Oregon is home to many species of falcon and hawk. Wildlife centers including Cascades Raptor Center in Eugene and The High Desert Museum in Bend provide educational programs and opportunities for Oregonians to meet their local birds
Have you spotted this gem on the roads yet?! Our custom license plate is packed with 127 symbols reflecting the history, heritage and cultural practices that make our state truly unique.
It’s not just the most colorful plate on Oregon’s DMV list, it’s also the only one that helps drive dollars toward promoting the Cultural Tax Credit, inspiring Oregonians to direct more of their taxes to support culture statewide.
Order Your PlateYour Road Map for Purchasing
You can purchase our custom license plate on Oregon’s DMV2U! Just choose ‘Order a new plate,’ enter your info, and pick the Celebrate Oregon! License Plate from the options.
In addition to the standard registration and title fees, our license plate costs $50 for the initial purchase and for every two-year renewal.
Proceeds from our license plate help promote the Cultural Tax Credit, funding more than 1,650 cultural organizations statewide!
In 2021, to mark its 20th anniversary, the Oregon Cultural Trust set out to find an artist who could capture Oregon’s cultural spirit on a custom license plate.
Liza Mana Burns rose to the challenge with a bold design incorporating 127 symbols to celebrate Oregon arts, heritage and humanities. Watch as she turns a blank wall into an iconic mural—now featured in Oregon airports, PSU’s Viking Pavilion and on the Oregon Coast Art Bus—leaving a lasting impression far beyond the road!
Order Your PlateThe Stories Behind the Brush Strokes
Navigate all 127 symbols using our interactive key! Discover how Liza Mana Burns captured the spirit of Oregon culture.
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Click the number to discover the symbol’s meaning.
Oregon is home to many species of falcon and hawk. Wildlife centers including Cascades Raptor Center in Eugene and The High Desert Museum in Bend provide educational programs and opportunities for Oregonians to meet their local birds
Oregonians have made rich contributions to typography and the art of the book, most notably in recent decades by typographer and designer John Laursen (Press-22 and the nonprofit Northwest Photography Archive) and book artists Barbara Tetenbaum (Triangular Press) and Roberta Lavadour (Mission Creek Press and Desultory Press). The Portland nonprofit C.C. Stern Type Foundry, a working museum of metal typography, preserves the history of the craft; many of Oregon’s unique voices rely on such nonprofits as the Independent Publishing Resource Center for access to the tools and knowledge that enable them to publish their creative work.
The art of Japanese taiko drumming is alive and well in Oregon thanks to Portland Taiko and Ashland Taiko. Both blend the tradition of Japanese taiko drumming with a sense of Asian American identity, creativity and empowerment. Drumming is important in many cultural traditions. Obo Addy (1936-2012), a Ghanaian performer who made Oregon home, was one of Oregon’s most celebrated drummers, African dancers and teachers. He was among the first African musicians to bring the fusion of traditional folk music and Western pop music (worldbeat) to the West.
Oregon a cheese capital? Evidently! The Rogue Creamery’s (Central Point) Rogue River Blue cheese was named the best cheese in the world at the 2019 World Cheese Awards in Italy. The Tillamook County Creamery, with its famous ice cream and cheddar cheese, is among the state’s most popular tourist destinations.
There are as many as 200 theater companies in Portland alone. Small towns love their theater too, including Barnstormers Theatre in Grants Pass and Actors Theatre in Talent. Oregon’s claim to fame in the theater world is the internationally recognized Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland.
The Cultural Trust supports at least 10 ballet companies across the state, including Corvallis Academy of Ballet, Eugene Ballet, The Little Ballet Theatre (Warrenton), Oregon Ballet Theatre, Portland Festival Ballet (Beaverton), the Salem Ballet Association and The Portland Ballet.
Coastal whale watchers know the gray whale is the most common whale sighted in Oregon - an estimated 18,000 migrate through our waters every year. Oregon State Parks celebrates the migration twice per year during Whale Watch Weeks in late December and late March. The Whale Watching Spoken Here® program places volunteers at 24 whale-watching sites, ready to help visitors see and learn about migrating and resident gray whales.
Oregon’s elk are one of the most sought-after species for hunters. The best-known and most accessible spot to view them is the protected Dean Creek Elk Viewing near Reedsport. Elk hides drove early trade along the lower Columbia River in the latest 1700s and early 1800’s. During this time American Boston Clipper ships as well as trade vessels of other nations, made ports of call at the Mouth of the Columbia River to take on clamons, armor made of wood slates and elkhide made by Chinookan people. This armor was then traded to native peoples of Southeast Alaska; it stopped the musket balls fired on them by Russian soldiers.
Cannon Beach’s most popular event is the oldest sandcastle competition in the Pacific Northwest. Teams of professional sand sculpture artists, amateur groups and families annually construct remarkable creations. Other towns on the Oregon Coast that hold annual sand sculpture contests include Lincoln City and Port Orford.
In many traditions, hummingbird feathers are treasured for their almost magical qualities. It is said that the hummingbird brings love as no other medicine can, and their presence brings joy to the observer. It is an important symbol for the Mexican and Indigenous communities.
From 1942 to 1948, Vanport was the largest WWII federal housing project in the United States. It was known as the “Negro Project” despite the fact that African Americans were no more than 25 percent of its residents. On May 31, 1948, the Vanport Flood washed away the temporary city, displacing many of its Black residents who were relocated to Portland and Vancouver, Washington. Today, its legacy is celebrated by the annual Vanport Mosaic Festival.
Oregon’s steelhead trout are a unique species. Individuals develop differently depending on their environment. Some stay in fresh water all their lives and are called rainbow trout. The steelhead, a sea-run rainbow or redband trout, is the largest race of rainbow trout in Oregon.
One of the state’s notable contributions to American popular music was in the 1960s when The Kingsmen and Paul Revere & the Raiders established Oregon as a minor center of frat and garage rock. Blind Pilot, the Dan Reed Network, Dandy Warhols, the Decemberists, Everclear, Pink Martini, Portugal the Man, Quarterflash and Sleater Kinney are just some of the bands that have continued to put us on the musical map.
Languages commonly spoken in Oregon include (in order of usage) English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Russian, German, French, Korean and Japanese. Virtually every Tribe also has a native language they work hard to preserve and share. Oregon Humanities is the state’s leader in promoting public discourse and annually offers hundreds of public conversations and programs across the state to help people connect, reflect and cultivate a stronger sense of agency in their communities.
The bald eagle breeds in 32 of 36 Oregon counties and is found throughout the state during non-breeding season. Also our national bird, the fierce beauty and proud independence of this great bird aptly symbolizes the strength and freedom of America.
