Editing Hermiston, Oregon (section)

== History ==
{{More citations needed section|date=December 2022}}
The historic inhabitants of the area were the indigenous [[Umatilla people|Umatilla]], [[Cayuse people|Cayuse]], [[Walla Walla people|Walla Walla]], and [[Sinkiuse-Columbia|Columbia]] Indians, descendants of peoples who lived in this area for thousands of years. The earliest European settlers established a mission near [[Pendleton, Oregon|Pendleton]] in 1847. The territorial government organized Umatilla County in 1862 from the larger [[Wasco County, Oregon|Wasco County]].

Hermiston's early development was plagued by rivalry between The Maxwell Land & Irrigation Company and developers Skinner & Newport, who both fought to establish their own town of Hermiston in the exact same spot, centrally located in the irrigation district along the [[Oregon Railway and Navigation Company]]'s main line. While Maxwell was able to secure the train depot on the West side of the tracks, initially naming it after themselves, Skinner & Newport filed their own Hermiston plat directly across the tracks in November 1904, beating the Maxwell Company's filing by two days.<ref>{{cite news |title=Call Two Towns Hermiston: Rivalry Between Two Townsite Companies |url=https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn88086023/1904-11-26/ed-1/seq-1 |access-date=September 27, 2024 |work=The East Oregonian |date=November 26, 1904 |page=1}}</ref> With neither side willing to cede to the other, two separate business districts formed on either side of the tracks, Hermiston Avenue on the West side and East Main street (there is no West Main Street) on the East side, defiantly placed one block off so they didn't align. Each district featured its own bank, hotel and mercantile but East Main street would eventually win out.<ref>{{cite news |title=Hermiston Affairs |url=https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn88086023/1906-12-03/ed-1/seq-10 |access-date=27 September 2024 |work=The East Oregonian |date=December 3, 1906 |page=10}}</ref>

The rival developers eventually settled their differences and on July 10, 1907, the two towns were incorporated as a single Hermiston. Colonel J. F. McNaught, an early settler in the region, is credited with originally coming up with the Hermiston name, which was taken from [[Robert Louis Stevenson]]'s unfinished novel ''[[Weir of Hermiston]]''.<ref>{{cite book|last=McArthur |first=Lewis A. |title=Oregon Geographic Names |edition=3rd |year=1965 |page=298 |language=English}}</ref>

The greater Hermiston region began to see irrigated agriculture in 1908, with the completion of the [[United States Bureau of Reclamation|U.S. Bureau of Reclamation]]'s Umatilla Basin Project in the form of Cold Springs Reservoir.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Ingle|first=Ronald|title=Oasis in the desert: The story of Hermiston from sagebrush to city|year=2002|isbn=0971733902|language=English}}</ref>  The region saw modest growth until the outbreak of [[World War II]], when the [[Umatilla Chemical Depot|Umatilla Army Depot]] was constructed, causing Hermiston's population to jump from 803 at the 1940 US Census to 3,804 in 1950. The region continued to experience modest growth for the next several decades until the 1970s, when low power costs coupled with the development of [[Center pivot irrigation|center-pivot irrigation]] resulted in a significant expansion in agricultural acreage put in to potato production. The expansion of potato production coincided with the development of large potato processing plants by [[Lamb Weston|Lamb-Weston]] and [[Simplot]], focusing on frozen potato products. The associated economic development drove Hermiston's population to nearly double from 4,893 in 1970 to 9,408 by 1980. The 1990s brought additional large employment developments to the Hermiston region in the form of [[Two Rivers Correctional Institution]], a Wal-Mart [[Distribution center|Distribution Center]], expansion of the Union Pacific Hinkle Rail Yard, and beginning of the [[Umatilla Chemical Depot|Umatilla Army Depot]]'s Chemical Weapon Incineration process. The 2000s have seen continued growth and diversification of the regional economy as Hermiston has grown to a population of 19,354 at the 2020 Census and has become a regional center for commercial and professional services.

The city is also known for its [[Watermelon]]s, which are part of its branding.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Carlton|first1=Jim|title=A Town Known for Watermelons Is Suddenly Ripe for Change|work=[[The Wall Street Journal]]|date=February 7, 2015|pages=A1, A8}}</ref>