Aurora, Oregon’s ‘Clear As Mud’ Mystery

On By Roy WidingIn Aurora Colony, 97002, Aurora Oregon, Aurora Oregon History, Aurora Oregon Tourism, Dr. Wilhelm Keil, French Prairie, Oregon Aurora, Oregon History, Pudding River, Willamette RiverLeave a comment

While walking along Liberty Street in Aurora, Oregon…if you look a little to the east, you may notice a small forest of trees between you and the Pudding River. Today, you might hear songbirds and the rustle of Douglas firs. But in the Autumn of 1863, this exact stretch of woods was the site of a smoke-filled race against time. Because without what lay buried beneath these trees, the utopian dream of Aurora, Oregon, wouldn’t have just struggled… it would have stopped.

HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT
Most people pass by without a second glance. To be fair, it’s easy to miss, even for local residents. But below those trees was the key to unlock the region’s survival. And without it, Aurora may never have become the town we know today. Today, it’s obscured. But long ago, this area echoed with the sounds of axes, horses, shovels and the crackling of kilns.

This wasn’t just another worksite, either. It transformed Aurora into one of Oregon’s most noteworthy communities. And a case could be made that without this stretch of land, instead of a heartwarming story of community, the Aurora Colony might not have made it through the winter. To begin though…and like many mysteries…we start from the ground up.

When Dr. Wilhelm Keil brought his followers to the banks of the Pudding River in 1856, it was to become a communal society where everyone worked together. And there was plenty to be done. Yet their new homeland offered a lot to work with: Fertile soil…timber…rivers for water transport…and land routes connecting to nearby vital towns like Salem and Oregon City.

TROUBLE BREWING
But Aurora’s Colonists had a big problem. Building a community requires building materials. Many think of Aurora as a town made with wood. Nearby forests supplied plenty of lumber, but wood alone couldn’t safely heat a home during long, bone-chilling Aurora winters. That’s because one thing Aurora didn’t have was brick. Without it, there were no proper chimneys, ovens, or home foundations. And with the onset of freezing weather, surviving Oregon’s Winter took a sudden and dramatic shift. New families were arriving, all needing a place to live. Along with homes, the Aurora Colony also needed stores, churches and a variety of other buildings. Someone had to make those bricks.

ONE MORE PROBLEM
But there was another problem and that was the race against unforgiving, wet Oregon weather. If the Colony wanted brick, it would have to make its own before autumn rains turned everything to mud while families froze. Being industrious Germans, the colonists determined the answer wasn’t IN the soil. The answer WAS the soil.

That’s because around the Pudding River lay something invaluable: Clay soil. So arguably the most valuable natural resource around Aurora wasn’t timber. It was mud. Today, wet soil seemingly has no value. But to 1860’s Aurora Colonists, it was good as gold. But here’s the strange part. Today there’s almost nothing left to tell visitors that Aurora’s industrial heart once stood here.

The floodplain of the nearby Pudding River held those deposits. So to modern passersby…it looks like ordinary mud. Yet to an experienced brickmaker, it looked like opportunity. But it gets even better, because water from the Pudding River helped when mixing it and wood from surrounding forests fired the kiln. Then once those bricks cooled, they could be hauled a short distance into town where construction was booming and desperate for brick.

ONE REMAINING INGREDIENT
Nearly everything needed for a brickyard existed here, long before the first colonists ever arrived. Except one thing― Making bricks isn’t like making mud pies, since dangerously high temperatures approaching several thousand degrees are needed. Otherwise the Pudding River clay shrank, cracked and exploded in fire if not tempered, molded and baked correctly. So clay alone wasn’t enough. The colony desperately needed someone with a very specific skill. That’s because clay is useless without mastery. So they needed a brickmason. But a single brickmason wouldn’t be enough. Given the scale of work to be done, that man would have to wear many hats in order to coordinate, lead and teach others.

