Boardman, Oregon

Boardman was homesteaded in 1903 by Samuel H. Boardman,{{cite book | last = McArthur | first = Lewis A. | author-link = Lewis A. McArthur |author2=Lewis L. McArthur |author2-link=Lewis L. McArthur | title = Oregon Geographic Names | orig-year = 1928 | edition = 7th | year = 2003 | publisher = Oregon Historical Society Press | location = Portland, Oregon| isbn = 0-87595-277-1 | pages = 94–95}} the first superintendent of the Oregon State Parks System.{{cite web|title=Samuel H. Boardman State Scenic Corridor|publisher=Oregon Parks and Recreation Department|year=2013|url=http://www.oregonstateparks.org/index.cfm?do=parkPage.dsp_parkPage&parkId=56|access-date=July 21, 2013}} Boardman and his wife worked for 13 years to develop irrigation for their land; during those years his wife taught school, and Boardman at times worked on railroad construction projects. The Union Pacific Railroad passed through Boardman, where it had a station. The community was platted in 1916 at about the same time Samuel Boardman went to work for the Oregon State Highway Department and became involved in the development of roadside parks.

The Boardman post office opened in 1916. The city was incorporated in 1921.{{cite web|title=Incorporated Cities: Boardman|url=https://sos.oregon.gov/blue-book/Pages/local/cities/a-d/boardman.aspx|work=Oregon Blue Book|year=2013|publisher=Oregon Secretary of State|access-date=July 21, 2013}} South of Boardman, the U.S. Army Air Force established a training range in 1941. The Air Force transferred ownership of the range in 1960 to the U.S. Navy and it is now known as the Naval Weapons Systems Training Facility Boardman. The range is largely used by NAS Whidbey Island and the Oregon National Guard.{{cite web|url=https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/boardman.htm |title=Boardman Range |access-date=March 6, 2018}}

During construction of the John Day Dam on the Columbia River in the 1960s, the city had to be moved south, further from the waters of the planned Lake Umatilla. Boardman's tourist-oriented businesses were relocated first to serve Interstate 80N (now I-84), which had recently opened, on land that was released by the federal government.{{cite news |last=Hunt |first=Phil |date=May 13, 1965 |title=Bright New City To Arise As Lake Covers Boardman |at=sec. 3, p. 7 |work=The Oregon Journal}} The filling of Lake Umatilla began in April 1968 and was completed later that year, completely inundating the old town. The new townsite cost $1.5{{nbsp}}million to construct.{{cite news |date=April 14, 1968 |title=John Day Dam Reservoir to Start Filling Tuesday |page=25 |work=The Spokesman-Review}}

Boardman is in northeastern Oregon, along Interstate 84 south of the Columbia River.{{cite book|title = The 2013 Road Atlas |year = 2013 |publisher = Rand McNally |location=Chicago, Illinois |pages= 84, 85|isbn=978-052-80062-2-7 }} The city is {{convert|308|ft|m}} above sea level. It is {{convert|25|mi|km|0}} west of Hermiston and {{convert|164|mi|km|0}} east of Portland.{{cite web|title=Boardman Community Profile|url=http://www.orinfrastructure.org/profiles/Boardman/|publisher=Oregon Infrastructure Finance Authority|year=2009|access-date=July 22, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131212104451/http://www.orinfrastructure.org/profiles/Boardman/|archive-date=December 12, 2013}} According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of {{convert|4.17|sqmi|sqkm|2}}, of which {{convert|3.79|sqmi|sqkm|2}} is land and {{convert|0.38|sqmi|sqkm|2}} is water.{{cite web|title=2010 Census Gazetteer Files|url=https://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/data/gazetteer2010.html|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=July 21, 2013}}

Boardman has a steppe climate (Köppen BSk).

{{Weather box

|location = Boardman, Oregon, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1971–present

