New Pine Creek memories

This is a mostly a repeat memory post with some added thoughts and all new pictures.  On our summer camping trip in June we drove through New Pine Creek, the tiny (not-quite-a) town that straddles the Oregon-California border.    We lived  in that out-of-the-way place for two years very early in our life together.   

 

Goose Lake State Park, Oregon

That was in the early 1960s.  Back then, Goose Lake wasn't yet a State Park but it was a 20+ mile long shallow Lake.   Now it is a large field of grass.  Not a drop of water.  

 

We'd last driven through this area  twelve years ago during a cross-country RV trip.     I posted then  about the memories the town evoked, but because even that visit was so long ago, I thought the post was worth a repeat.    (Thoughts I added this time are in bold.)

 

MEMORIES IN A TUMBLE-DOWN TOWN

We've been married just about forever (I wrote that twelve years ago and we're still here!) and sometime back at the dawning of civilization*, we lived for a couple of years in New Pine Creek.  We went to see it last week when we were in Southeast Oregon.  It's a blink-and-you-miss-it kind of place that straddles the Oregon-California border on Highway 395. 

(Definitely not the prettiest entry-way into California)

This little farm community is twenty miles south of Lakeview Oregon and 50 miles north of Alturas California, with nothing much else in between.  It's the outback of the outback.  Back then (*it really was 1959 through 1961), we thought we were so lucky to get to move there.  Bill had just graduated from a two-year program at a Teacher's College in  Lewiston Idaho (across the Snake River from our home town of Clarkston Washington).  He got a position as teacher/principal (and janitor) at New Pine Creek Elementary, a one-room school on the California side of the border.  California!  It paid more than Idaho, where most of his fellow graduates went.  I think he made about $4,500 that year.   

We had a one-year old son and a baby on the way.  (Our daughter was born in Lakeview in February 1960. The Dr. and hospital were 20 miles away from home.)  This is the house where we lived -- as you can see, it is  about a foot from the highway.  The house actually looks better now than it did then; we didn't have siding or a fence. (Ugh, it's a junk shop now -- so this time, it looked even worse than it did in 1960.)   It snowed a lot in the Winters we were there. The snowplow would come past several times a day and plow the snow into drifts that blocked the house in.  Those winter days were long!

This is the  old school building where Bill taught.  Someone was living in it last time we were here, but It looked completely abandoned now -- the school closed years ago.    It was about the length of two blocks straight up the highway from our house.  It is funny to realize that the eighth-graders Bill taught were actually only six or seven years younger than he was then.    

It was a very small village even when we lived there.  But there were a couple of grocery stores, a good butcher, a barbershop, a service station right next door owned by the sweet couple who were our landlords,  and a Grange Hall that had an active social schedule. Now the buildings all look like something straight out of a ghost story. (Even worse this time.)    Junk shops are the last dying gasps of a small town. 

After our two years there, we moved back to Eastern Washington.  Living there again, we had two more sons, bought our first house, worked a bunch of various jobs between us, and, eventually, Bill went back to college and completed his degrees.   It remains my fond hope that someday I will get around to scanning some old pictures and writing some memory posts about those years!  In 1971, we moved to Lane County, Oregon -- the opposite side of the State of Oregon from NPC, in every possible definition.

 

Random Roadside pictures as we drove around Oregon's outback in 2021 

(altered with Picasa to look like a 1960s scrapbook page.)

We've long since lost track of the people we knew during the short time we lived in New Pine Creek.     But we'll always remember our two years there -- we did a lot of growing up and had a lot of fun too.  (Looking back from over half a century later my mind is boggled thinking about how young we were then .) I wonder if there will be anything left of the town if we ever drive through again.   (So obviously we did drive through again and found the town in even worse condition.  I don't think we'll do that again!    But we treasure our memories and are  thankful that we've survived all the ensuing years in slightly better shape ourselves.  

 

LINKING to the following sharing opportunities:  Thank you to the hosts.

 

MOSAIC MONDAY;  THROUGH MY LENS;   TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS;  OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY; TUESDAY TREASURES;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;  SIGNS SIGNS;  THANKFUL THURSDAY;  and SKYWATCH FRIDAY 

 

Comments

[Michelle Keltner]

Always great to revisit towns and the memories they hold for us. Great photos and sad that it is not prospering anymore. Thanks for linking up and I hope you have a great week.

[Yogi]

That's a cool trip down memory lane.
It just seems that the depopulation of rural America is just going and going.
I like to go back and look at places I used to live, go to school, and work. Many of them have been torn down by now, even some of the "new" office buildings I worked in.

[Rajani singh]

Read my new post

[David Gascoigne]

There must be a real sense of poignancy in visiting a place like this that had so much significance in your early life together, to find it suffering from decay, sliding into inevitable oblivion. I have been back to the house I was born in but it has been fixed up and looks the very model of gentrification, and the town is doing relatively well. I didn't have especially fond memories of it anyway.

