Sign on the Founding of Bend in Drake Park over looking the river.
Marker Name: Founding of Bend
Marker Text: The town of Bend was established along the Deschutes River in the early 1900’s.
Covered wagons poured into the Willamette Valley for over a quarter of a century before Euro-American settlers arrived here in great numbers. Alexander M. Drake, who arrived at this spot in 1900, was on of the first to realize the high prospects of Central Oregon. At the time only 21 people lived in the area.
Drake, an investor from Michigan, purchased the Staats Ranch, and platted the future town of Bend within the year.
Upon completion of an irrigation system in 1904, development in the area occurred rapidly. By 1905, the City of Bend was incorporated with a population of about 250 people and over 80 buildings valued at $75,000. Electricity lit the city in 1910, setting the stage for the Bend we know today.
Real estate continued to boom with speculation of a railroad connection and the establishment of several large lumber mills. Investors from as far away as Dayton, Ohio began buying property sight unseen. During a ten-day period in 1909, the Hunter and Staats Realty Company sold 50 lots to one person. A year later, over $80,000 in real estate transactions occurred in one month ($1.4 million in today’s dollar).
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