PROGRESS 2019: CANYON CITY
MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, June 26, 2019
9
Three homes under construction in Canyon City
Town infrastructure
in good condition
By Richard Hanners
Blue Mountain Eagle
Canyon City has the rich-
est history of any community
in Grant County. Founded in
June 1862 with a gold rush
that drew 10,000 miners
within months, making it the
largest city in Oregon, Can-
yon City has been the seat
of county government since
1864 and is home to several
notable tourist attractions.
Historic changes
About 700 residents
live in the 1.4-square-mile
city, which sits in a narrow
canyon and is bisected by
Canyon Creek. The main
employers are county gov-
ernment and Grant School
District 3, which has an ele-
mentary school in the city. It
was incorporated in 1891.
Canyon City has seen
extreme population fl uc-
tuations, growing by 57%
in the 1880 census only to
fall 22% in the next census.
Population declined 24%
in 1930 but increased by
62% in 1950 and by 28% in
1960. Growth has stabilized
in recent years, growing by
3.2% in 2000 and by 5.1% in
2010, but the 2016 estimate
shows a 4.7% decrease.
Construction began on
the fi rst spec home at the
Canyon Mountain Heights
subdivision in 2004. The
subdivision’s
85
lots,
located above town between
Humbolt Street and West
Bench Road, came with
water and sewer service and
covenants, conditions and
restrictions. Mayor Steve
Fischer said about 20 homes
have since been built there,
with three more under con-
struction this year.
Among Canyon City’s
attractions are the Grantville
Theater, Canyon City Com-
munity Hall, Grant County
Historical Museum and Jim
and Mary Jensen’s Oxbow
Trading Company, which
welcomes visitors to their
carriage works.
“We’re basically a bed-
room community,” Fischer
said. “We have tourist attrac-
tions but little in the way of
commercial businesses such
as restaurants, other than
Mabel’s and Station 62.”
Fires and fl oods
Canyon City has a tragic
history of fi res. Major fi res
hit the town in 1870, 1898
and 1937. The Canyon
Creek Complex fi re, ignited
by lightning strikes in forest
land south of town, threat-
ened to consume the town
again in 2015 as it raced
north toward the city limits.
But the most active
threat now is fl oods. Can-
yon Creek is confi ned by a
man-made channel left by
gold miners and sees addi-
tional runoff from slopes
burned in the 2015 wild-
fi re. In 2017, evacuation
notices were issued for res-
idents along the creek from
the Nugget Street bridge
north to the high school as
the creek reached 750 cubic
feet per second.
Flooding
concerns
returned in April 2019, with
the gauge at the Adam Road
bridge recording 1,150 cubic
feet per second. The channel
is expected to safely handle
850 cubic feet per second,
Grant County Emergency
Management Coordinator
Ted Williams said.
The safety of the Por-
tal, Nugget and Inland
street bridges was in ques-
tion during the fl ooding, and
Nugget and Inland remained
closed long after the fl ood-
waters subsided.
The pedestrian bridge
attached to the Inland
Street bridge, which is just
upstream from the high
school’s sport fi elds, was
yanked out with an excava-
tor when it posed a risk of
falling into the raging waters
and causing more havoc
downstream.
A dike had been con-
structed at the Inland bridge
following fl ooding in 2011,
but now the bridge’s future
is in question. Fischer spoke
with Army Corps of Engi-
neers personnel about the
need to inspect the bridge
The Eagle/Richard Hanners
Families make use of Canyon City’s downtown city park as they wait for the ‘62 Days parade to start in 2019.
The Eagle/Richard Hanners
A mural in downtown Canyon City promotes the town’s Wild
West and mining heritage.
before determining whether
it can be repaired and
reopened. The Nugget and
Inland bridges belong to the
city, but it lacks the fi nancial
resources to replace them.
is very active and keeps its
equipment in great shape,
Fischer said. The city’s
water main pressure and
hydrants are in good shape,
he said.
City services
Civic amenities
Flooding in Canyon City
made its way into the John
Day sewer collection sys-
tem. As a result, about 1.5
million gallons reached the
treatment plant, setting a
record for a 24-hour period.
The average for the two cit-
ies is about 230,000 gallons
per day.
Canyon City has about
300 water and sewer cus-
tomers. The city teamed up
with John Day to build a
new sewer system that was
completed in 1980. But
negotiations in February
2016 failed to resolve sharp
disagreements over fees
charged to Canyon City for
wastewater treatment.
Nine months later an
agreement was reached that
included an annual 4-5% fee
increase over the next fi ve
years. John Day is now mak-
ing plans for a cutting-edge
treatment plant, and its proj-
ect plans note that Canyon
City’s continuing payments
are critical to the project’s
success.
Canyon City’s basic
infrastructure is in good
shape, City Recorder Corry
Rider said in 2017. The
city has adequate water
sources, including a well in
the Marysville area. Fischer
said the city is looking for a
grant to upgrade a main run-
ning from the springs to the
storage tanks.
One of the two stor-
age tanks will need to be
replaced at about the same
time, he said.
The city bought a
crack-sealing unit to keep
up its streets. The city will
partner with Grant County
and Oregon Department of
Transportation this June to
chip-seal Humbolt Street
from end to end, Grant
County Judge Scott Myers
said. Canyon City will pro-
vide the oil, and the county
will provide manpower and
equipment, he said.
Canyon City does not
have its own police depart-
ment and relies on the sher-
iff’s offi ce for emergencies.
The local fi re department
Downtown Canyon City
looks like a theme park,
with historic buildings, good
sidewalks and large murals.
Sproul Park, in the center of
town, features a playground,
covered band stage, picnic
areas and restrooms across
the street, and frequently
hosts summer concerts and
other community events.
Across the street, the city-
owned Canyon City Com-
munity Hall hosts events
and meetings and is home to
the Grantville Theater. The
building underwent signif-
icant improvements since
October 2010, including a
new heating and cooling
system, ceiling insulation,
new lighting, new pressed-
tin ceiling tiles, double-pane
windows and energy-effi -
cient doors.
Weekly movies returned
to the Grantville Theater the
next year. Fischer said new
fl ooring was installed in the
hall’s fi rst fl oor in 2017. A
goal is to install a commer-
cial kitchen on the second
fl oor, he said.
Down the street, city
crews plan to repoint a
masonry wall near the his-
toric Sels Brewery build-
ing, home of the Whiskey
Gulch Gang, which orga-
nizes the annual ‘62 Days
Celebration in Canyon City
and the demolition derby at
the fairgrounds.
A group of volunteers
operating as the Commu-
nity Action Team put grant
money to work to complete
several projects over the
years, including sprucing
up the Grant County Histor-
ical Museum and the Joa-
quin Miller Cabin as well
as acquiring new tables and
chairs for the Community
Hall.
A footbridge over Can-
yon Creek just north of
Izee Street, dedicated in the
memory of former fi re chief
William A. Wall, was com-
pleted in 2004.
A community garden
project was proposed for a
county-owned lot on Adams
Street in 2017.
The Eagle/Richard Hanners
Canyon City Mayor Steve Fischer and his wife, Shelley, in downtown Canyon City during ‘62
Days in 2019.