Glendale, OR

Glendale is a Douglas County city whose whole beginning is tied to the railroad. When the Oregon and California line pushed south from Roseburg in 1881-83, Solomon Abraham bought land, platted a town, and named it Julia after his wife. A dispute with railroad engineer A. F. Morris changed the station name to Glendale, and the post office followed. Railroad workers, Chinese immigrants, loggers, and sawmill crews filled out the early town; by 1929, Glendale had 11 sawmills. The city incorporated in 1901, and a 1928 fire wiped out much of its business district before rebuilding. Glendale is a small Oregon town with a name-change story and a serious timber past.