|single line = Yes

|Jan record high F = 70

|Feb record high F = 74

|Mar record high F = 80

|Apr record high F = 92

|May record high F = 102

|Jun record high F = 113

|Jul record high F = 110

|Aug record high F = 107

|Sep record high F = 100

|Oct record high F = 90

|Nov record high F = 76

|Dec record high F = 73

|Jan avg record high F = 58.2

|Feb avg record high F = 61.6

|Mar avg record high F = 69.6

|Apr avg record high F = 80.5

|May avg record high F = 90.6

|Jun avg record high F = 97.3

|Jul avg record high F = 103.4

|Aug avg record high F = 101.7

|Sep avg record high F = 92.7

|Oct avg record high F = 80.1

|Nov avg record high F = 67.3

|Dec avg record high F = 58.9

|year avg record high F = 104.2

|Jan high F = 42.0

|Feb high F = 48.3

|Mar high F = 57.6

|Apr high F = 66.1

|May high F = 75.2

|Jun high F = 81.7

|Jul high F = 91.3

|Aug high F = 90.0

|Sep high F = 80.6

|Oct high F = 65.8

|Nov high F = 51.0

|Dec high F = 41.6

|year high F =

|Jan mean F = 35.3

|Feb mean F = 38.9

|Mar mean F = 45.7

|Apr mean F = 53.0

|May mean F = 61.5

|Jun mean F = 68.1

|Jul mean F = 75.7

|Aug mean F = 74.3

|Sep mean F = 65.2

|Oct mean F = 53.1

|Nov mean F = 42.1

|Dec mean F = 35.4

|year mean F =

|Jan low F = 28.7

|Feb low F = 29.5

|Mar low F = 33.8

|Apr low F = 39.8

|May low F = 47.8

|Jun low F = 54.6

|Jul low F = 60.0

|Aug low F = 58.7

|Sep low F = 49.7

|Oct low F = 40.3

|Nov low F = 33.2

|Dec low F = 29.1

|year low F =

|Jan avg record low F = 12.0

|Feb avg record low F = 14.8

|Mar avg record low F = 21.4

|Apr avg record low F = 28.3

|May avg record low F = 34.7

|Jun avg record low F = 44.2

|Jul avg record low F = 49.1

|Aug avg record low F = 47.4

|Sep avg record low F = 38.3

|Oct avg record low F = 26.1

|Nov avg record low F = 18.3

|Dec avg record low F = 14.0

|year avg record low F = 5.4

|Jan record low F = -13

|Feb record low F = -13

|Mar record low F = 2

|Apr record low F = 21

|May record low F = 29

|Jun record low F = 35

|Jul record low F = 37

|Aug record low F = 39

|Sep record low F = 25

|Oct record low F = 11

|Nov record low F = -9

|Dec record low F = -15

|precipitation colour = green

|Jan precipitation inch = 1.28

|Feb precipitation inch = 0.92

|Mar precipitation inch = 0.70

|Apr precipitation inch = 0.64

|May precipitation inch = 0.80

|Jun precipitation inch = 0.55

|Jul precipitation inch = 0.14

|Aug precipitation inch = 0.18

|Sep precipitation inch = 0.25

|Oct precipitation inch = 0.74

|Nov precipitation inch = 0.98

|Dec precipitation inch = 1.38

|year precipitation inch =

|unit precipitation days = 0.01 in

|Jan precipitation days = 8.8

|Feb precipitation days = 6.3

|Mar precipitation days = 6.3

|Apr precipitation days = 4.9

|May precipitation days = 5.1

|Jun precipitation days = 3.4

|Jul precipitation days = 1.1

|Aug precipitation days = 1.6

|Sep precipitation days = 2.1

|Oct precipitation days = 5.1

|Nov precipitation days = 7.4

|Dec precipitation days = 9.9

|year precipitation days = 62.0

|Jan snow inch = 1.2

|Feb snow inch = 1.4

|Mar snow inch = 0.2

|Apr snow inch = 0.0

|May snow inch = 0.0

|Jun snow inch = 0.0

|Jul snow inch = 0.0

|Aug snow inch = 0.0

|Sep snow inch = 0.0

|Oct snow inch = 0.1

|Nov snow inch = 0.0

|Dec snow inch = 0.8

|year snow inch =

|unit snow days = 0.1 in

|Jan snow days = 0.5

|Feb snow days = 0.5

|Mar snow days = 0.2

|Apr snow days = 0.0

|May snow days = 0.0

|Jun snow days = 0.0

|Jul snow days = 0.0

|Aug snow days = 0.0

|Sep snow days = 0.0

|Oct snow days = 0.0

|Nov snow days = 0.0

|Dec snow days = 1.2

|source 1 = NOAA

{{cite web

|url = https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/services/data/v1?dataset=normals-monthly-1991-2020&stations=USC00350858&format=pdf&dataTypes=MLY-TMAX-NORMAL,MLY-TMIN-NORMAL,MLY-TAVG-NORMAL,MLY-PRCP-NORMAL,MLY-SNOW-NORMAL

|publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

|title = U.S. Climate Normals Quick Access – Station: Boardman, OR

|access-date = April 15, 2023

}}

|source 2 = National Weather Service

{{cite web

|url = https://www.weather.gov/wrh/Climate?wfo=pdt

|publisher = National Weather Service

|title = NOAA Online Weather Data – NWS Pendleton, OR

|access-date = April 15, 2023

}}

}}

{{US Census population

|align=left

|1920= 113

|1930= 100

|1940= 110

|1950= 120

|1960= 153

|1970= 192

|1980= 1261

|1990= 1387

|2000= 2855

|2010= 3220

|2020= 3828

|footnote=source:{{cite web|title=U.S. Census website|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|url=https://www.census.gov|access-date=June 20, 2013}}{{cite book|last=Moffatt|first=Riley Moore|title=Population History of Western U.S. Cities and Towns, 1850–1990|location=Lanham, Maryland|publisher=Scarecrow Press|year=1996|page=207|isbn=978-0-8108-3033-2}}{{cite web|url=https://api.census.gov/data/2020/dec/pl?get=P1_001N,NAME&for=place:*&in=state:41&key=5ccd0821c15d9f4520e2dcc0f8d92b2ec9336108|title=Census Population API|publisher=United States Census Bureau|accessdate=Oct 12, 2022}}

}}

Boardman is part of the Pendleton–Hermiston Micropolitan Statistical Area.

As of the census of 2010, there were 3,220 people, 964 households, and 759 families residing in the city. The population density was {{convert|849.6|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|1}}. There were 1,017 housing units at an average density of {{convert|268.3|/sqmi|/km2|1}}. The racial makeup of the city was 60.1% White, 0.7% African American, 0.9% Native American, 2.4% Asian, 0.3% Pacific Islander, 33.0% from other races, and 2.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 61.7% of the population.

There were 964 households, of which 53.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.9% were married couples living together, 14.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 9.1% had a male householder with no wife present, and 21.3% were non-families. 14.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 3.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.34, and the average family size was 3.70.

The median age in the city was 27.5 years. 35.1% of residents were under the age of 18; 11.4% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 28.9% were from 25 to 44; 18.8% were from 45 to 64; and 5.8% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 53.3% male and 46.7% female.

As of the census of 2000, there were 2,855 people, 853 households, and 686 families residing in the town. The population density was {{convert|798.2|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. There were 947 housing units at an average density of {{convert|264.8|/sqmi|/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. The racial makeup of the town was 55.24% White,1.93% Native American, 0.70% Asian, 0.39% African American, 0.11% Pacific Islander, 38.74% from other races, and 2.91% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 50.12% of the population.

There were 853 households, out of which 53.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.4% were married couples living together, 14.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 19.5% were non-families. 14.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 4.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.33, and the average family size was 3.66.

Image:Riverside High School Boardman Oregon.jpg]] In the town the population was spread out, with 38.1% under the age of 18, 11.0% from 18 to 24, 30.5% from 25 to 44, 15.0% from 45 to 64, and 5.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 25 years. For every 100 females, there were 109.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 114.8 males.

The median household income was $32,105, and the median income for a family was $32,543. Males had a median income of $30,000 versus $21,765 for females. The per capita income for the town was $12,297. About 16.3% of families and 20.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 26.2% of those under age 18 and 6.7% of those age 65 or over.

Image:Boardman Oregon coal plant pano1.jpg

As of 2013, the six largest employers in Boardman are Lamb Weston (potato products) (370 employees); Oregon Potato Company (125); Portland General Electric (PGE) (113); the Morrow County School District (106), Boardman Foods, (100) and Amazon S3.{{cite web|title=Community Resources|url=http://www.boardmanchamber.org/Section/Community_Resources/index.html|publisher=Boardman Chamber of Commerce|year=2013|access-date=July 23, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130803182220/http://www.boardmanchamber.org/Section/Community_Resources/index.html|archive-date=August 3, 2013}}