[A ShutterBug Explores]

What wonderful memories you have and your photos tell a great story ~ beautiful ~ You sound like a very happy couple ~ Xo

Living in the moment,

A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)

[Debbie]

so cool to take a trip down memory lane!! what i can see of your old homestead, it looks to be in good condition!! my mom still lives in the house i was raised in!! amazing history and the old school house is quite cool!! do scan some pictures for us, i know i would enjoy seeing them!!

[Carol]

I really enjoyed the look back and the info - looks like such a nice place.

[Peter B.]

I really enjoyed your memories. So much fun, and I have some similar of my own. The old school building is pretty sad looking now. I guess nothing stays the same as the years roll by!

[My Corner of the World]

I always have misgivings when I want to 'go back' to somewhere in the past. Your post was quite interesting to read and see your photos. They make you appreciate 'now'.

Thanks for sharing your link at 'My Corner of the World' this week!

[Joe Todd]

Great post and photos. Love old abandoned buildings especially with memories attached. I'm thinking this may be your birthday. So Happy Birthday. If I'm wrong Happy Birthday anyway LOL.. Stay safe

[Shiju Sugunan]

What an interesting post. Great recap!

My latest post:
https://craniumbolts.blogspot.com/2021/08/yet-another-birding-trip-to-saul-kere.html

[Gaelyn]

It's hard to go "home" again. I love these kinds of towns including the architecture.

[Sharon]

I'm learning so much about my state! Thanks, Sallie.

[Iris Flavia]

Now, this was a wonderful, sweet and interesting post. I hope you scan and tell more!

[Rajani singh]

Mind blowing post

[Geoff]

I’ve still never been there, despite traveling all around it. It’s awfully hard to accidentally pass thru on your way to anywhere. Too bad about the lake. I wonder if Lakeview will change their name to Meadowview.

[Lisa]

How wonderful that you were able to enjoy this trip down memory lane! It does look like a teeny tiny little place but it probably was the perfect way to start married life.

[Heidrun]

What a lovely trip in the past. Yes, that's fun. I like it too... read about this small town, never heard before.

Happy MosaicMonday

[Linda W]

Wow, very interesting. Do scan some old pictures.

[MaryBeth Schwartz]

Kinda fun to go back and see what has or has not changed. Do you still have Picasa? I loved that sitebut somehow it is no more.
MB

[William Kendall]

Ghost town definitely comes to mind.

[Photo Cache]

Great to travel back again and see the old places that were meaningful.

I like this repeat post.

Worth a Thousand Words

[Amy Franks]

Lots of memories of good times. The building your hubby use to teach in was probably full of children back in the day, I hope it's still being used for other purposes.

[Fun60]

I laughed when you said your husband was the teacher, principal and janitor. Smetimes it is sad to return to a place that has fond memories only to be disappointed at what you see.

[DeniseinVA]

That must have been a wonderful start as this area is stunning. I’m happy you repeated this post. It was fun to see the photos and to see where you lived, and to read with your recent additions. Thanks Sallie :)

[SONDRA]

It's always good to look back and recall the path we chose to walk, it's not all peaches and cream, do you have any old photos of the lake compared to the field today? Did it just dry up or did the Pine Creek get diverted? I went to a small school house as you describe my first year of grammar school in TN. I can't believe how our small town has grown it's so over crowded now. BUT the infrastructure is the same, so it makes it feel like it's bursting at the seams.
Happy week to you and Bill!

[ellen b.]

Sallie, what an amazing history. I can't get over the fact that Bill was a teacher, principal and janitor! Thanks for the look back...

[Lavender Dreams]

It's interesting to go back to places you've lived but kind of sad too. Love the mosaic you made and memories you shared. The first place I ever lived in Arkansas was torn down and is the parking lot for the 1st Baptist church...talk about depressing! lol Hugs!

[gillena]

When i read your openi g. I thought the memories were new ☺ now i see the sign as tge name if the location
Happy Monday

Much❤love

[Penelope Notes]

I think your story is the story of so many people … it is a sentimental journey with historic significance. Areas where lives started out in cozy communities with dreams and expectations in time evolved into forgotten places with waterless lakes and highways skimming by what once were homes filled with love.

[Eileen]

Hello,

New Pine Creek is a cute name for the town, it is sad to see the town now. It is fun looking back at your life in photos, your memories are a treasure. Take care, have a great day and a happy new week!

[diane]

That sounds like a fun trip back into the past. Although maybe a sad trip to see the place dying. All the houses that we have lived in are all in a bad state and not cared for. That makes is a bit sad. Enjoy your memories.

[soma @ InkTorrents.com]

Hwy395 is probably my most favourite hwy. It is sad to see the old towns disappear like that. It was a very interesting read and I really liked seeing the photos.

-Soma

[Angie]

Sallie - so interesting to take an old post and update it. Your retrospective on the town goes to show that not everything improves with time ... It's sad to see old towns die ... Thanks for linking to Mosaic Monday.

[tomthebackroadstraveller]

...wow, population 129 and neat stuff is neat!