McCredie Springs

Frank Warner, a trapper, came upon a series of hot springs along Salt Creek and settled near them in 1878.{{cite web |title=McCredie Hot Springs, Cascade Mountains |url=https://oregondiscovery.com/mccredie-hot-springs |website=Oregon Discovery |access-date=12 June 2023}}{{cite web |url= http://oregongiftsofcomfortandjoy.blogspot.com/2011/11/sepia-saturday-102-hotel-mccredie.html |title= The Hotel McCredie Springs |date= November 26, 2011 |access-date= September 11, 2020}}{{better source needed|date=June 2023}} He lived in the cabin he built there until he was evicted by the newly formed United States Forest Service (USFS) in the early 1900s. In 1911, John Hardin filed a mineral claim on the land, ostensibly because of the salt found there, but he actually wanted to build a resort on the land leased from the USFS. He named the place Winino Springs and opened a hotel in 1914. William Wallace McCredie known as "Judge", bought the lease from Hardin to build a springs resort in 1916, and established a training quarters for his Portland baseball club, the Portland Beavers.{{Cite OGN|7th|pages=623, 1052}}

A post office named Winino was established near Salt Creek on July 8, 1924. The compiler of Oregon Geographic Names believed the name was of Native American origin, but could not find a definition. The office was closed during the time the Southern Pacific Railroad (now Union Pacific) Cascade Line was being built, on December 31, 1925, with mail going to Railhead. The resort came to be known as McCredie Springs.{{better source needed|date=June 2023}} McCredie Springs post office operated intermittently from September 14, 1926, until October 2, 1953.

The Southern Pacific railroad servicing the area was built in 1923. During its heyday in the 1930s, the resort was served by five Southern Pacific passenger trains each day which increased its popularity. In 1940, the resort community had a population of 19, cabins, a hotel, and a store.{{cite book |url= https://www.archive.org/details/oregonendoftrail00writrich/page/412 |title= Oregon: End of the Trail |author= Writers' Program of the Work Projects Administration in the State of Oregon |series= American Guide Series |year= 1940 |publisher= Binfords & Mort |location= Portland, Oregon |page= 412 |oclc= 4874569}} However, by the later years of the 1940s a new owner converted the hotel and resort into a brothel, thus diminishing its reputation at the time.

The hotel burned to the ground in 1958 and the Christmas flood of 1964 destroyed the bridge that provided access to the springs and damaged the swimming pool. The Forest Service cancelled the lease and razed the remaining buildings. Today, the site remains mostly natural.{{better source needed|date=June 2023}} No services remain onsite, however there is a toilet in a nearby parking lot.

McCredie Hot Springs are hot springs located at {{coord|43|42|14|N|122|17|14|W|name=McCredie Hot Springs|display=inline}}, across OR 58 from the community, by the banks of Salt Creek.{{cite gnis |id= 1130581 |name= McCredie Hot Springs |entrydate= May 22, 1986 |access-date= September 11, 2020}}

The geothermally heated mineral water emerges from the ground at {{convert|20|USgal|L}} per minute at a temperature of {{convert|163|F}}.{{cite book |last1=Berry |first1=George W. |last2=Grim |first2=Paul J. |last3=Ikelman |first3=Joy A. |title=Thermal Springs List for the United States |date=1980 |publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |location=Boulder, Colorado |page=39}}{{cite web |last1=Niewendorp |first1=Clark |title=Geothermal Information Layer for Oregon: McCredie Hot Springs |url=https://www.oregongeology.org/gtilo/ngds/sprg/LN-012.pdf |website=Oregon Geology |publisher=Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries |access-date=June 23, 2020}} The mineral content includes: sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, aluminum, silicon dioxide, boron, lithium, bicarbonate, sulfate, chlorine, fluorine.{{r|OrGeo}}

• List of hot springs in the United States

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• [https://oregondigital.org/catalog?f%5Bdesc_metadata__location_label_sim%5D%5B%5D=McCredie+Springs+%3E%3E+Lane+County+%3E%3E+Oregon+%3E%3E+Pacific+Northwest%24http%3A%2F%2Fsws.geonames.org%2F5739643%2F Historic Images of McCredie Springs] from the University of Oregon Libraries
• [https://lchm.pastperfectonline.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&search_criteria=McCredie&searchButton=Search&only_images=on Historic images of McCredie Springs] from the Lane County Historical Society

• {{cite book |last= Birkby |first=Jeff |title= Touring Washington and Oregon Hot Springs |year= 2002 |isbn= 0762711337}}

{{Lane County, Oregon}}

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Category:Hot springs of Oregon

Category:Portland Beavers

Category:Spa towns in Oregon

Category:Unincorporated communities in Lane County, Oregon

Category:Unincorporated communities in Oregon