For our next installment of historic newspaper content from the Chronicling America website, I’ve chosen to focus on a topic that is very much on the minds of “wet side” residents at this time of year… namely, our infamously rainy winter weather.  With the first few days of sunshine arriving intermittently throughout February, we begin looking forward to the beautiful spring that is just around the corner.

Oregon’s prevailing weather is often misunderstood by the rest of the country; the notion that it “rains all the time” everywhere in the state is still widespread.  Moreover, a look at the historical record persuades us that this is nothing new.  Here, for instance, is an article originally published in the Oregonian (as reprinted by The Washington Times (D.C.)) in 1905, attempting to inform the American public about our unique weather patterns.  That makes more than a century that we’ve been trying to dispel the “webfoot” stereotype!

Oregon’s Two Climates – The Washington Times, February 12, 1905

(Please note, the Oregon article is in the lower right hand corner of the linked page… try not to get too distracted by the adventures of the escaped giant in our nation’s capital!)