The Port of Morrow, Oregon's second-largest port,{{cite web |last= Jacklet |first= Ben |date= April 2008 |url= http://www.oregonbusiness.com/.docs/action/detail/rid/32114/pg/10002 |title= Prisontown Myth: The Promise of Prosperity Hasn't Come True for Oregon's Rural Communities |publisher= Oregon Business |access-date= June 17, 2008 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081202070225/http://www.oregonbusiness.com/.docs/action/detail/rid/32114/pg/10002 |archive-date= December 2, 2008 }} is adjacent to the city and located on the Columbia Riverfront. The port property also includes two (PGE) gas-fired power plants. PGE also had a coal-fired power plant, the Boardman Coal Plant, which opened in 1980{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=PAtWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=7eEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5585%2C4428465 |work=Eugene Register-Guard |location=(Oregon) |agency=Associated Press (photo)|title=Not quite ready |date=July 17, 1980 |page=9C }} and shut down in October 2020, marking the closure of the last coal-fired power plant in Oregon after 40 years of service.{{cite news|last=Yardley|first=William|title=Boardman, Ore., Considers a Future in Coal|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/19/us/boardman-ore-considers-a-future-in-coal.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0|work=The New York Times|date=April 18, 2012|access-date=July 22, 2013}}{{Cite web|title=Oregon's last coal power plant shuts down for good|url=https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/boardman-coal-plant-closes-oregon/283-b7eee8a4-0ec7-4c8f-88ea-9d7e42b2516b|access-date=2020-10-25|website=kgw.com|date=20 October 2020 |language=en-US}} The Boardman Coal Plant was demolished in 2022.{{cite news|title=Boardman smokestack demolished, marking the end of a coal-fired era in Oregon|url=https://www.opb.org/article/2022/09/15/boardman-oregon-coal-smoke-stack-portland-general-electric/|access-date=September 4, 2024 | last=Banse | first=Tom}} The plant had produced power at a rate of 550 megawatts and was the largest single point of emission of greenhouse gases in Oregon.{{Cite web|title=Closure of Boardman coal-fired plant a major milestone in reducing greenhouse gas emissions|url=https://www.oregon.gov/newsroom/pages/NewsDetail.aspx?newsid=37565|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20201017110402/https://www.oregon.gov/newsroom/pages/NewsDetail.aspx?newsid=37565|archivedate=17 October 2020|work=State of Oregon Newsroom}} The Umatilla Chemical Depot, which includes the Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility, is {{convert|10|mi|km}} east of the city, northwest of the intersection of I-84 and Interstate 82. The Irrigon Fish Hatchery is {{convert|7|mi|km}} east of Boardman. Threemile Canyon Farms is the largest farm located in Boardman.

File:Amazon AWS us-west-2 beach AZ.jpg

File:Amazon AWS us-west-2 morrow east AZ 01.jpg

The Oregonian reported in November 2008 that Amazon was building a large data center at the {{convert|9000|acre|km2|adj=on}} Port of Morrow. The data center was to have a dedicated 10-megawatt electrical substation.{{cite news|last=Cockle|first=Richard|title=Data Center Being Built on Columbia River|url=http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1226028328133040.xml&coll=7|work=The Oregonian|location=Portland|date=November 7, 2008|publisher=Oregon Live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121003000216/http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1226028328133040.xml&coll=7|archivedate=October 3, 2012}} A website focused on data centers suggested the Boardman site was created in response to the rapid growth of Amazon Web Services; earlier in 2008, Amazon had announced that Amazon S3 was storing 29 billion objects (such as IMDb tables).{{cite web|last=Miller|first=Rich|title=Amazon Building Large Data Center in Oregon|date=7 November 2008 |url=http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2008/11/07/amazon-building-large-data-center-in-oregon/|publisher=Data Center Knowledge|access-date=July 21, 2013}} The Amazon data center at the Port of Morrow began operating in 2011 as one of three Amazon data centers in the region at the time.{{cite news|title=Amazon confirms its data center near Boardman has begun operating|first=Mike|last=Rogoway|url=https://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-forest/2011/11/amazon_confirms_its_data_cente.html|work=The Oregonian|date=November 9, 2011|accessdate=September 4, 2024}} The project made Boardman the second Oregon city along the Columbia River to host a power-hungry data center for web services; Google already had a similar center in The Dalles. By 2012, Apple had announced plans for a server farm south of The Dalles in Prineville, where Facebook already had a similar farm. Rackspace was said to be considering a data center at the Port of Morrow.{{cite news|last=Rogoway|first=Mike|title=Apple Lays Out Its Server Farm Plans|date=April 17, 2012|work=The Oregonian|location=Portland|edition=Sunrise|series=Business}} According to an August 2018 article in the East Oregonian, Amazon has two data centers in Boardman and one in Umatilla and is proposing to build four more data centers in the region.{{cite news|title=Amazon keeps building data centers in Umatilla, Morrow counties|url=http://www.eastoregonian.com/eo/local-news/20170317/amazon-keeps-building-data-centers-in-umatilla-morrow-counties|work=East Oregonian|date=March 18, 2018}} The three data centers in Boardman and Umatilla correspond to the three availability zones in AWS US-West-2 (Oregon) region.