Public and nonprofit radio stations are vital contributors to Oregon’s creative economy. Among those supported by the Cultural Trust are Oregon Public Broadcasting, Jefferson Public Radio, KLCC (Eugene), Coast Community Radio, KBOO, All Classical Portland, XRAY FM and the Portland Radio Project.
Designated our state fruit in 2005, the pear arrived in Oregon in 1847 when Iowan Henderson Luelling delivered two large boxes of fruit-tree sprouts -- apples, pears, cherries and more. Today, Oregon produces about 800 million pears annually, nearly 300 pears per Oregonian. Varieties include Comice, Anjou, Bosc and Bartlett, available in stores or through the Fruit of the Month Club from Southern Oregon’s iconic Harry & David. More than 75 percent of the farmworkers who harvest pears are seasonal, many from Mexico and Central America.
The suitcase is a symbol of Oregon’s immigrant experience and immigrants’ contributions to our shared culture. One in 10 Oregon residents is an immigrant, while one in nine residents is a native-born U.S. citizen with at least one immigrant parent. The nonprofit Immigrant and Community Refugee Organization (IRCO) promotes the integration of refugees, immigrants and the community at-large into a self-sufficient, healthy and inclusive multi-ethnic society. One more important note: When Japanese Americans living in Oregon were incarcerated by Executive Order 9066 during World War II, they were restricted to one suitcase for all their belongings.
Masters of the electric guitar abound in Oregon, including Terry Robb, Robert Cray, Jim Mesi, punk artist Greg Sage, Tommy Thayer of Kiss and Mike Mitchelll, one of the founders of The Kingsmen and creator of that unforgettable “Louie Louis” guitar riff. On the unplugged side we claim John Fahey, known as the grandfather of the acoustic guitar, Mason Williams of Classical Gas fame and jazz headliner Dan Balmer.
Google comic book artists in Oregon and you’ll find an endless list including Alex Ross, Brian Michael Bendis, Rick Remender, Greg Rucka and David Walker. Alex Schomburg (1905-1998), described by Stan Lee as the “Norman Rockwell” of comic book covers, also called Oregon home. No wonder Dark Horse Comics has made Milwaukie, Oregon its longtime corporate headquarters.
The Oregon Grape, native to western North America, was designated as the state flower by the legislature in 1899. It is an elegant ornamental evergreen shrub with a yellow flower and tart edible berries. It can grow two to three feet tall.
Camping and outdoor activity are favorite Oregon pastimes. The Oregon State Park system, among the most popular in the United States, serves an estimated 46 million daytime visitors (fourth in the nation), and 2.5 million campers (eighth in the nation) annually. There are 256 state parks spanning 109,000 acres; 58 feature overnight camping.
You’ll find this popular brass instrument in dozens of orchestras and bands supported by the Cultural Trust across the state. Notable Oregon trumpet players include Doc Severinsen, longtime music director of “The Tonight Show,” as well as Grammy-winning Chris Botti and Kirk Reeves (1956-2012), who played his trumpet at the entrance to Portland’s Hawthorne Bridge for many years while wearing a Mickey Mouse hat and a white suit. The trumpet is important to other music traditions including Latin fusion.
Native to Oregon, cougars range throughout the state with the highest densities occurring in the northeast’s Blue Mountains and the southwest’s Cascade Mountains. Cougars also play a variety of different roles in Native American mythology.
Only for tourists? While parts of Oregon experience up to 200 inches of rain a year, a 2017 OregonLive.com survey revealed many native Oregonians claim they don’t -- and won’t -- own an umbrella. One of the most photographed sculptures in Oregon is “Allow Me” by John Seward, also known as “The Umbrella Man.” Installed in Portland’s Pioneer Square, it depicts a man in a business suit holding an umbrella while hailing a cab.
Furthur is a 1939 International Harvester school bus purchased by celebrated Oregon author Ken Kesey in 1964 to carry his “Merry Band of Pranksters” cross-country, filming their counterculture adventures as they went. Replaced by a newer version in the 1980s, the original Further resides in a barn on Kesey’s family farm in Pleasant Hill, now a nonprofit artist residency.
An apsara is a female spirit of the clouds and waters in Hindu and Buddhist culture. Apsaras figure prominently in the sculpture, dance, literature and painting of many South Asian and Southeast Asian cultures found in Oregon.
Great artists beget great labels. Among some of Oregon’s labels of note are Tim Kerr Records, who put out the first albums for both Everclear and the Dandy Warhols; Cavity Search; Burnside Records; Criminal Records; and Heinz, with impressive sales for Pink Martini, China Forbes and Storm Large releases. No label? No worries. Cascade Record Pressing will produce any vinyl record for a fee. Also – Portland’s Music Millennium is the oldest record store in the Northwest, with a renowned collection of vinyl and other music formats.
The fight to preserve tribal sovereignty and treaty rights has long been at the forefront of the American Indian civil rights movement. The American Indian Movement brought issues forward through marches and demonstrations directed at alleviating and addressing injustices and a lack of services.
The Astoria Column overlooks the mouth of the Columbia River on Coxcomb Hill in Astoria and serves a monument to the natural riches of the Pacific Northwest and the people who settled here. Dedicated in 1926, the 125-foot column has a 164-step spiral staircase ascending to an observation deck at the top and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. After decades of weather and wear on the Column, a group of concerned citizens banded together to form Friends of Astoria Column, Inc. in the mid-1980s. The private, nonprofit group, led by Jordan Schnitzer, worked to broaden interest in the Column and to raise money for its restoration, completed in 1995.
Home to a section of the Pacific Crest Trail, Oregon is a mecca for hikers. According to Travel Oregon, hundreds of hiking trails wind through our mountain ranges, national forests, rocky coasts, crashing waterfalls and high desert. Lace up and enjoy!
The culturally Chinook peoples of the Lower Columbia River, stretching from the mouth of the river to the now inundated Celilo Falls near The Dalles, built a variety of shelters - depending on season and purpose. The best known are plankhouses, post-and-beam structures built using Western red cedar posts and planks for walls, roofs and sometimes floors. To this day they are home to all types of ceremonial gatherings.
Since the 1880s, long before mythical Paul Bunyan roamed the Northwest, the timber industry has been a driving force in the Oregon economy. The Estacada Timber Festival celebrates that logging spirit every Fourth of July.
