project date: 2012 | by susan jurasz

To celebrate Oregon's sesquicentennial (1859-2009), Oregon Travel Experience (OTE) commissioned a new marker series. OTE is the Oregon Historical Marker Program administrator. Most of the historical markers were built by the Oregon Department of Transportation in the 40s, 50s and 60s. Sea Reach has been under contract since the mid-1990s to assist OTE with preserving and adding new markers to this system. Every year, 3-5 markers are added, commemorating an important aspect of Oregon history.

These exhibits celebrate Oregon as it was in 1859 when it was first becoming a state. At this time, agriculture, fishing, and logging were already established as the region's major industries; fur trappers who had worked for Pacific Fur and Hudson's Bay Company were settling down on farms in the Willamette Valley; and pioneers had been moving west over the Oregon Trail for almost two decades, fueling the need for lumber to build homes and businesses.

For the new Oregon 150 markers, elements of the old system were given a contemporary look. In 2010, Sea Reach installed the first Sesquicentennial marker in Roseburg.