As it turned out…one German immigrant possessed those exact skills. His name? John Will. In 1860’s Aurora, Oregon, Will was the right man for the job. That’s because as a professional stone brick-mason, John Will served as foreman of the Colony’s brickyard operations. In Aurora…his skills suddenly became indispensable as he oversaw one of the busiest construction periods in Aurora’s history, beginning soon upon his arrival. Will wasn’t just an expert mason—he oversaw an industrial scale operation.

Picture an early morning, with workers digging clay from the river, while others mix it with water to just the right consistency. Brick molds fill, one after another, as rows of fresh bricks dry in the sun.

BLISTERING HEAT
Once temperatures approach 2,000 degrees…mud becomes brick. But miss that temperature…and days of work are wasted. The results of backbreaking labor could completely vanish if the temperature wasn’t closely monitored. Then finally…the hottest job of all…feeding the kiln. That kind of work would make working the fry vat at your local hamburger chain actually look inviting. For long periods the fires couldn’t be allowed to die, because like Goldilocks, too cool…and the bricks would crumble. Too hot…and they could warp or crack.

It was dirty and relentless skilled work, with each brick produced making a family warmer. A byproduct of all this labor was the human connection sought by the Colony’s founders. Sometimes friendship and neighborly love wasn’t demonstrated by a Sunday sermon, but from conversations beside a half-built fireplace while consoling a family experiencing hardship. Workers here carried skills with them that would leave a permanent mark on the town. And today visitors come to Aurora, admiring its historic homes, museum and antique shops. And though buildings frequently receive the attention, they were all made better with the unseen labor making the bricks.

Few realize deep in the ground, hidden behind the woods east of town lies the key that unlock Aurora’s growth. Those kilns have pretty much vanished into history and trees have reclaimed much of the land. So nature has quietly covered what people once worked so hard to create. But the story remains. Every brick laid into a chimney…every warm fireplace…every bakery oven that fed a growing community…began with clay beside the Pudding River. Today…birds sing where kilns crackled. Trees shade ground once scarred by shovels. Moss and ivy slowly cover what people built with blistered hands. But if you stand quietly and look around…you’re standing where Aurora was fired into existence. Sometimes history isn’t found inside museums. Sometimes it starts in the most ignoble place of all, beneath your feet.

Aurora didn’t simply rise from the forest, but from nearby mud along the Pudding River. And if you’ve ever wandered those quiet woods east of Liberty Street…you may have walked across the very ground where Aurora’s future was forged with trial by fire…one brick at a time.

Aurora, Oregon’s Phantom Train Secrets Revealed

On By Roy WidingIn Aurora Oregon, 97002, Aurora Oregon History, French Prairie, Oregon History, RailfanningLeave a comment



Looking at Aurora, Oregon’s Willamette River railroad crossing today, it’s easy to think that when the railroad reached the river, they built a bridge. But the real engineering challenge began long before the water. That’s because the land beside the river was low and therefore prone to flooding. This meant a railroad could be washed away simply by rising water.

That was major problem #1 and this meant the stretch of land between Aurora and Wilsonville was unsuitable for a railroad. Yet it gets worse, because here’s the thing: The Willamette crossing at Aurora wasn’t simply about crossing the Willamette River. The real challenge was getting trains up, over, and back down. That was major problem #2. So how are you going to address both of these mammoth and seemingly intractable issues? Click on the video to find out in Part 2 of this interesting series.

Aurora, Oregon’s Phantom Train

On By Roy WidingIn Aurora Oregon, Aurora Oregon History, Willamette RiverLeave a comment

It’s 1908 and you’re walking through the woods here in Aurora, Oregon…long before World War 1 and the Great Depression. Continuing your walk, you happen upon a clearing…then see what look like railroad tracks.

Little seems to have changed around these parts of Aurora over the past century. That’s because railroad tracks and the trains that rode them…like this one…were here, more than a century ago, when this new railway started. Yet mystery still lingers in this spot, just waiting to be uncovered. In fact, there are more than a few hidden secrets around here, all in plain sight…if you know where to look.

