Page Nine
MODERN LA GRANDE ONCE THE GRANDY HOMESTEAD
LA GRANDE EVENING OBSERVER, LA GRANDE, OREGON
First Home on "The
Flat" Erected Where La
Grande Hotel Stands.
More than half a century .ago,
before the first steel rails stretch
er across this end of the Grande
Ronde -valley, what we know as
the La Grande of today presented
an entirely different picture. In
fact, It was nothing more or less
than a farm of 160 well kept
acres, and approximately 59 years
ago a farmhouse was erected on
that ' acreage the first build
ing in what later became modern
La Grande.
The farm was the property of
the lata Ben Grand y, and was lo
cated at Fourth and Adams, on
land now covered by the six
story La Grande hotel. Actually,
the farmhouse stood for nearly
half a century until 1927 when
it was removed to make room for
the new, modern structure.
Some of the lumber for that
first home was hauled from the
6nod grass sawmill at Oro Dell,
Some was brought from Union,
and finally It was completed, a
modest, substantial residence of
that day, and one of which Mr.
and Mrs, Grandy were proud of
many, many years.
Today, Mrs. Lydia Grandy, who
far many decadeit called th,at
place home, looks at the La
Grande hotel as being somewhat
of a monument to the pioneering
days. Intensely proud of La
Grande, this woman who has the ,
distinction of being the first fern- ;
Inine settler of this city as It i
stands today, watched the town i
grow from the first buildings f
that were 'quickly erected with j
the coming of the railroad back .
In '84, to its present develop- I
ment. She is one of the few re-I
malnlng who watched the city t
develop lyear by; year from Its
earliest day. ' j
As a young girl In her teens
Lydla Palmer came with her ,
brothers and sisters and parents, !
Mi-, and Mrs. Robert H. Palmer ;
and their family, from Pennsyl-;
vanla across the great stretch of
plains to Oregon. It was in 1864
and travel in those days was ,
nothing like riding on the
streamline train of today. It took '
72 days of hard travel before the
Grande Ronde valley was reached. ,
The Palmers, upon arrival, es- ;
tabllshed a temporary home In a '
cabin situated near the present '
location of the Robert Eakin !
place on Walnut street. In a
short time Lydla was to become '
the bride pi Ben W. .Grandy, !
who pre-empted 160 acres that
lay to the north of the then set- ,
tlement known as La Grande !
now Old Town, a part of the '
city's residential district. It was I
In 1875 that the Orandys built !
their home.
Mr. Grandy for many years, be
sides his ranch duties, freighted
across the mountains from La
Grande to Umatilla Landing, go
ing through dangers and hard
ships unheard of today. After
the coming of the railroad, how
ever, he devoted his time to bus
iness In the city, and to the dis
posing of his land interests, tak
ing an ever Increasing and Im
portant place In this city's his
tory. CORONATION
OF QUEEN TO
BE BIG EVENT
One of the meet colorful and
' beautiful events of the Scmi-Cen-tennial
U. P. celebration to be held
here this month will be the queen
coronation scheduled for the night
of Thurtday, July 19, at the La
Grande stadium. I
Rehearsals for the queen cor- j
onatton will be held during the j
' next week. Included in this page-j
ant will be 250 to 300 school ch.il- 1
dren in festive attire under the I
supervision of Miss Margerie Hor
' ton. The costuming of the chil
; dren Is in charge of Mrs. Geo.
Williams, who also has the group
of flower girls. This group has an
t excellent feature dance in addi
tion to its assigned duties ao the
i designated "Lane of Flowers.'
The famous La- Grande Triad
i choir under the direction of Mrs.
A. L. Richardson, will perform an
t Important part in the coronation
. services. Other, .musical - attrac
tlous will be the Oregon state
, champion drum - oorp of. Ia
i Grande post American Legion.
i chairman.. John .Gartty: the re-
I nowned UnloiPaciflc Old Timer
x ban of Ogden; Ulah. and the
' northwest's' own., .band of . La
j Orande under the direction of Roy
Mattoon.
The queen and attendants cos
tumes are under the personal di
rection of Mrs. Don Rohan.
The coronation as well as other
night features on the La Grande
stadium will be enacted under an
excellent flood light system under
the supervision of F. L. Robinson
and Miss T. Whaley. A colored
light scheme will also be used. Of
great assistance will be the loud
speaker system handled entirely
by H. E. Dixon.
Properties are ln charge of Don
Rohan, chairman. Harley Richard
son is designing and building the
queen's float.
HORSESHOE TOURNEY TO
BE CELEBRATION EVENT
Details of the horseshoe tour
nament, one of the sports events
of the Semi -Centennial U. P. cele
bration next week, have been an
nounced by J. B. Smith, president
of the La Grande Horseshoe club
and chairman of the events for
the celebration tournament.
