Central Oregon: Steeped in History. Discover it Town by Town, County by County.
History matters. See how each area has evolved from its founding days. The resilience, the industrial breakthroughs the will and spirit of its people.
Prineville: 157 Years Strong.
As the oldest incorporated city in Central Oregon, the historical reach into neighboring areas is pretty interesting. Prineville was founded in 1868 by Barney Prine, whom the town is named after. He had a blacksmith shop and the general store. Two years later, Monroe Hodges laid out the town and receives additional credit as a founder. The first post office arrived in 1871.
Locally, you can deep dive into history through the Crook County Historical Society and Bowman Museum in downtown Prineville. In addition, Crook County on the Move fashioned an incredible historical walk and Discover Prineville and Discover Crook County added an audio component.
Dive Into History
Compliments of our friends from Crook County on the Move, use this interactive to walk the historical area of Prineville. Each stop has an audio guidance recording of the history on each stop. Click on left, pop up displays, click on read more to get to the recordings. Enjoy!