A KEY DIFFERENCE
Imagine standing beside these tracks a century ago. Here’s a key detail that surprises most people. You wouldn’t know by watching trains here today, but back then they were powered by something very unique. For that time, many would picture a loud locomotive— spouting smoke, burning coal and maybe stopping for water. But that’s not what passed through Aurora. So how exactly how were trains powered through here in 1908…and what changed? That answer is contained in the railroad’s name, once considered the future of American railroads…yet today is forgotten.

This wasn’t the Oregon Steam Railway. It wasn’t the Oregon Coal Railway. It wasn’t the Oregon Diesel Railway. It was the Oregon Electric Railway. So instead of passing through rural Aurora here behind a smoking engine, passengers were riding in clean, quiet electric cars—with comfortable seats and a smoothness that felt futuristic. Passengers glided peacefully through Aurora on thick padded seats, with polished wood interiors, ample legroom and brass trim.

Riding aboard the Oregon Electric Railway wasn’t just transportation—it felt like the future, with electric lights and sometimes a freshly-prepared meal, making the journey a refined event, instead of jostling down Oregon’s muddy roads in early automobiles. The score at that point was Oregon Electric Railway: One, and early cars: Zero, because the electric train’s more reliable and luxurious transportation, all while moving at up to 60 miles per hour…was tough to beat.    

The Oregon Electric Railway seemed unstoppable. Yet that same year the futuristic railroad opened, competition was already beginning to appear—and its rivals weren’t limited just to other railroads. The Oregon Electric wasn’t our region’s lone local railroad, either. That’s because just a few miles away, another railroad was racing toward Salem, creating one of Oregon’s early transportation rivalries.

COMPETITION
The Oregon Electric Railway faced competition from an established area rival. Just a few miles east, Southern Pacific was pushing south through Oregon City and Canby, with both railways eventually meeting at Donald, Oregon.Donald became a significant railroad junction, since it connected both systems, where freight and passengers could also transfer there between different railroads.

STATION TO STATION
While much has disappeared around Aurora, something survives: Names. And those weren’t names of just any place. They were destinations. Scattered across Aurora’s landscape are clues from the Oregon Electric Railway era—they’re names people pass every day, without realizing each one is part of both Aurora’s past…and also its present. Why? Because a century ago, they were literal landmark destinations, important to Aurora travelers.  These seemingly insignificant historical breadcrumbs have turned into today’s precious gems, so don’t be fooled by the small signs representing them.

Your first clue transporting you back more than a century is the Prahl Road directional sign you may have noticed driving west from Charbonneau and the I-5 freeway, toward Butteville and Boones Ferry Road.

Those Prahl Road signs are important…and for a reason you might never have considered: Even now, they literally point you back to the year 1908. That’s because Oregon Electric Railway trains crossed the Willamette River from Wilsonville near here, with their very first rural Aurora stop called Prahl Station.

Prahl Station and the subsequently-named Prahl Road are associated with Frederick Prahl, the Oregon Electric Railway roadmaster who supervised construction of the train bridge connecting Aurora to Wilsonville in the years before it opened for traffic in 1908.

When the bridge opened, Prahl Station served as both a landmark and flag station, a railroad destination where the train stopped if someone signaled, or flagged to be dropped off there.

But Prahl Road is not the only clue hiding in plain sight. That’s because just south of the old Prahl stop is another forgotten Oregon Electric Railway location you may have passed through without ever considering its significance. The name? Curtis Station. That railroad crossing still intersects with Arndt Road, just like it did long ago, located literally a stone’s throw from Klupenger Road to the west. Like the Prahl stop, Curtis was also a rural flag station. But it’s worth lingering here a little while longer for evidence of what once was.

That’s because while this station has all but disappeared from maps and much of written history…here on the ground, if you know what to look for, you’ll still see the almost forgotten name of “Curtis” clearly emblazoned on the train shed there.