For many native peoples of Oregon, canoes were a central part of life before euro-American resettlement of the state. They continue to serve important social, economic and ceremonial roles for the indigenous people of this place. Skilled woodworkers build canoes for different purposes and river conditions. The western-style canoe featured here is designed to carry large quantities of people and cargo across open water. This type of canoe can be more than 30 feet long and can hold up to 20 people and three tons of cargo. Smaller shovelnose canoes with rounded hulls are well-suited for use on rivers. The spoon, a one- or two- person small craft, is another type of canoe used for harvesting traditional foods in lakes and on river shores.
Despite climate challenges, peaches are among the most popular summer fruit at road- side stands and in U-pick orchards. Oregon Country Fair celebrates the peach with its logo and posters; for many a picture of the peach evokes the spirit of the Fair.
Sasquatch/Bigfoot is a large and mysterious humanoid creature purported to inhabit the wild and forested areas of Oregon. Sasquatch is an Anglicization of the name Sasq’ets, from the Halq’emeylem language spoken by First Nations peoples in southwestern British Columbia. The annual Oregon Bigfoot Festival is held at the Clackamas County Fairgrounds in Canby.
A list of notable Oregon photographers includes Lily White (1866-1944), known for her imagery of the Columbia River Gorge; scenic photographic artist Fred Kiser (1878-1955); Ray Atkeson (1907-1990), whose coffee table books and prints remain in high demand; and Carrie Mae Weems (1953- ), the first African American woman to have a retrospective at the Guggenheim. The Portland Art Museum maintains a strong collection built by its first photography curator, Terry Toedtemeier (1949-2008), who was also a highly regarded photographer of the Oregon landscape. The nonprofit Blue Sky Gallery/Oregon Center for the Photographic Arts is a great champion of work by contemporary artists.
Chokecherries are among Oregon’s First Foods. They continue to be used by Native Americans, who make pastes and dry the fruit. Ancestrally. dried chokecherries were commonly mixed with bison fat and dried meat to form pemmican. They were also a food source for those traveling the Oregon Trail.
Traditionally, draftsmen, artists and architects used drafting compasses when creating blueprints or architectural renderings. Oregon’s Architectural Heritage Center inspires people to conserve the art, craft and context of historic buildings and places to promote our cultural heritage as a vital element of livable, sustainable communities.
Here the crayon is a symbol for the hundreds of arts organizations in Oregon that inspire learning in and through the arts for our youth. Arts education engages the creative imagination of students, promoting whole-child learning that is accessible and engaging.
Hand built coffin-themed race cars fly down Skinner’s Butte in Eugene every October. The Halloween-themed soapbox derby is a fierce competition both for speed and design, with prizes awarded in multiple categories including the fastest, funniest, scariest and most creative.
Camas is among Oregon's First Foods. It is a North American plant whose greatest diversity lies in Oregon, home to more than 65 percent of the species. After being harvested the bulbs can be pit-roasted or boiled. A pit-cooked camas bulb looks and tastes something like baked sweet potato, but sweeter. When dried, the bulbs can be pounded into flour.
Oregon has long been at the forefront of the craft beer industry, with brewers like Widmer Brothers, Rogue, Full Sail and Deschutes leading the national charge as gateway beers for people who want something more out of their pints. Portland and Bend may share the state’s beer crown, but with more than 350 craft breweries across the state, chances are a good brew is never far away.
Blueberry production is a major industry in Oregon, especially in the Willamette Valley, and more recently on the coast near Bandon. Western Oregon’s climate, temperature and precipitation are good for commercial blueberry production when coupled with slightly acidic soil. The state is fifth in blueberry acreage and third in blueberry production in the United States
Elaborate adornments for horses are characteristic of Northeast Oregon’s Nez Percé tribal society, including brightly colored beaded collars and saddlebags, appliquéd with brass tacks and bells for decorative purposes. They are often seen at the Happy Canyon Night Show, part of Oregon’s famous Pendleton Roundup.
Hells Canyon Mule Days in Enterprise is a testament to the hybrid’s importance in Oregon history and culture. Offspring of a male donkey and a female horse, mules are vital to the many packers and outfitters working in remote and rugged Wallowa County. They also have been widely used in farming.
The Oud is a stringed instrument thought to have originated over 3,500 years ago in Persia. Considered the grandfather of the modern guitar, the Oud is central to most ensemble music in the Middle East and is featured in performances by Portland’s celebrated world music band, Brothers of the Baladi.
It’s been said that Oregon has more covered bridges than any other western state, but it’s not easy to nail down a solid number. Oregon has at least 54 – far more than any of our western neighbors. They include the 1909 Lowell and 1920 Mosby Creek Covered Bridges in Lane County, the 1954 Irish Bend Covered Bridge in Benton County and the 1916 Gallon House Bridge in Marion County.
York was enslaved by William Clark and yet served as an integral member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Journal entries and oral traditions note that Indigenous/Native people were impressed by York’s presence, and how vital he was in the expedition's diplomatic interactions with those they encountered. Clark eventually granted York his freedom in about 1816, approximately 10 years after the expedition's return to St. Louis. In 2021, a bust of York was placed in Portland’s Mt. Tabor Park.
Fort Rock sandals are a distinctive type of ancient fiber footwear found in southeast Oregon and northern Nevada. Named by archaeologist Luther Cressman, who first found examples in Oregon’s Fort Rock Cave, Fort Rock sandals are the oldest directly dated footwear in the world. In 1951 fibers from the sandals were dated to be more than 9,000 years old.
Oregonians love their books, as evidenced by about 250 public libraries and branches across the state, in towns as small as Riddle (Pop. 1252 in 2019). Portland alone is home to 18 branches of the Multnomah County Library.
Early hop production in Oregon occurred on small family farms with typically less than 20 acres dedicated to the crop. In Oregon's early settler society families grew hops as their sole cash crop, and local families or regional Native Americans provided the necessary labor for harvest in late August and September. Today Oregon is the second largest producer of hops in the country.
Voguing was created by the Black and Latinx queer ballroom community of Harlem in the 1970s. Madonna’s 1990 video for "Vogue" was pop culture’s first exposure to the showy club style dance form that emulates models striking poses from the covers of Vogue magazine. Alive and well in Oregon ball culture, voguing is taught weekly by specialist Daniel Giron at Southeast Portland’s Vitalidad Movement and Arts Center.
Oregon is one of a very few states with a state nut. The hazelnut, also locally called a filbert, became Oregon’s official State Nut in 1989. Native hazelnuts were an important Oregon First Food. The first European variety hazelnut tree was planted in Oregon in 1858 by Sam Strickland. Today about 1,000 Oregon farm families grow hazelnuts on an estimated 80,000 acres, producing 99 percent of the nation’s crop. Close to 50 percent of the nuts are exported around the world.
