Raen Brew, Pringle Creek, Beer History - Odds and Ends for a Rainy Day

Rain, Rain, Go Away! 

The change in weather makes us hunker down  - and think about water, falling from the sky or transformed into beer!  Here's some odds and ends...

Right by Santiam Brewery is a new beer supply house and tasting room, Raen Brew Brewporium. (It's not difficult to see why we think of it just now!)

We aren't sure we entirely understand the tasting room business - a couple of taps as an amenity to supplement a home-brew supply business would make sense, but they are clearly making a bigger play for a more substantial pub business, and for this their lack of evening hours seems like it could be a problem. Hopefully things will work out!

You can see the taplist here.

Doubling up with a visit to Santiam and Raen Brew - and with Gilgamesh not far - could make for a very pleasant urban beer experience. Just have a designated driver!

The Oregon Beer Growler has an article of interest!

Readers here will find little that is new (and we would quibble with a few details - the caption on the photo, for example, is wrong), but it's nice to see the information get wider play. 

Finally, on the blog of Mission Mill, commenter Ann raises questions about naming the stream we now call Pringle Creek.  With mills, it's not surprising older sources call it "South Mill Creek" instead.  Here's an ad from April 1910 that shows a Pringle Creek distinct from Mill Creek.  Another reference from a couple of years later mentions motoring out to Pringle Creek for a picnic. 

When urban trout fishing was possible

And, in fact,on the 1852 survey map you can see a creek running through the Pringle land claim. On the surface, this appears to have a strong claim to being the first "Pringle Creek."

1852 survey detail, University of Oregon

Note the Jorys and Battle Creek. This is out south! And it would have been a fine place for a picnic.

The swampy area where Battle Creek and the feeder creek, now ditched and tamed, flow together is almost certainly the site of the old golf course that has been in the news the last couple of years for stormwater retention.

Detail from Pringle Creek Watershed Map

The City's history of Pringle Creek, however, may miss this and says

The reference Oregon Geographic Names, on page 690 states that Pringle Creek was named after Virgil K. Pringle, who arrived in Salem December 25, 1846. He took a donation land claim near the stream which accordingly he named for himself. This stream rises in the hills south of Salem, and flows through the southern part of the town. The other adjoining buildings and features in the area accordingly took the name of the creek in their names as well, such as Pringle Park Plaza.

We believe part of this is correct, that Pringle named a creek. But we think the creek he named feeds into Battle Creek, and that some time in the early 20th century, the term "Pringle Creek" was shifted to a different creek, one that had been confusingly named "South Mill Creek." In order to make it distinct from "North Mill Creek," which we just simply call Mill Creek, the southern "Mill Creek" was renamed "Pringle Creek." (Got it?!)

More research is in order!