BRIDGE ON THE RIVER…WHY?
Looking at the river today, it’s easy to forget that before 1908 there was no bridge connecting Aurora and Wilsonville. Aside from local ferries, travelers and freight had no convenient way to cross here. The Oregon Electric Railway changed that forever by building the bridge. Those stations only existed because that railway solved the first and enormous problem: Crossing the Willamette River.

Another interesting clue lies at the river itself. So why was this railroad bridge built here where the Willamette River meets a seemingly random patch of Aurora soil?

This crossing’s location was no accident. The Oregon Electric Railway needed a place where it could overcome its greatest obstacle—the Willamette River—while still creating a direct route south toward Salem.

When we look at this crossing today, it’s easy to think that when the railroad reached the river, they built a bridge. But the real engineering challenge began long before the water. That’s because the land beside the river was low and therefore prone to flooding. This meant a railroad could be washed away simply by rising water. That’s major problem #1 and this meant the stretch of land between Aurora and Wilsonville was unsuitable for a railroad. Yet it gets worse, because here’s the thing: The Willamette crossing at Aurora wasn’t simply about crossing the Willamette River. The real challenge was getting trains up, over, and back down. That was major problem #2.

So how are you going to address both of these mammoth and seemingly intractable issues? Engineering found a way. So to fix this, railroad engineers created a raised pathway—using long trestles and carefully engineered approaches—for trains to safely cross the river. Find out what happens next in our next video.

Aurora, Oregon: Ground Zero For Disaster, Part 1

On By Roy WidingIn 97002, Aurora Oregon, Aurora Oregon History, Aurora Oregon NewsLeave a comment

People camping just outside of Aurora, Oregon today are enjoying life at the site of an erased civilization. They have no clue they’re standing at ground zero of the most violent, destructive natural disaster in Oregon’s recorded history. Click the image below for Part 1 of this compelling story.

And though it remains the granddaddy of them all…you’ve never even heard of it….even with the epicenter nearby. And while Aurora’s town and rural areas were hit hard, outskirts like this were wiped virtually clean. There were winners and losers, with one nearby community holding on and the other now inhabited mainly by passing tourists, with no idea of what happened. So what was this disaster and why haven’t you heard about it? This is the battlefield of a community that fought…and lost badly …with that big battle occurring under a frightening set of events.

BIGGER THAN 1996
Whether it’s an earthquake, lightning strike or flood, natural disasters each tend to provide their own frame of reference. Many Oregonians recall the 1996 flood in much of the Willamette Valley. That regional soaker became a benchmark for water disasters. Yet here’s what’s left out: There’s a flood by comparison that was worse…and it isn’t even close. The flood of 1861 stands as the all-time record holder for the most disasterous on the Willamette River. That 1861 flood barrelled through at 635,000 cubic feet per second, being half again worse than the 1996 flood and packing more than seven times the punishing power of Niagara Falls.

AREA MAP: LAY OF THE LAND

CALM BEFORE THE STORM
The 1861 Willamette River flood was the result of a perfect storm: A ‘Pineapple Express’ weather event that unfolded in two distinct phases. Because November, 1861 was unusually cold and snowy, first came heavy snow accumulation. Then the situation got worse…much worse…because after that massive snow drop, next came a tropical cyclone with strong winds…and that part happened fast…with most of the warmer rainfall compressed into just 72 hours, rapidly melting the dense snowpack. 

The result? Flash flooding…which is what made the 1861 disaster so devastating. It triggered a sudden surge of runoff into the Willamette River, with a flow greater than the mighty Mississippi, raising water levels to record highs. As a result of that thousand year event, much of the Willamette Valley became a freshwater ocean…the size of 273,000 football fields and more than half the size of Rhode Island.

