La Grande, OR

La Grande is the county seat of Union County, on the western edge of the Grande Ronde Valley below the Blue Mountains. It was originally called Brownsville before changing names because another Oregon city already used that name. Eastern Oregon University gives La Grande a college presence, while ranching, timber, rail history, and mountain access shape the broader region. La Grande feels like a true eastern Oregon hub: self-contained, scenic, a little remote, and closely tied to the valley around it.