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Milton-Freewater, OR
Milton-Freewater is a city in Umatilla County, Oregon, United States. The city received its current name in 1951 when neighboring rival cities of Milton and Freewater voted to merge. The population was 7,151 at the 2020 census.
Milton and Freewater began as two separate cities.
Milton
In 1872, W. S. Frazier laid off a town site on part of the Frazier property, gave a man by the name of Woodward 1½ acres on the west side of Main Street as a site for a hotel, and sold John Miller 15 acres and a water right for $125 to build a grist mill. The mill machinery contained three runs of stone burrs. In 1873 M.V. Wormington built the first residence in the platted area. By general community consent, the town name of Milton was selected in an application for a post office. Milton was on its way to a rather enviable reputation of conservative social life, especially regarding spiritual affairs, sobriety and a high standard of education. In 1886 the town Board of Trustees established a city government and incorporated under the name of Milton City.
Freewater
The establishment of Freewater is credited to a group of men who in 1889, dissatisfied with the way things were going in Milton--one main reason being the prohibition of sales of alcoholic beverages--decided to start a sister town. The late H. H. Hanson, a Touchet farmer, was one of the “dozen-odd” people who met shortly before the turn of the century to name Freewater. A man named Mahana – “a visionary sort of man who wanted to do big things” – had laid out a town site north of the depot when Hanson arrived. Mahana picked many names for the new town, but townspeople poked fun and rejected them all.....until A meeting was scheduled and about a dozen of us attended, said Hanson. We pointed out to Mahana that one of his main advertising attractions was ‘Free Water For All Home Sites’ so we suggested the name ‘Freewater’ for the town and he accepted. While Freewater was organized in 1889, it was not incorporated until 1902.
Milton-Freewater
After operating separate cities for so many years, and growing closer together over the course of those years, servicemen returning from World War II resolved to do something about a possible merger, which had been a topic of conversation for a long time. J.T. Monahan was elected chairman of the newly formed Consolidation Club. Achieving consolidation was no easy matter as feelings still ran high with many persons, and the committee worked very hard to encourage the merger. Under state law, the majority of voters in each of the two communities had to favor consolidation. In November 1950 the election was held and a new city was born. The communities became the City of Milton-Freewater, ending a duplication of governmental services in the two adjoining communities extending over a period of 61 years.