Spilyay is the legendary trickster who appeared most often in the guise of a coyote and who, with daring and humor, taught Native Americans how to survive and live harmoniously with nature in all forms and moods. The coyote is known by many names among Oregon’s indigenous people. Oregon author Jarold Ramsey compiled many tribal coyote stories in his volume, “Coyote Was Going There: Indian Literature of the Oregon Country.”
Writers are a celebrated and nurtured species in Oregon. Every year Literary Arts’ Portland Book Festival draws thousands of established and aspiring authors to share and learn from each other. Portland also is home to Powell’s Books, a favorite destination for both locals and visitors. Literary Arts leads writing workshops for diverse groups, recognizing that putting words on paper is valuable creative therapy.
Oregon is second only to California in garlic production. The Elephant Garlic Festival in North Plains annually attracts more than 20,000 people and features a parade, food and garlic booths. It has a fitting website: FunStinks.com.
The most basic form of the accordion originated in Germany in the early 1820s. It was one of several European inventions that used free reeds controlled by bellows. Its popularity in Oregon gave birth to the Rose City Accordion Club. Courtney Von Drehle of 3 Leg Torso is one of Oregon best-known accordion players. Rumor has it longtime Oregon Symphony bass player Tommy Thompson often pulled out his accordion at parties.
The lasso is an important part of Oregon’s western traditions and is still used in farming, ranching and rodeo competitions such as the St. Paul Rodeo and the Pendleton Roundup. In fact, an Oregon cowboy made the news for using a lasso to capture a would-be bike thief in Eagle Point in 2016. It is also a prominent part of Charro (cowboy) culture in the Mexican charreada (rodeo) events in Oregon.
An ancestor of the modern bicycle, the penny-farthing debuted in the 1870s when the term “bicycle” first began to be commonly used. Today bike culture is huge in Oregon, especially in Portland and Eugene. The nonprofit Cycle Oregon hosts an annual ride covering hundreds of miles of Oregon geography with proceeds supporting community development projects. Oregon is also a worldwide destination for mountain bikers.
Wheat has been important to Oregon since the days of the fur traders. Dr. John McLoughlin required each Hudson Bay trading post to grow enough wheat to feed the people of the post and the people served by the post. The first flour mill in Eastern Oregon was located in John Day in 1865, built to sell flour to gold miners. Today, the largest flour mill on the Columbia Plateau is in Pendleton.
Darcelle, also known as Walter W. Cole, is a drag queen, entertainer and cabaret owner/operator in Portland. She holds the Guinness World Record as the oldest drag queen performer on the West Coast; her career as an entertainer spans more than 50 years.
The jambiya dagger originated from Yemen but is also associated with the people of Najran, Saudi Arabia and Somalia. Men above the age of 14 typically wear it as an accessory to their clothing. It is used for traditional dancing and regalia and can be seen at the annual Arab Mahrajan Festival in Sellwood’s Oaks Park.
In the fall of 2006 a group of nine cellists gathered at Portland’s Doug Fir Lounge to perform western classical music in an informal setting. What began as a one-time event turned into a national phenomenon. The Portland Cello Project performs nontraditional cello music in venues wild and mild. Nancy Ives, longtime principal cellist of the Oregon Symphony, has been known to join them.
Until the early 1940s and before the popularity of the chainsaw, most home firewood was cut by handsaws, often crosscut saws. “Crosscut” means the saw is designed to cut across the grain of the wood. The nonprofit Trailkeepers of Oregon uses crosscut saws to clear trails in wilderness areas where chainsaws are not allowed. Saws have also become a metallic canvas for many Oregon artists.
Baile folklórico, literally “folkloric dance” in Spanish -- also known as ballet folklórico -- is a collective term for traditional Mexican dances that emphasize local folk culture with ballet characteristics and large, vibrant skirts. Respected troupes in Oregon include Eugene’s Ballet Folklórico and Ballet Folklórico Ritmo Alegre in Medford. Every year Portland welcomes Sister City Guadalajara and their professional folkloric dancers to perform at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall and Cinco de Mayo festivities.
Landings of Dungeness crab were first recorded in Oregon in 1889 and have continued to constitute a major fishery resource ever since. In fact, Dungeness crab is Oregon's biggest commercial fishing commodity, with 10,000 tons of the crustaceans harvested last year, valued at $72 million.
Longtime Music Director of the Oregon Symphony (1984-2003), James DePreist was one of the first African-American conductors on the world stage. The nephew of famed contralto Marian Anderson, he also was the director emeritus of conducting and orchestral studies at The Juilliard School. DePreist was a published poet and longed for a day when “race is irrelevant.” He tied with then-Governor John Kitzhaber for the “sexiest man in Oregon” title in a reader poll conducted by The Oregonian.
Oregon’s largest Chinese New Year celebration is hosted by Lan Su Chinese Garden in Portland. The most colorful and joyous of all Chinese festivals, the two-week celebration features hanging red lanterns, a festival audio tour, cultural displays and the traditional Dragon dance. Southern Oregon Chinese Cultural Association hosts a similar event in Jacksonville. Chinese immigrants, primarily Cantonese, came to Oregon starting in 1850, and quickly became established as miners, railroad workers, laborers and professional tradesmen. Kam Wah Chung State Heritage Site near John Day presents a view into the experience of early Chinese immigrants to Oregon, including the role of “Doc” Hay, a Chinese herbal medicine practitioner, as a highly regarded doctor for the local community.
First introduced to Oregon in 1847 by Henderson Luelling, the apple was the main fruit grown in Hood River County by 1910. Much of its development is attributed to Japanese immigrants who worked clearing land, cutting trees and packing fruit. Today there are approximately 5,000 acres of apples grown in the Willamette Valley, the Mid-Columbia Valley and the Milton-Freewater area. Oregon’s most popular apple varieties are Fuji and Gala. More than 75 percent of Oregon’s approximately 125,000 farmworkers are seasonal, many of them who travel from Mexico to support the harvest.
The Siuslaw Bridge is a bascule bridge that spans the Siuslaw River on U.S. Route 101 in Florence. It was designed by Conde McCullough, built by the Mercer-Fraser Company of Eureka, California, and funded by the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works (later renamed the Public Works Administration). It opened in 1936.
For millennia, Native Americans gathered wild strawberries on the coast and in open woods on both sides of the Cascades. Quaker nurseryman Henderson Luelling brought a hardier berry to Oregon via the Oregon Trail in 1847 and by the 1880s, Japanese berry growers had established farms across Mt. Tabor in Portland which expanded over the years. Today the majority of Oregon strawberries are grown for processing into jam, ice cream and yogurt but it remains a much-awaited summer crop for all Oregonians.
