Grainnet

Written by Barb Selyem. Photos by Bruce Selyem

Umatilla County in Oregon is located at about 45 degrees latitude, the same latitude as the Bordeaux region of France, a very famous winemaking area.

Proper climate and soil are essential to the wine industry, and some feel that Umatilla County has all the necessary ingredients for producing great wines—a sloping terrain that provides good drainage, volcanic ash-rich soil, good sunlight, nine to 15 inches of annual rainfall, and a 180-to-220-day growing season.

In south central Oregon, the Tri-Cities of Kennewick, Pasco, and Richland already have approximately 30 wineries. However, around Echo, in northeast Oregon, growers have just begun planting grapes. It will be four to five years before they are ready to produce wine.

Glenn and Joyce Rohde own about 10-1/2 acres in Echo, with some buildings they think would make a great winery. Recently, they offered the land for sale.

Glenn says, “This area is steeped in history, since the government built Fort Henrietta in the 1850s. Pio-neers traveling the Oregon Trail began to settle here in the 1860s, and in 1883, the Union Pacific Railroad was built to Echo. One landmark, the Henrietta Flour Mill, was built on our property.

“Sadly, the mill is gone now, but there are still three historic and interesting buildings—an old wood railroad warehouse (the oldest of the three), a 1920s 80-foot x 180-foot concrete flat storage building, and a wood crib grain elevator.”

Big Bucket
Glenn continues, “In the early 1940s, the Cunha family built this small, 3,000-bushel wood house. Its greatest asset was not its storage capacity but rather the big bucket elevator (big for that era) that could load about 1,000 bushels per hour to rail quickly and easily. It was a great improvement over the hot, dusty, back-breaking work of stacking 100-pound sacks of wheat onto two-wheeled handcarts called ‘idiot carts’ and then unloading them into boxcars.

“The elevator is about 30 to 40 feet tall, and the walls are con-structed of 2x4 lumber stacked flat. It never had metal siding, except on the track side, where it was necessary to protect the elevator against sparks from passing trains. I suspect the siding was left off, as this area is very dry and windy.

“When the wind blows, metal siding vibrates and pulls out the nails. It would just have been a maintenance problem, as siding wasn’t required to protect the building from the weather.”

Glenn says the equipment is simple too. “A ladder provides access to the headhouse - there never was a manlift. Electricity came to Echo in the 1930s, so the elevator has always had electric power. And finally, there is a winch with cables that raise the front of the truck on a sling, to dump the grain. This structure was designed for the small, 100-bushel grain trucks widely used in the 1940s and is still standing next to the drive shed.”

Changing Hands
In the 1950s, Pendleton Grain Growers purchased the property. They used the elevator some, but they stored most of the grain in the 14,400-square-foot concrete building and the warehouse.

The Grain Growers sold to the Rohdes in 1984. For a while, Glenn stored seed wheat in the elevator, but he says, “Maintenance and the limited capacity were real problems. It was very hard to control bug infestations, and the old 1,000-bushel wood leg couldn’t keep up with modern combines.”

Glenn hasn’t used the old elevator in many years. Like the Grain Growers, when he bought the property, he really wanted the flat concrete building and until recently, used it for storing onions and potatoes. The thick concrete roof and 16-foot ceiling help maintain cool, constant temperatures of 55 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit, perfect for potatoes and onions and for storing wine.

For Sale
Glenn and Joyce have listed the property with Virginia Miller at Miller Reality (www.hermiston homes.net) who agrees that it would be wonderful for a winery.

The old wood house could be remodeled and would make an interesting office or wine tasting area. They hope to find a buyer with the same appreciation.

Barbara and Bruce Selyem are directors of the Country Grain Elevator Historical Society. For more information, contact the society at 406-388-9282; e-mail: bselyem@country-grain-elevator-historical-society.org.

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