Springfield Symbols: Past & Present

Introduction

Nestled between the McKenzie and Willamette Rivers in the heart of the Willamette Valley is the city of Springfield. Sister city to Eugene, Springfield has a very diverse community and a wide range of symbols. Springfield, once an isolated town, has grown to incorporate a wide range of local businesses and industries.

Springfield was founded in 1840's by Elias Briggs. Throughout the United States there are many Springfield's, especially on the East Coast. Springfield, Oregon is unique because it was actually named when Elias Briggs found a spring in a field. Elias built his home two blocks up from today's location of The Springfield Depot on South A Street.

• Springfield Depot
• Sony
• Springfield Chamber of Commerce
• Springfield School District
• Weyerhaeuser
• McKenzie-Willamette Hospital
• Willamalane Park and Recreation District

 

Springfield Depot

In 1891 the Springfield Depot was built. According to the Southern Pacific plan it was supposed to combine a station and depot in the Victorian style. This style of depot was designed to fit between two tracks without wasting land. In its original design it had several different rooms that served many different purposes, there was a trainmen's lobby, freight house, a telegraphers bay, and living quarters for the stationmaster and his family.

The city council voted to move and renovate the old depot using federal grant money. On October 22, 1989, the building was moved from it location on South 7th street to it new location at 101 South A Street. Over the next few years the building was renovated with the help of area businesses and volunteers of the community.

The railcar that now sits at the depot was built by Pennsylvania Railroad in 1923. It was sandblasted and painted to match the Southern Pacific railcars. The rail that the railcar sits on was taken from an abandoned piece of the Southern Pacific line. Also, the train order signal came from the Oregon Pacific and Eastern rail yard in Cottage Grove.

Sony, based in Tokyo, is one of the leaders in audio, video, communication, and information manufactures in the world. With a workforce of 177,000 people worldwide and 28,200 workers in the US, Sony makes over 56.6 billion dollars per year worldwide and 18 billion dollars in the US.

Sony broke ground in May of 1994 after looking at several different sites in Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, and parts of California. The building was completed one year later, three months ahead of schedule, the fastest startup in the company's history.

With the downturn in the logging industry many of the former loggers learned the skills needed to work in the plant. Sony and Springfield began a kind of partnership, in the fact that 92% of the work force is from Oregon and 75% from within Lane County. The plant uses state-of-the-art technology and workers around the clock to make millions of CD's, CD-ROM's and Playstation Discs per month. With this it is one of Sony's largest disc manufactures. Sony has been the pioneer in the industry with the introduction of the CD-ROM in 1986, the Sony Playstation in 1995, and has been working on more high-tech discs such as DVD's.

Sony is a major contributor to the community with company sponsorships, encouragement of employee volunteering, partnership of local radio stations, and contributors to education. Sony helped develop a program with Thurston High School to develop a CD-ROM that would provide a taste of the local high school experience.

Other Links

Sony - http://www.sony.com

The Springfield Chamber of Commerce formed in 1949 but was founded much earlier than that. In 1933 the Chamber of Commerce began recording its history as a small businessmen's club. In its incorporation the Commerce followed what it had been doing several years before, routing the Pacific Highway through Springfield, and, during the Great Depression, supporting the banks and sales taxes.

The Chamber of Commerce elected Bob Smith as the new Executive Vice-President in 1957. During the next years of growth the Chamber and the city worked together to develop McKenzie-Willamette Hospital, the Gateway area, and supported the creation of Willamalane Park and Recreation District.

With the help of Bob Smith Springfield had grown as an industrial community thanks to the lumber industry in the '60s and '70s.When Bob Smith was hired in 1957 there were 14,000 people living in Springfield, and after his retirement in 1990 over 44,000 people lived in Springfield and surrounding communities.

In 1993  the Chamber of Commerce moved into the Springfield Depot Building. In 1995, with a new staff the Chamber was on another growth spurt. The economy was diversifying rapidly with the incorporation of high-tech industries, financial services, and the tourism industry, and the Commerce was there to promote positive change and identify the new opportunities.

Today the Chamber of Commerce plays an important role in the growth of Springfield and has nearly 600 members.

The Springfield School District was founded over 150 years ago with the organization of Upper Camp Creek, Eugene, and Pleasant Hill. The first of the teachers were Mrs. Agnes Stewart, Mr. Brattain, Mr. Briggs, and Mr. Maris. Some of the local schools have been named after these first teachers, such as Briggs Middle School and the new Agnes Stewart Middle School. With the increase of population another school building was needed. A one-story, two room school was built between D and E Streets on Mill Street. Since then three different schools were built on the Mill Street site. In 1889 the first building was cut in two. The two pieces were moved and used as houses. The second school was built on the same spot but was a two-story, two-room school. In 1910 additions were made to the two-story building that was being used as a high school. In 1921 this building was again torn down and was replaced with what would become Springfield Middle School, which later became the Administration building.

In 1926, Springfield School District had two elementary schools and one high school. In the next 30 years the population of Springfield grew, as did the school district. In 1941 a new Springfield High School was built and Thurston High School was built in 1959. The newest addition to the Springfield School District was Agnes Stewart Middle School, which was built in 1997. When Agnes Stewart Middle opened it had more than 600 students enrolled. Also in 1997 Mount Vernon was rebuilt and implemented the districts first dress code.