A samovar, literally a "self-brewer," is a metal container traditionally used to heat and boil water. Although originating in Russia, the samovar is used in many cultures originating in Eastern Europe, Iran, Afghanistan, India, Russia and the Middle East.
It’s believed that chinook, as we know them today, began appearing in the rivers of the Pacific Northwest seven to 10 million years ago. For at least 13,000 years, native tribes on rivers throughout Oregon have been in relationship to Salmon. It is a common belief among indigenous people of the region that if the fish stop running in the rivers that native people will cease to exist.
The history of Oregon’s Willamette Valley Wine Region is a story of climate, soil, craft and culture. All these elements converge in a “perfect storm” for world-class Pinot Noir. The Willamette Valley’s leading varietal is Pinot Noir, but producers are captivating audiences with Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay and Riesling, among some 72 other varietals. Oregon is the third largest wine producer in the United States behind California and Washington.
Ursula K. Le Guin (1929- 2018) was an Oregon author best-known for her works of fantasy and science fiction. She was first published in 1961 and her literary career spanned nearly 60 years, yielding more than 70 book-length works, including 21 novels, as well as collections of short stories, poetry, essays, translations and children’s books.
The largest rodent in North America, the beaver was named Oregon’s state animal by the 1969 Legislature. Today’s city of Beaverton was named after the population of Beavers in the area as was the ancestral village in the area known as Chakeipi, meaning place of the beaver in Kalapuya. When Oregon was being settled the fur trade was central to the economy, diminishing the number of beavers while earning Oregon the nickname “the Beaver state.”
Lady ferns grow in Oregon’s semi-shaded areas and reproduce by thick, scaly rhizomes and spores. Bears and elk love to feed on them. Lady fern fiddleheads have long been a food source for Native Americans. They can be boiled, baked or used in dishes such as stir fry or quiche. In earlier times they were eaten raw with grease.
Oregon is home to about 25,000 to 30,000 black bears, North America’s most common bear species. They are the smallest of North America's three bear species, which includes grizzly bears and polar bears. Generally black in color, black bears can also be brown, cinnamon or blond. They are good swimmers and climbers who prefer forests, trails and streams. They have been known to raid campsites when hungry but are typically not dangerous to humans. Bear paw prints are featured in some of the oldest petroglyphs documented in the state.
Morel mushrooms are revered for their meaty texture and earthy/nutty flavor. They are a bit of a rock star in the food world because they're so hard to find, so expensive and so exotic looking. The morel thrives in damp coastal areas and forests -- evidenced by annual mushroom festivals hosted in Brookings, Estacada and Yachats.
Acrylic paint is widely considered to be the most beginner-friendly medium as it is simple to use, requires very few materials and lacks the fumes of oil paint. A major Oregon artist who works almost exclusively in acrylic is Lucinda Parker, who decided early in her career to abandon oil in favor of acrylic and has mastered the use of acrylic to create her vibrant, often very large paintings. Paul Missal of Portland also works in acrylic.
Will Vinton, one of the most influential and prolific animators of the 20th century, started producing stop-motion work in Portland in the 1970s. Since then, Oregon’s profile has ballooned to become a world leader in the craft -- Vinton’s studio begat Laika, which has produced Coraline, ParaNorman, The Boxtrolls, Kubo and the Two Strings and Missing Link. Laika has won a Golden Globe, a BAFTA and six Oscar nominations. Now the artform has now grown to include artists such Guillermo del Toro and Jordan Peele.
Pottery in Oregon includes a multitude of ceramic artists, potters, teachers, students and toolmakers. The Oregon Potters Association includes more than 300 statewide members who celebrate ceramic arts through all levels of education, sales, exhibitions, public outreach programs and friendship. They host an annual Ceramic Showcase at the Oregon Convention Center. Many local art centers also provide pottery education, including the Coquille Valley Art Association.
The Portland Society of Magicians is the oldest established magic club west of the Mississippi. It began as the Portland Magical Society in 1922 and adopted the current name in 1933. Famous magicians to call Oregon home include Jerry Andrus (1918-2007), who called his Albany home the “castle of chaos,” and Stan Kramien (1925-2015), aka “The Great Kramien,” who performed all over the country. Some of the best “slight of hand” Oregon artists today include Mark Benthimer, who owns the All American Magic Shop and Theater at at Lloyd Center (check magixpdx.com for showtimes), as well as Adam the Great, William Scott Anderson, Steve Dobson, Michael Douglas, Carey Heim, Hart Keene and street magician Brian Proctor.
Pierogi are made by wrapping unleavened dough around a savory or sweet filling and then boiling the dumplings in water. They are often pan-fried before serving. Pierogi originated in Poland in the 13th Century but are also associated with other Central and Eastern European cultures. Sample them at the annual Portland Polish Festival.
Historically, sugar pine grew to enormous size as the largest species in its genus. The Oregon champion in Josephine County is 217 feet tall and almost 6.5 feet in diameter. Native Americans used the sugar pine’s large, nutritious seeds for food and its sweet sap as a treat. It was also used as a remedy to treat stomach gas, loosen the bowels, or -- mixed with milk -- as drops for sore eyes. The “nuts” (seeds) were also used as beads for jewelry.
Ramona Quimby is the most beloved character of celebrated Oregon author Beverly Cleary (1916-2021), who was born in Yamhill County. Ramona. known for her plucky spirit, was featured in eight of Cleary’s children’s novels published from 1955 to 1999. Ramona and her friends live on Klickitat Street in Portland’s Grant Park neighborhood. You’ll find a statue of her in Grant Park’s Beverly Cleary Sculpture Garden.
Lawson Fusao Inada (born 1939) is a Japanese American poet, writer and educator who serves as emeritus professor of English at Southern Oregon University in Ashland. He was Oregon’s fifth poet laureate (2006-2010) and is the co-editor of “Only What We Could Carry: The Japanese Internment Experience (2000),” considered the definitive single-volume collection on the Japanese American incarceration camp experience.
Bonsai is the art of growing ornamental, artificially dwarfed trees or shrubs. Oregon nonprofits dedicated to the fine art of Bonsai include the Eugene Bonsai Society and the Bonsai Society of Portland. The Portland Japanese Garden partners with local bonsai practitioners in Portland and from around the region for its rotating Bonsai on the Terrace display. Bonsai is most closely associated with Japanese culture though the art originated in the China.
The mortar and pestle have been used since the Stone Age to prepare ingredients or substances by crushing and grinding them into a fine paste or powder. They come in many shapes and sizes and are used in Oregon by many cultures for cooking, preparing medicine and other creative endeavors. This particular mortar (koke) and pestle (sahk) is essential to the preparation of Lao dishes such as green papaya salad (thahm mahk whoung), chili jam (ieow mahk peek) and other exquisite dishes from Laos.
