Oregon daily emerald., January 22, 1985, Image 9

To the slopes
and back
with a couple
stops along
the way
Page 2B
Gp the McKenzie
River Highway
Photos by
Hank Trotter
Page 4B
It starts about this time of
year. That depressing,
lackluster boredom with
winter’s bland colors and
constant cold, a sort of
large scale < cabin fever.
Time to get away and see
something different. Time'
to get out of town.
Junction City
Passed up by the railroad—
Rescued by the automobile
JUNCTION CITY — This is the
town that cars built.
If it has four wheels and re
quires a human to steer, Junction
City considers it an integral part
of life.
Perhaps this fact becomes clear
just inside the Junction City
limits, where the parade of car
dealerships begins.
Or when, after you ’ve driven
past the first 350-car lot, you
begin passing the RV dealerships.
Or the trailer lots. It doesn’t mat
ter. This is the town that cars
built.
Occasionally new fads come in
to style. Last year it was the new
Safeway store; the largest in the
valley, local residents boasted.
Why this grocery chain would
want to build such a monster of a
store in their town is still a
mystery. “I guess if they’re going
to build one, it might as well be
big," said Bette Anderson, the
town librarian. But the reasons
don’t matter much, the idea that
it was the largest was enough to
make it the topic of conversation
for months here.
But now even the topic of
Safeway is passe.
What's the newest store of in
terest in Junction City? Why the
new auto parts store, of course,
one resident said.
It's almost a patriotic pride of
cars that inspires Junction City
residents. Besides having the
largest Safeway, they have the
largest American flag flying pro
udly over one car dealer’s expan
sive lot.
On the flagpole is a dedication
from Gov. Vic Atiyeh, not just to
function City or the flag but to a
way of life.
“This flag,” the plaque reads,
“is dedicated to the great people
of Oregon in recognition of one of
our greatest freedoms, the
freedom of mobility as part of
America’s heritage ”
But this town’s obsession with
transportation began long before
the advent of cars. In 1872, when
the town was incorporated, it was
named Junction City in the hopes
of attracting the railroad, Ander
son said.
But the railroad declined the
town's offer, and Junction City
was a town without a junction, a
town without transportation.
And then cars came to the
rescue.
The state built Highway 99 and
divided it east and west at Junc
tion City, and the town then lived
up to its name.
And the cars came. Now gas
stations proliferated, the most
notable being the Brown Jug, a
gas station that, indeed, looks
like a brown jug.
Howard Williams, who reopen
ed the Brown Jug earlier this
month, doesn’t know why the
original owner built a brown jug.
The year was 1934, and strange
buildings were more popular
then. But still Williams only has
a guess as to where the idea for
the jug originated.
“He got the plans out of a
magazine, Popular Mechanics, I
think,” Williams said.
Junction City has other claims
to fame, including the annual
Scandinavian Festival. But the
popularity of the event has a
tendency to irritate local
residents.
As Mazie Bailey, owner of the
Junction Inn Boarding House puts
it, “ I just as soon leave town
then; you can’t even get to your
car.”
Story by Stasia Scarborough
Photo by Steven Wall