It’s been 163 years since Eugene was founded.
It’s kind of a strange name for a city. Many people know it was named for Eugene Skinner. KLCC’s Rachael McDonald wondered why. And she found out we’re not alone.
Engelbrecht: “Well, I’m Lloyd Engelbrecht and I live at Eugene. I’ve lived there all my life. I’m 77 years-old.”
Engelbrecht is the town postman. He talks with me by phone from his front porch in Eugene, Missouri. That unincorporated town of 140 people was named for Eugene Simpson in 1901 when the railroad was built.
Engelbrecht: “Eugene Simpson was a person that lived there in Eugene and when the railroad come through it come through some of his land so he donated some more just so that the town could move in. So they named it after him.”
Engelbrecht speculates the town was named Eugene because there were a lot of Simpsons, but only one Eugene Simpson. He says once the train stopped going through, the town kind of faded away.
Englebrecht: “Right now it’s almost like a ghost town. It’s not a boom town like it used to be.”
Unlike its Missouri cousin, Eugene, Oregon grew to be a city of almost 160 thousand. Historian Bob Hart says Eugene Skinner, who came to Oregon in the 1840s, could tell this was a good place to grow.
Hart: “And the reason Eugene has grown the way it has, is cause Skinner had a good eye …. He picked the confluence of several rivers.”
In those early years the town had a nickname: “Skinner’s mudhole.”
Hart: “This was so muddy, that 2 pigs running down the street were seen to sink into the mud and never to be seen again.”
Native Americans told Skinner to build high to avoid the mud. Hart says the story goes that when it came time to name the town, Skinner turned to his wife Mary.
Hart: “And Mary says, Eugene we should name it after you.”
Hart says Skinner wouldn’t have worked as a town name because it had negative connotations.
Hart: “Skinning meant tanneries. Tanneries stunk!”
Skinner and his wife Mary are buried at the Masonic Cemetery in Eugene. Skinner was a Mason. Pioneers and local residents are buried here.
Hart: “We’re looking at a burial plot that is actually rather crowded.”
The Skinner gravestones must have fallen down over the years. They now lie flat, embedded in concrete. Hart reads the inscription.
Hart: “Eugene F. Skinner born in Essex, New York. Sept. 13, 1809. Founded Eugene City June 5th 1853. Died at Eugene City Dec. 15, 1864.”
While we’re on the subject of names, Bob Hart wonders if Eugene and its neighbor Springfield will ever join into one new town. He thinks they should, since they seem to be growing together.
Hart: “So what do we become? Springgene or Eufield I don’t think you could make it Eugenifield. That really sounds bad.”
Hart: “Or Eugeneston!”