WHEN THE RIVER BECAME A WEAPON
In 1861 around Aurora, water was cresting by December 5th. Yet the real damage was just getting started, because here’s something people don’t realize: Water alone wasn’t the deadliest part. That’s because the Willamette River was now weaponized. Water cresting, the river was armed and dangerous, fully loaded with a quiver of mountain timber. Soil now softened, fir trees were uprooted and fell like dominos, then raced torpedo-like with the fast running current. Local Butteville pastor Reverend Michael Fackler wrote in amazement about pitch-black currents carrying massive fir logs up to 200 feet long.

SHOWDOWN AT GRAHAM’S FERRY
Graham’s Ferry was at a critical bend in the river and where colossal trees were turning into battering rams. They tore ferry cables, leveled orchards and pushed buildings over with ease. Imagine waking up in the freezing darkness of December to the sound of roaring water and 200-foot missiles snapping your house in half. Use heavy, low-frequency “thuds” and wood-splintering sound effects in the audio mix. Timber pierced through the current, slamming into lowlands around Graham’s Ferry and Butteville Road to devastating effect. The sheer force of massive logs, swinging Paul Bunyan-like, clubbed everything in their path, leaving heaps of scattered lumber across French Prairie as the water receded.

FLOODING AND FIGHTING
By December 1861, the United States was entering its first, bloody Christmas of the Civil War as President Abraham Lincoln struggled to heal the fractured Union. Back east, soldiers prepared for the brutality of battle by digging trenches in Virginia. But here in Oregon, pioneers fought a very different enemy, digging out from the massive heaps of French Prairie mud covering where their towns used to be. As Civil War soldiers raced toward each other, in Oregon, survival depended on racing from a rising river.

At Champoeg—the very birthplace of Oregon’s first government—the water reached a mind boggling 30 feet depth. Famous as the site of Oregon’s first provisional government, Champoeg was submerged under about 30 feet of fast-moving water. Every structure was swept away except for the Hudson’s Bay Company warehouse.

AFTERMATH
During the late 1800’s, railroads gradually replaced the steamboat for transporting the area’s freight and passengers, with Champoeg declining as a trade center. Some residents attempted to rebuild, but another flood decades later permanently ended their efforts as the buildings at Champoeg were again swept away. The hopelessness of re-establishing a town at Champoeg was eventually understood, leading to its abandonment in 1892. Champoeg is now a State Park.

Aurora Oregon history including details about local communities like Butteville, Champoeg, Donald and French Prairie
Steamboats at Champoeg, Oregon

WINNERS AND LOSERS
Yet an Aurora area community survived…and though it’s small, it’s still here. That place? Butteville, Oregon.

So what about another nearby French Prairie area, like nearby Donald, Oregon? Donald didn’t even exist then, developing into a town decades later. As a result, damage to that area was pretty much limited to what was then largely French Prairie farmland.

WHY DID CHAMPOEG DIE WHILE BUTTEVILLE SURVIVED?
Geography helped. Champoeg wasn’t destroyed because it sat dramatically lower than Butteville. Instead, it was just a few extra feet of elevation. Yet when floodwaters spread across French Prairie, that made all the difference. This hill just outside of Butteville—known by its French Prairie derived name of La Butte is a hard volcanic basalt escarpment that gave Butteville its name. At 427 feet elevation, it doesn’t seem that tall. Yet this seemingly non-descript hill would have represented higher ground to those seeking refuge during the 1861 flood. The elevation of La Butte was above the 30-foot floodwaters that also completely obliterated the lower-lying town of Champoeg.

Along with Champoeg, the 1861 flood completely destroyed several other Willamette Valley towns, mills and bridges never designed to withstand such pressure. A few of these were:

1. Linn City: The bustling mill town of Linn City was swept away and eventually replaced by the town of West Linn.

2. Orleans: Just across the Willamette River from Corvallis, Orleans was completely washed away and never re-established. 

3. Santiam: A short drive from Albany, the town of Santiam is another community erased by the 1861 flood and and never rebuilt.

