In the historical era, the area of the
Willamette Valley that makes up modern-day Albany was inhabited by one of the tribes of the
Kalapuya, a
Penutian-speaking,
Native American people. The Kalapuya had named the area
Takenah, a Kalapuyan word used to describe the deep pool at the confluence of the
Calapooia and
Willamette rivers. A variation of the place name can also be written as Tekenah. The Kalapuya population in the valley was between 4,000 and 20,000 before contact with Europeans, but they suffered high mortality from new infectious diseases introduced shortly afterward. The tribes were devastated by a
smallpox epidemic that raged through the
Pacific Northwest in 1782–83. A
malaria outbreak swept through the region between 1830 and 1833. It is estimated that as many as 90 percent of the Kalapuya population died during this period. That, coupled with the
treaties signed during the 1850s by the Kalapuya to cede land to the United States, left the area nearly free for
European Americans to settle. In 1847 a pair of brothers, Walter and Thomas Monteith, settled in the area, after traveling by ox team along the
Oregon Trail from their native state of New York. They were a family of early prominence in the area; in 1848, During the same period, Hackleman's son Abram reached his father's original land claim and built a log house in an oak grove still known as Hackleman's Grove. He later built a house, which still stands at the corner of Fifth and Jackson. The small settlement that formed on the Hackleman land became known as the community of Takenah in 1849. With help from Samuel Althouse, It was not until 1855 that a building was specifically erected for use as a school. The town was renamed as "New Albany" on November 4, 1850, and all court meetings were held there. The first Albany
courthouse was built in 1852 on of land donated by the Monteiths to ensure Albany would remain the county seat. The new two-story octagonal courthouse was completed on April 26, 1853. The courthouse has since been replaced, but the new courthouse stands on the same site. In 1871, the trains first reached Albany, connecting it to other towns in the valley. The arrival of the first train was celebrated as the greatest event in Albany's history. Albany businessmen raised $50,000 to ensure that the rails would be built through the city, instead of bypassing it a few miles eastward. The train brought the farmers' markets closer to the city, as stagecoaches and steamboats gave way to the railroad. The world's longest wooden railroad drawbridge was built in 1888 for the Albany-Corvallis run. By 1910, 28 passenger trains departed daily from Albany going in five directions. from the south side of Albany and divides at the corner of Vine and Eight streets, with one branch running down Vine Street and emptying into
Calapooia Creek, with a drop of . The other runs down Eighth to Thurston Street.
20th century In 1924 Pacific Power installed a turbine where the canal meets the river to generate electricity. In 1984 the city bought the water system from Pacific Power, and shut down the plant in 1991. By 2003 the city had approved a plan to restart the four megawatt-hour hydroelectric plant and in February 2009 the plant opened again. Albany was the headquarters for the Mountain States Power Company from its establishment in 1918 until its merger into Pacific Power & Light (now
PacifiCorp) in 1954. In the 1940s, the city started the
Albany World Championship Timber Carnival, which drew competitors from all over the world to participate in logging skills contests. The event took place over the four days of the Fourth of July weekend. Men and women would compete in climbing, chopping, bucking, and burling contests. In 2001 the carnival was cancelled because of smaller crowds and the state's declining timber economy. train passing through Albany, Oregon, c. 1910s In 1916
Kuo-Ching Li, a Chinese-American engineer, founded
Wah Chang Trading Corporation in New York State, but it was based in Albany. He developed it as an international
tungsten ore and concentrate trading company, leading the company until his death in 1961. He served as president until 1960 and then board chairman. In the 1970s, Albany attempted to extend its city limits to include a zirconium processing plant of
Wah Chang Corporation in order to increase its industrial tax base. Wah Chang responded in 1974 by sponsoring a vote to incorporate the desired properties as
Millersburg. When the Bureau of Mines closed in 1996, the ARC was transferred to the
United States Department of Energy's Office of Fossil Energy. In 2005 the facility became part of the
National Energy Technology Laboratory. ==Geography==