Known in Spanish as girasol or mirasoles (little sunflowers), the sunflower has long been used in Hispanic culture -- like so many other indigenous plants -- as an ornamental flower, a food source (the seeds can be eaten fresh or ground for a porridge-like beverage known as atole), as medicine, as a sacred symbol and for folk art and decorations. Prominent Oregon sunflower fields are found in Hood River, Hillsboro and Tualatin, where the seventh generation Lee Farms hosts a Sunflower Harvest festival every August.
The women’s basket hat is a ceremonial hat made of twined corn husk and yarn in a multicolored geometric design. It is lined in fabric with leather, metal and a feathered ornament on top. It is most commonly associated with the Warm Springs Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation.
This Chinese craft has influenced the traditional clothing and decorative designs of many cultures and is utilized as a form of art, storytelling and tribe/clan identification. One of the foremost Slavic folk arts, the art form is also an important part of Russian and Palestinian culture and today is passed on in Oregon through one-on-one mentorships. Feryal Abbasi Ghnaim is a master/teacher of Palestinian embroidery who was named a National Heritage Fellow in 2018. She lives in Milwaukie, Oregon.
Oregon is home to 15 species of bats. Contrary to legend, bats eat only insects and can gobble up to 1,000 bugs per hour including mosquitoes, moths, grasshoppers, flies and beetles. They are a natural pesticide for farmers and are critically important pollinators for crops ranging from bananas to agave.
An often-overlooked activity in Oregon – one that requires no fishing nor shellfish license – is crawfishing. Crawdads/crawfish are found in just about all Oregon waters except in the southeast desert region. The largest of several subspecies is found in the Klamath Basin. Tualatin hosts an annual Crawfish Festival every August.
Elizabeth Woody (born 1959) is an American Navajo-Warm Springs-Wasco-Yakama artist, author and educator. “Hand Into Stone,” her first book of poetry, received a 1990 American Book Award. She was the first Native American to serve as Oregon Poet Laureate (2016-2018). Poets Laureate succeeding her include Kim Stafford (2018-2020) and Anis Mojgani (2020-2024).
One of the most popular species of edible mushrooms worldwide, the Pacific golden chanterelle was named Oregon’s state mushroom in 1999. It grows throughout Oregon including in the Cascade Mountains, the Coast Range, the Willamette Valley and the Pacific Coast. It’s abundant in the Mount Hood area as well as in the Willamette and Umpqua National Forests and the Tillamook State Forest. The best time to hunt chanterelles is in the autumn after significant rainfall.
The Cayuse Indians of Eastern Oregon were absolutely legendary as horsemen — both as riders and as breeders. It was said that a Cayuse pony could travel more than 100 kilometers without stopping. A famous 1871 race between a Cayuse pinto pony and an Army thoroughbred is still called “the day Pendleton went bankrupt” due to the volume of bets white men placed against the pony, who won. In Central and Eastern Oregon today, half-wild horses of any breed are still sometimes referred to as “Cayuse ponies.”
Speakers, comedians, singers -- any event that draws more than 10 people will likely feature a microphone. That includes Portland Arts and Lectures, Portland’s Curious Comedy Theatre and performances by revered Oregon vocalists such as Valerie Day, China Forbes, Julianne Johnson, Nancy King, Storm Large and Curtis Salgado. The Helium Comedy Club in Portland features both local and national comedians.
The Newberry National Volcanic Monument in Deschutes National Forest near Bend was established in November 1990 by the United States Congress. It features 54,000+ acres of lakes, lava flows and spectacular geologic features. The 1,200 square mile volcano (about the size of Rhode Island) remains very active to this day. Newberry is both seismically and geothermally active. The Caldera’s obsidian, a glass-like stone used by Native Americans to create arrowheads and tools, has been found at archaeology sites throughout North America, including as far away as the great lakes and Vancouver Island.
Filmmaking brought them to Oregon and many chose to stay. The actors and filmmakers who have called Oregon home include Denis Arndt, Ed Asner, Bruce Campbell, Alex Cox, Tod Davies, Patrick Duffy, Jack Elam, Sam Elliot, Kim Novak, Ginger Rogers and Lindsay Wagner. John Wayne was part owner of a historic ranch in Selma, near the Grants Pass location for “Rooster Cogburn,” and William Hurt owns a ranch in central Oregon. Today a locally grown media scene thrives in pockets throughout the state. Professionals put down roots not only in Portland, which is well-known for its creative sensibilities, but also in the high desert hub of Bend, the thespian enclave of Ashland -- home of the Independent Film Festival -- and dozens of other towns and cities.
The marionberry, a cross between Chehalem and Olallie blackberries, was bred at Oregon State University as part of a berry-developing partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture that dates back to the early 1900s. It’s named for Marion County in the Willamette Valley, where most of the field trials took place.
Sticky rice (khao niew) is made from glutinous rice that has a higher sugar content than regular rice, which makes it sticky when steamed. This rice is first soaked overnight and then cooked in an aluminum steaming pot and hand-woven bamboo steamer basket (hwat) set. The bamboo steamer basket sits on the aluminum pot so that the water never touches the rice. The bamboo steamer and aluminum pot set is also used to steam vegetables and fish. It is so important in the Lao culture that many Lao refugees brought them when they resettled to Oregon and the United States after the Vietnam War/Secret War in Laos.
Between 1840 and 1860, an estimated 300,000 to 400,000 travelers used the 2,000-mile Oregon Trail overland route for one of the largest mass migrations of people in American history. The journey took up to six months, with wagons traveling between 10 and 20 miles per day. The primary destination of the trail was the Willamette Valley in Western Oregon, the ancestral homelands of the Kalapuya people. Survivors of the arduous journey are credited with bringing much to Oregon, from agricultural seeds to orchestral music. Oregon museums commemorating the Trail include the Flagstaff Hill/National Oregon Trail Interpretive Center in Baker City, Tamástslikt Cultural Institute -- the only Native American museum on the trail – the Columbia River Gorge Discovery Center in The Dalles, the End of the Trail Interpretive Center in Oregon City and the Oregon Historical Society.
George Fletcher moved to Pendleton as a young Black man, learning from horsemen on the nearby Umatilla Indian Reservation. Throughout the 1910s, he enthralled audiences with his flamboyant style, which included wearing bright orange chaps. In 1911, Fletcher competed against John Spain, who was white. Spain was awarded first prize, but the crowd disagreed with the judge’s decision and cheered loudest for Fletcher. Most spectators agreed that Fletcher had ridden better and that the decision derived from the judge’s reluctance to award the first prize to a nonwhite man.