So the next time you’re driving around Aurora between Butteville and Graham Road along Butteville Road, or camp at nearby Champoeg Park, look around. You’re on the site of Oregon’s greatest-and most forgotten-disaster.

Jury’s Out On Aurora Jail

On By Roy WidingIn Aurora Colony, Aurora Oregon, Aurora Oregon History, Aurora Oregon News, Aurora Oregon Public SafetyLeave a comment

This is the Aurora, Oregon jail, located just behind Aurora’s city hall. Passing by, you might not give it a second thought. Like what’s the big deal about an old gray building no longer being used? That is, unless you start asking questions. Any building this old must have a story. Like who built it? And if the walls could talk, what kinds of things would you learn?

Aurora, Oregon’s Old Jail

The door of this jail remains open, in more ways than one…and it’s also smaller than you might guess. Once inside, it seems tiny. And it is, about the size of a large garden shed.

It features a decorative exterior, three individual cells and a narrow corridor to enter and exit. Three bumps above the entry make for a classy flourish on a building meant to lock people inside. Imagine spending a night in this jail…not as a willing visitor, but as someone held against your will. No privacy. No way out.

With no insulation, comfort was clearly not a consideration. That’s one good reason jails are sometimes referred to as “the cooler.” Those bars over the windows stress what was far more important.

Aurora Oregon Jail Window With Bars
Aurora, Oregon Old Jail Window

Looking around, rust on the interior walls indicate a century of Oregon weather, each season adding another faint layer. Exposed metal rebar is randomly visible through the concrete, underscoring how time and the elements can soften even the toughest material, sometimes even a hardened criminal. A single toilet with zero privacy sits in full view for all and the extra heavy steel door ensures you don’t leave.

Aurora Oregon Jail Interior
Aurora, Oregon’s Jail Interior

Jails strike legitimate fear in many of us. They’re a place virtually no one wants to go.
So what’s the story behind this place…and was it really so bad?

Jailhouse Rocked
But this jail’s story takes an unexpected turn…because Aurora’s old jail, the place that once struck fear, more recently has had an appointment with the wrecking ball. With the walls themselves closing in on those four walls, it’s ironic that this once threatening place is now itself threatened.

The Threat
That’s because in August 2024, an Aurora committee met to determine if the deteriorating structure was too far gone to keep. A consensus determined the old building wasn’t feasible to move, so the decision was made to take it down. A plan was devised to save the door, the bars, one cell and take the rest down. That discussion didn’t choose complete erasure, but selective preservation. There’s something sincere in that compromise, yet something sad about it, too. A door alongside photos in a display case can show what a jail looked like. But this century old structure is the real deal.

Aurora Oregon Jail Interior
Aurora, Oregon’s Jail Interior

Closing The Door
Remembering Aurora’s past, including structures like this, gives a truer perspective of Aurora long ago. And once it’s gone, it’s gone. Then, there’s no way to experience the reality of just how truly small this jail was, what it felt like to be inside and how confining the sensation. That’s when once living history turns into photographs and fading memories. It’s curious how the century old jail sits steps away from Oregon’s first historic district designation, yet the jail itself was never included. History, it seems, is in the eye of the beholder.

True Mystery
For starters, a little digging reveals the Aurora, Oregon jail is older than anyone thought. That’s because one old newspaper clipping from 1893 leaves this tantalizing clue:

“Ground has been leased and the contract let for the building of a city jail…C. Zimmerman being the contractor. Work will commence on the building in a few days, weather permitting. The council deserves much credit for the prompt action taken in this matter.” That phrase “prompt action” hints the town of Aurora needed a jail sooner, rather than later. Aurora’s apparent jail builder, Christian Zimmerman, was a longtime Aurora resident. Assuming he built the jail when referenced, in 1893 Mr. Zimmerman was then 55 years old.  

The Inmates
As with any old building, history leaves clues and here are a few. Dramatic stories survive in old newspapers. We even know a few things about some of the prisoners held here, though years apart. They include a chicken thief and two men traveling through town after burglarizing a neighboring community.