Since 2007, Alto Ingredients, formerly known as Pacific Ethanol, has operated an ethanol plant in Boardman.{{cite web|title=Alto|url=https://www.altoingredients.com/our-facilities/|publisher=Alto Ingredients|year=2021|access-date=October 8, 2022}} It can produce up to {{convert|40|e6USgal|L}} of ethanol a year from grains.{{cite web|title=Columbia|url=http://www.pacificethanol.net/site/index.php/facilities/facilities_article/107/|publisher=Pacific Ethanol|year=2013|access-date=July 22, 2013}}{{cite web|title=Feed Marketing|url=http://www.pacificethanol.net/site/index.php/about/feed_marketing/|publisher=Pacific Ethanol|year=2013|access-date=July 22, 2013}} ZeaChem has built a demonstration biorefinery at the Port of Morrow with a capacity of up to {{convert|250000|USgal|litre}} of ethanol a year from wood waste. The company hopes to build a much larger commercial refinery with a capacity of {{convert|25|e6USgal|L}} annually.{{cite news|last=Profita|first=Cassandra|title=Boardman Biofuel Plant Starts Production|url=http://www.opb.org/news/blog/ecotrope/boardman-biofuel-plant-starts-production/|publisher=Oregon Public Broadcasting|date=March 13, 2013|access-date=July 22, 2013}}{{cite web|url=http://www.zeachem.com/about/information.php|title=Company Information|publisher=ZeaChem|access-date=November 23, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111122075254/http://www.zeachem.com/about/information.php|archive-date=November 22, 2011}} However, in April 2013, less than a month after start-up at the demonstration plant, ZeaChem halted production, citing funding problems. The company plans to resume production if financial backing can be found.{{cite news|last=Profita|first=Cassandra|title=ZeaChem Halts Biofuel Production in Boardman|publisher=Oregon Public Broadcasting|url=http://www.opb.org/news/blog/ecotrope/zeachem-halts-biofuel-production-in-boardman/|date=April 2, 2013|access-date=July 22, 2013}}

Ambre Energy, a company based in Australia, proposed in 2011 to use the Port of Morrow as a transfer point for shipping U.S. coal to Asia. Ambre wants to export up to {{convert|8.8|e6ST|MT}} of coal per year from the Powder River Basin in Wyoming and Montana. It would ship the coal by train to Boardman, where it would be loaded on barges and hauled down the Columbia River to the Port of St. Helens. There it would be transferred to ocean-going ships headed for China, South Korea, Japan, and other Asian countries.{{cite news|last=Case|first=Elizabeth|title=Supporters and Opponents Speak Out About Coal at Portland Hearing|work=The Oregonian|location=Portland|publisher=Oregon Live|url=http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2013/07/supporters_and_opponents_speak.html|date=July 9, 2013|access-date=July 23, 2013}}

The Ambre plan generated controversy among proponents touting economic benefits and opponents fearing environmental damage. In 2014, the Oregon Department of State Lands denied the company a necessary permit for the project, and the company abandoned the coal shipping proposal in 2016.{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcrightnow.com/archives/request-denied-for-new-coal-dock-in-boardman/article_c6e5e845-e33d-53d5-aa94-5e6c8b819876.html|title=Request denied for new coal dock in Boardman|date=November 11, 2016|work=NonStop Local Tri-Cities/Yakima|publisher=NBC|accessdate=September 4, 2024}}{{cite news|url=https://www.eastoregonian.com/news/local/boardman-coal-company-dumps-morrow-pacific-project/article_802857bb-763d-5dde-abf7-8077af88959c.html|title=Boardman: Coal company dumps Morrow Pacific Project|first=George|last=Plaven|work=East Oregonian|date=October 13, 2016|accessdate=September 4, 2024}}

Boardman Airport, owned by the Port of Morrow, is {{convert|4|mi|km}} southwest of the city. It is a public airport used mainly for transient and local general aviation.{{cite web|title=M50: Boardman Airport|url=http://www.airnav.com/airport/M50|publisher=AirNav|date=June 27, 2013|access-date=July 22, 2013}} Midcolumbia Bus Company are also in the Boardman area.

{{Reflist}}

• {{Commons category-inline}}
• [https://www.cityofboardman.com/ City of Boardman]
• [https://sos.oregon.gov/blue-book/Pages/local/cities/a-d/boardman.aspx Entry for Boardman] in the Oregon Blue Book
• {{Oregon Encyclopedia|boardman|Boardman}}

{{Morrow County, Oregon}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Cities in Oregon

Category:Cities in Morrow County, Oregon

Category:Oregon populated places on the Columbia River

Category:Port cities in Oregon

Category:Pendleton–Hermiston Micropolitan Statistical Area

Category:Populated places established in 1927

Category:1927 establishments in Oregon