman and Wasco Counties with power from 1910 until 1960. Much of the damn and associated hydropower bulidings and equipment are still standing at the base of the valley, which you can see in the picture below.

The waterfall itself is about 90 feet, and while in the summer the water flow doesn’t seem like much, in the spring it has enough volume to have earned the nickname of ‘The Niagra Falls of the West’.

The park is free for use, the upper park includes the parking lot and a lookout as well as a series of placards explaining the history of the dam. We did not hike down due to the heat and timing but the trail leads off from the upper lot, down along the cliff, past the hydro building and back along the river. The trail then goes onto state land and private land. There are quite a few resources out there discussing both history and usage of the area, this site World of Waterfalls covers it nicely.
I would very much like to go back in the spring to experince the waterfall at its height and also in more friendly weather to hike down into the canyon. It was a very beauitful spot, and just off the main highway from Maupin so if you find yourself in the area with a little extra time I high suggest the stop.

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Friend, Oregon

Friend Oregon is by most writes a relatively intact ghost town. It has a graveyard, a school and a store. However, it is also on or near someone’s property! When we drove down to take pictures and explore the little town we were greeted by a pack of dogs. Farm dogs and likely very nice but we weren’t willing to test the theory by exploring on foot. So all we saw while there was the store front.

A very cool building and an excellent example of early 20th century architecture which is so common here in Oregon. My favorite part always being the use of large windows. My dream house would probably look similar. Large wall to wall windows and a big porch for reading outdoors.

Friend was named after George J Friend, the post office which was established in 1903 was done so on his old homestead site. The town was the end terminal of the Great Southern Railroad so at the time it was a very busy spot. But the railroad stopped operation in 1936 and with it the town slowly died.

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