Elimination contest) will be
held on the 19th and 20th, with
an entrance fee of 50c charged fdr
each person entering the contest.
All contestants will pitch 100
shoes to qualify for the final
tournament which will be held on
Saturday, July 21, The entrance
fee for the final contest will be
$1.00 per person and the 15 high
est men In the elimination con
The script covering the pageant
was written by Miss Kate Houx
and Mto. C. C. Long and Is being
hailed as a masterpiece.
The general assembly of the
coronation will be directed by
Mrs. J. B. McLaughlin, while Mrs.
J. F. Corbett, as general chairman
of the entire queen's coronation,
holds the distinction of supervis
ion over lne of the most out
standing features of the celebra
tion. All chairmen have their parts
well under control, all participants
are prepared and the public will
witness an elaborate event in the
history of the west, It was said.
test will pitch a round robin for
the prize money which Is being
offered.
The only persons barred from
this tournament are agents, sales
men, or any representative of any
horseshoe company. All pitchers
who qualify for the final tourna
ment will rcrelve prize money, the
minimum prize being $1.50 and
this amount will reimburse en
trants for their fees for both con
tests. The fifteen prizes will be award
ed as follows: 1st, $30.00; 2nd,
$20.00; 3rd, $15.00; 4th, $4.75; 5th,
$4.00; 6th, $3.75; 7th, $3.50; 8th,
$3.25; 9th. $3.00; 10th, $2.75; 11th,
$250; 12th, $2.25; 13th, $2.00;
14th, $1.75; 14th. $1.50.
Back in the Days When
THE horse and buggy was still a popular means of "comin' to town" and
the public square was naked without its hitching posts, the name J. C.
Penney was already commencing on the tongues of folks and becoming a
household word for value and economy in matters of apparel and home
furnishing. Today, through the years, the J. C. Penney Co., has grown
and expanded along, that same strict adherence to the Golden Rule that
made its early success so immediate and popular ... a policy of square
dealing and customer satisfaction always paramount.
Founded in 1902 at the Union Pacific
coal mining town of Kemmerer, Wyo.,
there are 1487 J. C. Penney Co. stores .
over the United States today the
world's largest chain department store
organization.
161 of Our Stores Along the
Lanes of the Union Pacific U. Pk.
J.E.REYNOLDS
HAS LIST OF
PASSENGERS
Passengers wanted t
President J. E. Reynolds of the
Sons and Daughters of Union
County Pioneers association Is
making up a passenger list for
the special train which is to pull
into La Grande from Island City
on the morning of July 19 as the
opening feature of the U. P. Semi
centennial celebration. More
names are to be put on the list,
for the train will accommodate 36
passengers and the Hon. Dunham
Wright, sage of Medical Springs,
Union county's most outstanding
pioneer and president of the coun
ty pioneer association, will be
passenger No. 1. Reynolds is very
anxious to complete the list which
when finished, will have the name
of one representative from, each
of the prominent pioneer families
of Union county. The Observer Is
asking such representatives to get
In touch with Mr. Reynolds at once
If they have not done so already.
Also, Mr. Reynolds Is asking for
100 per cent cooperation for the
great pioneer parade which comfrs
immediately after the speaking. He
is asking that all the citizens of
the county who will do so, come
on the morning of the 19th attired
in the prevailing fashions of the
'80's ithis Is for the valley as well
as for La Grande. Then valley fam
ilies are wanted for the parade,
families or representatives of fam
ilies who will come In some horse
drawn vehicle to Join the parade
and help make It one of the strik
ing features of the three-day cele
bration. The Pioneer train leaves Island
City at 9 o'clock. All aboard I
FRIDAY MORN
PARADE WILL
BE BIG SHOW.
Although the Seml-Centennlal
U. P. celebration committee has
not yet divulged full details, It
was stated today that the Jubilee
parade, to be held at 9:30 a. m.
on July 20, would be beyond ques
tion the greatest and most color
ful procession ever staged In La
Grande.
Scores of floats, organizations,
(Continued on, Page Ten)
HOME HUIMHNO
Thirty-one residences were
constructed; In La Grande last
year. A glance at the column of
Improvements during the last
yea rwlll Indicate how much ad
vancement has been made In this
class of improvement. La
Grands Gazette, Dec. 26, 1B90.
Miss Maude Durbin, formerly
residing In La Grande and d gift
ed elocutionist, has been en
gaged to appear with Madame
Modjeska. La Orande Gazette!
Oct. 21, 1892.
Mrs. James Hendcrshott, of the
Cove, Is visiting with her daugh
ter, Mrs. J. B. Eaton. La Grande
Chronicle. May 17, 1893.