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Trip to the Pendleton Outlet Store

March 17, 2013 1 Comment

pendelton 18Northeast of Portland is Washougal, Washington, location of one of the Pendleton Woolen Mills .
To get there, go north, across the Columbia River.

pendelton 16Turn right and follow the river about 9 and a half miles to Washougal…

pendelton 15where you’ll see the Pendleton Woolen Mills sign.

Turn left.

pendleton 14There you’ll find the outlet store.

It’s where I go to buy wool for my heavier coats and jackets.

pendelton 9Pendleton started in the 1860’s when Mr. Thomas Kay arrived in Oregon.

pendelton 10Kay’s daughter Fannie, who had learned the mill business from her father, married retailer C. P. Bishop. Manufacturing and merchandising, the perfect formula for success.

pendleton indian robe 1In 1909 the Bishop’s bought a defunct woolen mill in Pendleton, Oregon. They constructed a more efficient building and resumed production of Native American trade blankets and robes that the mill was known for.

pendelton 4The blankets were prized in the Native American community, from the Nez Perce in the Northwest to the Hopi and Navaho.

pendelton 6The outlet store has displays from its history, it’s like a museum.

Pendleton still buys raw wool, spins, dyes and weaves it into fabric, then manufactures blankets and clothing….

it starts with the stuff from a sheep and ends up with a plaid shirt.
Amazing, don’t you think?

pendleton 1They have old machines around, like this one for carding wool.

pendelton 2Or this one, some sort of a sewing machine?

pendelton 3And woolen items for sale!

Piles of their beautiful blankets.

pendelton 13And plaid shirts!

By the 1920’s Pendelton was also weaving wool shirting.

Racks of plaid shirts. For men,

pendelton 11and women!

pendelton 7All still woven by them, either in the buildings you can just see out this window, [behind this strange mechanical contraption] or in their mill in Pendleton, Oregon.

pendelton 8Which they proudly declare on their labels.
Even solid black, which is what I’m after,

pendelton 12and which they have in abundance.

My take for the day. Enough for many swing coats and pants.

pendelton 17And at the end of the day, home, back across the Columbia to Portland.

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Ann Williamson

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  1. Deborah Krall says

    March 18, 2013 at 5:27 am

    Terrific photo essay on Pendleton Woolen Mills. Such an interesting history and great photos!

    Reply

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