Umatilla County is named for Umatilla City on the Umatilla River, and Umatilla is the name of a Sahapin speaking Native American group who resided in the area.
Surrounding County Courthouses:
N – Columbia County, Washington
E – Wallowa County and Union County
S – Union County and Grant County
W – Morrow County
Created: September 27, 1862
County Seat:
Marshall Station 1862 – 1865
Umatilla City 1865 – 1868
Pendleton 1868 – present
County Courthouse – Pendleton
Location: 216 SE 4th Street / SE Court Avenue
Built: 1954 – 1956
Style: Modern
Architect: Roald, Schmeer & Harrington of Portland
Contractor: McCormack Constructionn Company
Description: The building faces west and is a three story style red-orange colored brick and stone structure. The first story has red stone facing with a central recessed entrance. The windows on the second and third stories are vertical with a light colored panel between the upper and lower windows. There are north and south one story wings which extend from the main building. The roof line is flat. At the northwest corner is the clock tower with the clock from the old 1889 courthouse.
Note: When the 1889 Umatilla County Courthouse was torn down in 1954 to make way for the present building, the 4-faced clock was salvaged by a crane from its fancy French tower. The County donated the clock to the City of Pendleton, if they would install the old timepiece in a tower to be built atop City Hall. For whatever reasons, no doubt financial in nature, the City never made the necessary modifications to City Hall to accommodate the clock. So it sat in a warehouse at the City Shops, for nearly thirty years.
History: The county was created in 1862 and Marshall Station was designated as the county seat. The county seat was moved to Umatilla Cityn in 1865. The first courthouse was built in 1866. The county seat was the moved to Pendleton in The second courthouse was a two story frame structure built in 1869. The third courthouse was a three story brick structure designed by George W Babcock and constructed by E R Parks in 1889. The fourth and present courthouse was constructed in 1953 to 1954.
County Courthouse – Pendleton
Photos taken 2012