Орегон штатының Ла Гранде қаласы

La Grande (/l//ə/'/ɡ//r//æ//n//d/) is a city in Union County, Oregon, United States. La Grande is Union County's largest city, with a population of 13,082 at the time of the 2010 U. S. Census. The La Grande metro population is 25,076. It is the 16th largest metropolitan area in Oregon. La Grande is located within the Grande Ronde Valley and is the only true valley in Oregon as it is surrounded by mountains. The Blue Mountains, Elkhorn Mountains, Eagle Cap Wilderness and Grande Ronde River offer abundance of natural resources and wildlife. Economically, it started as a logging and agriculture town but is now identified as a gateway for many outdoor sports. It is the hub for surrounding communities offering outdoor recreation, shopping centers and entertainment. La Grande is known for its theater and arts as the downtown area boasts Liberty Theater and the Elgin Opera House often has local showings. La Grande also is a college town with a student population of 2,825 at Eastern Oregon University.

Originally named "Brownsville," it was forced to change its name because that name was being used for a city in Linn County. Located in the Grande Ronde Valley, the city's name comes from an early French settler, Charles Dause, who often used the phrase "La Grande" to describe the area's beauty. The population was 13,082 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Union County. La Grande lies east of the Blue Mountains and southeast of Pendleton.

The Grande Ronde Valley had long been a waypoint along the Oregon Trail. The first permanent settler in the La Grande area was Benjamin Brown in 1861. Not long after, the Leasey family and about twenty others settled there. The settlement was originally named after Ben Brown as Brown's Fort, Brown's Town, or Brownsville. There was already a Brownsville in Linn County, so when the post office was established in 1863, a more distinctive name was needed. It was decided to use "La Grande", a phrase used by a Frenchman, Charles Dause, to describe the area's scenic splendor.

La Grande grew rapidly during the late 1860s and early 1870s, partially because of the region's many gold mines and the valley's agricultural capabilities. The early business establishments centered on C Avenue between present day Fourth Street and the hillside on the west end. La Grande's Eastern Oregon University, formerly known as Eastern Oregon State College, began in 1929 as Eastern Oregon Normal School, a teachers college.

La Grande had a factory for processing sugar beets into raw sugar. The sugar beets came from the nearby Mormon town of Nibley, Oregon, and both were owned by the Oregon Sugar Company. R. Doerstling, the superintendent of the factory in 1899, reported seeing a Native American teepee built out of used cloth filters from the factory.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.61 square miles (12 km2), of which 4.58 square miles (12 km2) is land and 0.03 square miles (0 km2) is water. The town is a major hub in the valley. Mount Emily is a Grande Ronde Valley landmark towering over the city of La Grande to the north. It often features prominently on logos of local organizations and is matched on the other side of the valley by a similar landmark, Mount Harris.

Under the Köppen climate classification system, La Grande features a warm summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csb), closely bordering on a hot summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csa). This climate type is characterized by warm, dry summers and cold winters.

The city is served by the La Grande School District, which includes Central Elementary School, Island City Elementary, Greenwood Elementary School, La Grande Middle School, and La Grande High School. La Grande is the home of Eastern Oregon University.

Interstate 84 is the main freeway past La Grande. It links La Grande with other nearby cities in the area (Pendleton, Baker City), as well as other regionally important cities, including Ontario, Umatilla, Portland, Boise, Idaho, and Spokane and Tri Cities, and Seattle in Washington. U. S. Route 30 serves as La Grande's main street under the name of Adams Avenue. Oregon Route 82 begins in La Grande at its intersection with Adams Avenue. The La Grande area's portion of OR 82 is Island Avenue, commonly known as the Island City Strip because it serves as the main road to La Grande's northern suburb of Island City. OR 82 ends in Wallowa County's town of Joseph, Oregon. Oregon Route 237 begins in nearby Island City and is the main route to the nearby town of Cove. It ends in North Powder and joins Interstate 84 there. Oregon Route 203 starts southeast of La Grande, near the intersection of Interstate 84 and U. S. Route 30. It is the main route to the town of Union. It ends a few miles north of Baker City. The Highway travels through Pyles Canyon and is an alternate route to Ladd Canyon, the main route on I 84 out of the Grande Ronde Valley to the south.

La Grande is a crew change point on the Huntington and La Grande subdivisions of the Union Pacific Railroad, originally constructed through the area in 1884 by the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company. Between 1977 and 1997, the city had a station along the former route of Amtrak's Pioneer between Chicago, Salt Lake City, Portland and Seattle. The 1930 built station still exists, and is used by Union Pacific as offices. La Grande is also the junction of the Idaho Northern and Pacific Railroad's 20 mile (32 km) short line to Elgin.