Pacific lampreys are an Oregon First Food found in watersheds throughout Oregon. Pacific lamprey numbers greatly declined with the resettlement of Oregon and the construction of the hydropower and flood control systems across the state. Today the most notable and consistently viable harvest is at Willamette Falls on the Willamette River near Oregon City, on the ancestral lands of the Clackamas and Clowewalla people.
In 1973 Oregon became the first state to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana. It was legalized in 2014 and today cannabis is a major industry, with sales topping $1 billion in 2020. Proceeds benefit schools, health services, cities and counties, and the Oregon State Police.
In many parts of the world skis predate the wheel as a form of human transportation. Oregon’s first documented skier was John Templeton Craig who delivered mail across the Cascades via skis in the late 1870s. The cover of Harper’s Weekly in 1899 featured an Oregon mother and son traveling for supplies on skis. At the time, Oregon was home to a number of Scandinavian immigrants who were known for their outdoor way of living and had a passion for skiing competitions, including ski jumping and racing. One of them, a famous Nordic skier named Hjalmar Hvam, developed the world’s first workable safety ski binding. Today, skiing remains one of Oregon’s favorite winter activities. In fact, the U.S. Olympic Ski Team often trains on Mt. Hood and Mt. Bachelor during the summer months.
Oregon has a rich history in both linen and wool. Flax fields flourished here from the 1840s to the 1950s, and the plants were transformed into lustrous linen yarn and fabrics. The Wasco, Klickitat, Warm Springs, Cayuse, Umatilla and other tribes made bags and baskets from flax fiber. In 1889, the Thomas Kay Woolen Mill began manufacturing blankets and wool flannel, tweed and Mackinaw fabrics at what is now the Willamette Heritage Center in Salem. The mill closed in 1962. The world famous Pendleton Woolen Mills opened in 1909. By its 100th anniversary in 2009, Pendleton Woolen Mills owned and operated seven manufacturing facilities, managed 70 Pendleton retail stores, and conducted a catalogue and Internet trade. Now the company is privately held and operated by the sixth generation of the Bishop family.
Most of Oregon’s 33,000+ acres of grapes are used for making wine. The weather and soil types in Oregon’s Willamette Valley provide perfect growing conditions for grapes, leading to many successful vineyards. In 2018, grapes for wine ranked seventh on Oregon’s top 20 commodities with a value of $208,726,000. In 2017, a total of 77,000 tons of wine grapes were harvested. While some grapes are harvested by machine, most winemakers prefer harvesting by hand as it is more gentle; thousands of agricultural workers support the grape harvest every fall.
Oregon arts and culture organizations sell more than 10 million tickets a year to performances, museums and cultural events. Oregon’s arts and culture sector contributes more than $687 million and 22,299 jobs to Oregon’s economy annually (2015 data/Americans for the Arts). Those jobs generated $469.5 million in household income to local residents and delivered $53 million in local and state government revenue. In addition, the 10 million people who attended arts and culture events spent an average of $42.59 per event, excluding the cost of the admission ticket. Event spending, which totaled $322,956,808, includes meals, parking, souvenirs, babysitting and hotel stays.
Douglas fir, perhaps the most common tree in Oregon, is the most important conifer in the state because of its ecological and economic significance. The Oregon legislature recognized this when it designated the Douglas fir the official state tree in 1936. Eight of 10 conifers west of the Cascades are Douglas firs.
Fun fact: The earliest known scissors appeared in Mesopotamia 3,000 to 4,000 years ago. Today scissors are integral to an endless list of creative practices such as crafting -- including scrapbooking -- as well as handmade arts, cosmetology and cuisine. Find a community center (and there are scores in Oregon) that offers arts and crafts classes or workshops and you’ll definitely find a box of scissors on-site.
Motion pictures debuted in Oregon in 1894 when a kinetoscope arrived, allowing vaudeville acts and other popular entertainment to be shown in penny arcades. Among the first feature films was 1908’s silent “The Fisherman’s Bride.” Over the years the film industry has flourished, owing to the diverse landscape and state-funded credits to filmmakers via Oregon Film. Major films shot in Oregon include “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” “The Goonies,” “Free Willy” and Gus Van Sant’s “Drugstore Cowboy,” among many others. Several notable film festivals are held annually throughout the state, including in Astoria -- the home of the Oregon Film Museum. The oldest is the Northwest Filmmakers' Festival, established in 1973 and run by the Northwest Film Center at the Portland Art Museum. Among the places where Oregonians enjoy movies are a number of impeccably restored vintage movies theaters.
The Basques of northern Spain and southern France (the Euskaldunak) began arriving in southeastern Oregon in the late 1880s as sheepherders. In the next 30 years or so, the Basque presence expanded north from Jordan Valley to Ontario, west to Burns and overlapped east into Boise and Nampa, Idaho. Nearly all the immigrant Basques worked with sheep and gained status as first-class herders. The first generation Basques who found success -- and most did -- became sheepmen and land owners themselves. Basque boarding houses in the towns of Jordan Valley, Ontario and Burns became important meeting and recovery places for Basque herders. Later, such Basques as Anthony Yturri, an eastern Oregon politician, and John Elorriaga, a Portland banker, became well-known Basque leaders in the state.
Linus Pauling (1901-1994), who was born, raised and educated in Oregon, became one of the world’s leading scientists and the only person to win two unshared Nobel Prizes. Among his many achievements, he defined the nature of the chemical bond, discovered basic protein structures -- including the alpha helix -- and pinpointed the cause of sickle-cell anemia. His work advanced the fields of structural chemistry, x-ray crystallography, electron diffraction, quantum mechanics, biochemistry, molecular psychiatry, nuclear physics, anesthesia, immunology and vitamin studies.
So many artists, so little space! There are far too many celebrated Oregon painters to list here but among the most revered still working today are: Glenn Clevenger, George Johanson, Jackie Johnson, Betty LaDuke, James Lavadour, Paul Missal, Henk Pander, Lucinda Parker, Isaka Shamsud-Din, Arvie Smith and Sherrie Wolf. The list of those no longer with us whose work lives on includes Robert Colescott, Maude I Kerns, Carl Morris and Mark Rothko. The Hallie Ford Museum of Art (Salem) and the Portland Art Museum maintain broad collections of Northwest art and scores of Oregon art centers, museums and galleries feature and promote the work of Oregon artists, including the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art in Eugene.