Today there are two high schools, five middle schools, 16 elementary schools, and many alternative education centers that serve over 11,000 students in the Springfield area.

Other Links

Springfield School District - http://intranet.sps.lane.edu/

For 50 years Weyerhaeuser has employed thousands of Oregonians, especially Springfield residents. The company has manufactured world-class products and set high environmental standards. It has been supported for all these years by the people of Springfield because so many of the Springfield jobs are part of the Weyerhaeuser organization.

Weyerhaeuser established itself in Springfield in 1907 when it bought 31,000 acres of land, its first purchase of timberland. By 1940, Weyerhaeuser had increased the timberland it owned to 58,000 acres. Then in 1948, Weyerhaeuser founded the Calapooya Tree Farm, which consisted of 155,000 acres. All together Weyerhaeuser owns about 400,000 acres in the southern Willamette Valley.

During the 1940s Weyerhaeuser turned 450-acres into a plant site in east Springfield, employing 800 people and producing 250,000 board feet per day. Weyerhaeuser today produces such things as lumber, plywood, ply-veneer, particleboard, presto-logs, and paper employing 800 people and producing 250,000 board feet per day. Traditionally saw mills would burn excess wood residuals in cone shaped "wigwams." Today Weyerhaeuser uses the excess wood and makes paper for corrugated cartons, called "liner board" or "containerboard."

The paper mill was originally designed to produce 150 tons of linerboard a day, but produced 250 tons per day, so in 1965 the company added a second paper machine, boosting the production to 900 tons of linerboard per day. Today the mill produces nearly 2,000 tons per day, totaling to near 690,000 tons per year.

Weyerhaeuser has always supported its surrounding community. Throughout Weyerhaeuser's existence it has provided  more than 2 million dollars to local nonprofit groups. Weyerhaeuser also believes in environmental stability, replanting trees on clear cutting sites and starting tree farms. Weyerhaeuser dedicated the nation's first tree farm in 1941. This started the American Tree Farm System, which includes 90 million acres across the nation. No doubt Weyerhaeuser is a strong link in Springfield's economy, providing jobs and economic growth.

Other Links

OROSHA - Weyerhaeuser - http://www.orosha.org/consult/sharp/Weyerhaeusereugene.htmll

In the 1940's Springfield had no hospital. In 1914 the former hospital had been turned into a boarding house. Another hospital was built, but it was changed into apartments in 1936. Residents were determined that a full-service hospital was needed in Springfield by 1949. This group of determined residents formed the McKenzie-Willamette Hospital Association.

Funds were raised through breakfast meetings and door-to-door pleaing. Enough was raised, by a group of 150 volunteers to purchase a small piece of land at 14th and G Streets in July 1953. More than 480,000 dollars was raised from 3,500 people through pledges and payments. 155,000 dollars was also collected from federal funds.

Harry Wright was the hospital's first chairman of the board. The hospital opened to the public on Sunday May 1, 1955. In 1956 the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals granted McKenzie-Willamette full accreditation. In 1961, 19 new beds were added to the 35 beds that they already had. Through the 60's there was addition upon addition until there was a problem with overcrowded wards. It was then that it was discussed that another addition was needed, a big addition. A 4.5 million dollar construction phase was announced. This called for more fund raising and pledging and 532,000 dollars was raised in 1973.

The money was used to build a four story addition which included new operating rooms, a recovery room, central supply, medical records, purchasing, larger dietary facilities, a storeroom, and a nursing unit with 36 beds. Things looked good, but in 1980 the community outgrew the facility once more. 1.1 million dollars was contributed, by the community and a new ancillary building, 72,000-square-foot, housing diagnostic services, full-body scanning, a 14-bed intensive care and coronary care unit, and a short stay center. This new section of the hospital was opened in 1983. With this addition the hospital added a helicopter pad, for air transport. McKenzie-Willamette was the first hospital in the state to receive full Level II trauma status - the highest trauma recognition awarded for a nonteaching hospital.

Other Links

McKenzie-Willamette Hospital- http://www.mckweb.com

In the 1940's nearly 4,000 residents lived in Springfield. It was then that Springfield decided that they wanted to build parks and recreational sites. In September, 1944, Lane County District Attorney William S. Fort asked the residents to vote on a measure that would form a special purpose park and recreational area, which would become Willamalane Park and Recreational Area.

Wllamalane was named after the Willamette River, which was flowing nearby. Willamalane's first year began the following July. The district did not have the money or the property to build the park.

The Memorial Building was completed at an extra cost of 80,000 dollars and was dedicated on May 30th, 1951. The pool officially opened on July 4th, 1951. After the first ten years of the pool's opening it was decided to roof the pool, due to the cold Oregon weather. It cost 285,000 dollars to cover the pool. The roof came off in 1998, due to structural problems. Voters approved a 4.7-million dollar bond measure in November 1998 to re-roof the pool in 1999.

Willamalane is currently in the process of rebuilding the roof and plans to reopen to the public this summer. Willamalane continues to be a strong part of Springfield's economy, providing a safe, educational, and fun place for the youth of Springfield.