Aurora Lawman Eyes Trouble
Among the earliest records is from 1921, when two men aboard a local freight train stopped in Aurora one Saturday morning, while the train loaded water for the train’s steam engine. Aurora’s own Marshal George Fry recognized them as the pair he helped arrest in Woodburn a few days earlier, taking them immediately to the Aurora jail. Marshal Fry’s instincts were correct that the men were escapees and he returned the two men to the Oregon City jail, where the fugitives had escaped on a charge of burglarizing a home between the two towns.  

From the Henhouse to the Hoosegow
Another Aurora jailbird was held in 1935 on a charge of stealing chickens. He was given a bail of $250, then lodged here when he wasn’t able to pay. That alleged poultry pilferer had been found guilty on a morals charge the year before, leading to him to spend 30 days in the jail. Yet he was eventually cleared of the chicken thievery charge by a grand jury, a few months after his later arrest.

What to do with a jail like this is often considered settled. But in this case, not yet. It seems the term ‘doing time’ cuts a little differently for jails. That’s because when it comes to this century old building, there’s no firm agreement yet on what the appropriate sentence is. But first, why does it even matter? Some might say it’s an old building….Time to make room for something new and relevant.

Determining the fate of a historical building with a mindset of ‘newer is better’ misses the entire point, especially in this town itself older than the state of Oregon, with a historic district and a stream of events celebrating Aurora’s early origins. And given Aurora’s small size, even seemingly minor decisions like what to do with an old jail, get inflated.

Why It Matters
Aurora’s old jail matters for at least three reasons: History, identity, and stewardship. History shows how the community operated. Identity says something about how Aurora sees itself now. Stewardship shows Aurora’s priorities.

Possible Reprieve
The old Aurora jail still stands and that’s really the story for now. Between the 2024 deliberations by town leaders and the wrecking ball, the jail is receiving at least a temporary reprieve. That’s because a 2025 town meeting underscored the consideration being given by Aurora’s leaders for the old jail, even inviting input from the Aurora Colony Historical Society, an institution that truly knows the importance of Aurora history. It’s been said that those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it. And by all appearances, Aurora’s leaders remain open to dealing with their town’s past…even if it’s an old jail.

Ideas have ranged from preservation to tourism use to partial reconstruction—but no final direction has been set. As a possible tourist attraction, visitors taking photos around the jail, then posting them on social media could be another unique way to help promote Aurora.What some may see as a town’s delay in deciding the fate of this old jail is frustrating. For others, it’s a chance to get it right, with a real shot at resolving an issue deferred for decades. Sometimes a town’s monetary balance sheet is exceeded by its ample historic ‘balance sheet,’ of less tangible assets. Beauty, history, education and even an old jail can provide benefits in addition to monetary considerations.

Aurora’s jail and cemeteries have something in common, because their presence makes a statement about the treatment given to those that each facility holds. Here’s a related story about one Aurora, Oregon hero to remember with that video below.

So for now at least, the door to Aurora, Oregon’s old jail remains open…both literally and figuratively.

Doing Time
whether the jail’s future ultimately involves preservation, adaptive re-use, relocation, documentation, or demolition, its story will always be part of Aurora’s history.

So what’s lost when a place like this disappears—not a cathedral, not a battlefield, just a one-room jail behind a small-town city hall? Maybe just the fact that something happened here, against this wall, beneath a scalloped roofline someone once thought worth the extra concrete. So after an initial vote for demolition, the historic Aurora jail remains. For now.

Aurora Oregon Old Jail Door
Aurora, Oregon’s Old Jail Door

The Slammer
A salvaged jail door shows you what a jail door looked like. Yet you won’t know what it felt and sounded like, while closing on those being held under the force of law

Aurora Oregon Jail, Aurora Oregon History, Aurora Oregon
Aurora, Oregon’s Old Jail Reimagined