This distinctive metal door knocker at Oregon’s Timberline Lodge was created by O.B. Dawson, who supervised the metal shop during the Lodge’s Works Progress Administration construction between 1936 and 1938. Considered the showplace for WPA projects in Oregon, the Lodge is located on the south side of Mount Hood about 60 miles east of Portland. Its construction was financed with nearly a million dollars from the WPA, with additional funding from the Federal Art Project for furnishings and art. Timberline Lodge was dedicated September 28, 1937, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. It was declared a national landmark in December 1977 and hosts more than two million visitors each year. The nonprofit Friends of Timberline raises funds and coordinates community efforts to preserve and conserve the Lodge and its historical integrity, communicating the spirit of its builders.
A tribal fishing area on the Columbia River, Celilo was the oldest continuously inhabited community on the North American continent -- archeological records date human occupation of village sites along the falls to at least 11,000 years ago. Rushing waters at the falls disoriented salmon swimming upstream, enabling Tribal members to catch the fish using nets and spears. In 1957, The Dalles dam reservoir flooded Celilo Falls and a portion of Celilo Village. The site is now called Celilo Lake. The nonprofit Confluence Project is developing an installation to honor the site’s importance and history. Fishing nets like this one were were broadly used by native people across Oregon.
Culture connects to science when we learn about ourselves and our surroundings. Several Oregon nonprofits incorporating scientific exploration with cultural experience include the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, the Eugene Science Center, the Klamath Outdoor Science School, ScienceWorks Hands on Museum (Ashland) and the Vietnamese Science and Culture Society.
The word dentalium, as commonly used by Native American artists and anthropologists, refers to tooth shells or tusk shells used in indigenous jewelry, adornment and commerce in western Canada and the Northwest, including Oregon. These tusk shells are a kind of seashell, specifically the shells of scaphopod mollusk, sometimes referred to as Indian money by tribal people. Each summer, dentalium were traded at The Dalles/Celilo trade-mart, the largest in the Pacific Northwest.
The longest running carousel in Oregon is a classic wood-carved carousel spinning at Oaks Amusement Park in Sellwood since 1922; it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987. The Jantzen Beach Carousel, installed in 1928, was a star attraction at the Jantzen Beach Amusement Park on Portland’s Hayden Island and moved to the new Jantzen Beach shopping center in the early 1970s. Mall renovations displaced the carousel in 2012 and it was later donated to Restore Oregon, who plans to renovate the carousel and find a permanent home. Salem’s Riverfront Carousel, a new wood carousel, celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2021. The vision and tenacity of Albany resident Wendy Kirbey led to the transformation of a 1909 Dentzel carousel mechanism now delighting residents and visitors at the Albany Historic Carousel and Museum. A dedicated group in Cottage Grove is attempting to do the same with a 1929 Allan-Hershell carousel.
The saxophone was designed around 1840 by Adolphe Sax, a Belgian instrument maker, flutist and clarinetist. Though made of brass, it is part of the woodwind family of instruments. Celebrated Oregon saxophonists include Dan Schauffler of Crazy 8s and NuShooz fame, Warren Rand and New Orleans native Devin Phillips.
Oregon’s hip hop culture encompasses deejays, break dancing, emceeing (rap) and graffiti, as well as a fashion style and a way of life. It began in the 1980s with the break dancing phenomenon (which spans artists from Clarky to Prentice). U-Krew was the first Portland rap group to earn the national spotlight with hits like “If You Were Mine” in the late 1980s. In the early to mid-90s the Portland hip hop scene exploded with 5 Fingers of Funk (featuring DJ Chill), and others selling out local venues. During that time the annual Po Hop festival was established, featuring many local artists including Cool Nutz and Mic Crenshaw (of Hungry Mob). Some of the Oregon artists to make ground-breaking moves outside of Portland include Lifesavas, known internationally for underground hip hop; Illmaculate, who has battled some of the biggest rappers in the world; and Aminé, arguably Portland’s biggest mainstream success.
The digital arts have been described as the place where artistry and technology meet. Digital artists use computers to create art. They work in digital photography, animation, electronic sound and music, graphic design and other digital or interactive media. Degrees in digital arts are offered at Oregon State University, University of Oregon and Southern Oregon University.
Oregonians are committed to collecting, preserving and making accessible historic resources including buildings, downtowns, sites, events, cemeteries, archives, oral histories and cultural practices. Oregon Heritage, which includes The State Historic Preservation Office and the Oregon Heritage Commission, offers grants and resources to document, designate, preserve, acknowledge and share our history and heritage.
Oregonians value sustainability and embrace green energy. That’s one of the reasons why GreenCars.com makes its home in Southern Oregon, leading the way in the promotion and advancement of zero-emission vehicles. Our “leaf” logo perfectly captures our mission of encouraging green energy and electric transportation. GreenCars is part of Lithia & Driveway (NYSE: LAD), a leading provider of personal transportation solutions for over 75 years and headquartered in Southern Oregon.
Our plate isn’t just eye candy – it’s a tribute to the breathtaking landscapes, resilient communities and unstoppable spirit of our state. With every symbol, it reminds us we are all part of Oregon’s story.
Add some culture to your ride and signal your support by ordering our custom license plate today!
Order Your PlateOrder at DMV Field Offices, online at DMV2U or at a dealership where you purchase a vehicle on or after October 1, 2021. Once you’ve logged into the DMV website using information found on your current driver license, scroll through your options and select the vehicle whose plate you’d like to renew or purchase. Have fun!
In addition to regular title, registration, and plate fees, the specialty Celebrate Oregon! Cultural Trust plate has a surcharge at original issuance and at each registration renewal. For original issuance the surcharge is $50.00. In addition, there is a $50.00 surcharge at each subsequent renewal.
Yes! Like other custom Oregon license plates, the Celebrate Oregon! Cultural Trust plate may be customized for an additional DMV charge.
Yes, you will be able to maintain your current custom configuration on a Celebrate Oregon! Cultural Trust plate for an additional DMV charge.
Sadly, no. Celebrate Oregon! Cultural Trust plates are only available with passenger vehicles registered in Oregon. Souvenir or samples plates are not available.
Yes! Your current plate will remain valid for as long as you continue to renew registration. You do not need to replace your plate with the new design.
If you already have a vehicle with a Classic Cultural Trust Plate you can keep it and renew it like you have in past years. You can also transfer your Classic Cultural Trust Plate to another vehicle if you want. You will just need to pay the plate transfer fee. Your renewal surcharge will go to the same Cultural Trust plate fund and will be used for the same projects as the new plates.
The Oregon DMV offers more than 25 unique license plate styles. But, Celebrate Oregon! is the only plate with proceeds that support our wonderful arts, heritage and humanities nonprofits statewide.