[Heritage] Oregon Heritage News 2008-10-13

[Heritage Info]

In this issue:
1.  USS Blueback surfaces in National Register
2.  Geographic names board to mark centennial
3.  Portland preservation needs to be compiled 
4.  Exhibit opening in Bend
5.  Trail grant interests solicited


USS BLUEBACK SURFACES IN NATIONAL REGISTER

The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry's Submarine USS Blueback is
Oregon*s latest entry in the National Register of Historic Places.

Commissioned in 1959, the USS Blueback (SS-581) is nationally
significant for its engineering as the last surviving example of a
Barbel Class submarine. Only consisting of three ships, the Barbell
class combined proven World War II-era diesel-electric motor technology
with a revolutionary tear-drop hull shape, high-strength steel, and
other improvements that were incorporated into later submarine designs.


The technological advance was driven by the transition in submarine
warfare from the older Fleet Boat system to the modern nuclear-powered
vessels of the Cold War. However, the Blueback and her sister ships were
a transitional design. After independently studying nuclear power in the
Nautilus test ship and the tear-drop hull shape with the Albacore test
submarine and the active-duty Barbell Class, these technologies were
later combined to create the modern nuclear submarines used by the U.S.
Navy from the Cold War to the present. As the last diesel-electric
submarine to join the U.S. Navy and the last to be decommissioned, the
Blueback represents an important transition in maritime technology and
navel warfare.

Oregon*s State Advisory Committee on Historic Preservation
recommended the Blueback*s nomination. More than 500 historic Portland
properties are now listed in the National Register, which is maintained
by the National Park Service under the authority of the National
Historic Preservation Act of 1966.

More information about the National Register and recent Oregon listings
is online at http://www.oregon.gov/OPRD/HCD/NATREG/index.shtml 


GEOGRAPHIC NAMES BOARD TO MARK CENTENNIAL

The Oregon Geographic Names Board (OGNB) is 100 years old this year and
will celebrate a century of Oregon place-names with a reception and
board meeting in Corvallis. Gov. George Chamberlain established the OGNB
on Oct. 1, 1908, and the first board meeting was held Oct. 28, 1908, on
the campus of Oregon Agricultural College, now Oregon State University. 
One of the original board members was Professor John Horner, who
established the noted Horner collection of artifacts on the campus.

To mark the anniversary and the venue of the first board meeting, the
public is welcome to attend the official board meeting in the University
Room of the Hilton Garden Inn, 2500 SW Western Blvd., beginning at 1:30
PM p.m. Oct. 25.

The OGNB, which supervises the naming of geographic features in Oregon,
is associated with the Oregon Historical Society and is an advisor to
the United States Board on Geographic Names.  It is comprised of 25
appointed board members representing all geographic areas of the state.


The board meeting agenda will include the review and discussion of a
number of proposed names and proposed replacement names for geographic
features in Clackamas, Lane, Linn, Marion, Wallowa, and Wheeler
counties.  For more information contact Vaughan at molalla.net or
CarolynHixson at ohs.org.


PORTLAND PRESERVATION NEEDS TO BE COMPILED

Beginning Oct. 29, the Bosco-Milligan Foundation with support from the
National Trust for Historic Preservation, will hold a series of meetings
across the city of Portland, to collect information from residents who
are interested or concerned about historic preservation. Responses will
be compiled in a Portland Historic Preservation Needs Assessment and
workshops will be developed to address common themes and to provide
technical assistance and training for residents interested in becoming
pro-active preservationists.

The meetings are scheduled for 7 p.m. Oct. 29 at Mt. Tabor Presbyterian
Church, Nov. 12 at Fremont United Methodist Church, Nov. 18 at the
Multnomah Arts Center, Nov. 19 at the St. John's Community Center, and
Nov. 20 at the East Portland Community Center.

The public is invited to attend any meetings regardless of their
geographic location in Portland.  For more information, to RSVP, or if
you cannot attend but want to submit comments, email Val Ballestrem or
call (503) 231-7264 or visit
http://www.visitahc.org/content/advocacy-calendar.


EXHIBITS OPENING IN BEND

"Strong Medicine" is an exhibit that shows how 19th century residents
of the High Desert coped with injury and sickness. It opened Oct. 10 at
the High Desert Museum,  Opens Oct. 10 at the High Desert Museum 

The exhibit debuted at the museum in 1998, and returns from touring
museums throughout the West. It has been expanded to include additional
artifacts such as an 1880s doctor's buggy. Two living history characters
will perform at community venues - Phineas Blaylock, a fast-talking
medicine showman peddling his snake oil cure-all, and Esther Harrod, a
pioneer on the Oregon Trail, recruited to help perform primitive surgery
on a boy who fell beneath his family's wagon.

The High Desert Museum seeks to inspire stewardship of the natural and
cultural resources of the High Desert with wildlife encounters, living
history, Native American and Western art, nature trails and tours on 135
forested acres, five minutes from Bend on South Highway 97. For more
information, contact 541.382.4754 or www.highdesertmuseum.org 


TRAIL GRANT INTERESTS SOLICITED

Letters-of-intent to apply for 2009 Oregon Recreation Trail grants are
due Oct. 31 at the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department.

The letters must be sent to OPRD, RTP Program, 725 Summer St. NE, Suite
C, Salem, OR 97301. Non-profit organizations as well as government
agencies are eligible to apply. OPRD will offer technical assistance for
potential applicants at workshops Oct. 27 in Boardman and Oct. 30 in
Salem. To register, senior grants coordinator Marilyn Lippincott at
503-986-0711, or e-mail at Marilyn.lippincott at state.or.us 

The Oct. 27 workshop will be from 1-4 p.m. at the Port of Morrow
Riverfront Center office, 2 Marine Drive in Boardman. The Oct. 30
workshop in Salem will run from 9 a.m.-noon in the Floral Building on
the Oregon State Fairgrounds.

The federally funded grants support projects to build new recreation
trails, acquire land and easements for trail development, restore
existing trails and develop trailhead facilities. The grants pay up to
80 percent of project costs. A grant manual and application forms are
online at www.oregon.gov/OPRD/GRANTS/trails.shtml . 
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Oregon Heritage News is a service of the Oregon Heritage Commission,
which can be contacted at heritage.info at state.or.us