Town file
La Grande, Oregon
La Grande, Oregon (Union County, Oregon) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 356, "The Projection Transfer Theory" (21 January 2023). La Grande, Oregon, is a small city of about 13,400 people in Union County, in the dry northeast of the state.
- Town
- La Grande
- County
- Union County
- State
- Oregon
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 356
- Approximate location
- 45.324, -118.087
Episode 356 / 21 January 2023 / 69 min / express
The Projection Transfer Theory
""We're going to La Grande, Oregon", in northeastern Oregon; the mental health director who sits in on the interrogation is "for Union County"" about 0:02:44
The case: Murder of Dana Lynn Dumars (February 1983); Murder of Sylvia Heisteman (a few months before February 1983). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2023
- Population
- 13,399 people
- Median household income
- $40,750
- Median home value
- about $206,000
History, in brief
- Benjamin Brown was the first permanent settler in the area, arriving in 1861. about 0:04:35
- The town was first called Browns Fort, Brownstown or Brownsville; because another Brownsville already existed, a French settler named it Le Grand for the scenic splendour. about 0:05:00
- Before there was a post office, William Curry charged 50 cents a letter to carry mail on horseback from Walla Walla, Washington. about 0:05:15
- La Grande had a factory that processed sugar beets into raw sugar; the beets came from Nibbly, Oregon. about 0:05:48
The reviews read out
5 stars
"Love La Grande, right in the mountains, a smaller city but with plenty of stores and shopping, lakes a few miles up a mountain in different directions; beautiful town and great people."about 0:06:46
2 stars
"Pretty dry region with over 60 wildfires in Oregon alone, hard to breathe, everyone coming into the pharmacy for allergy medicine; lots of trees but still dusty and dry."about 0:07:08
2 stars
"If you ride a bike you will most likely get hit; people seem to be aiming for you."about 0:07:32
2 stars
"When the street lamps go off when you walk underneath them, it's a problem."about 0:07:51
1 star
"Avoid at all costs; the geographical isolation slowly takes your soul, people quit bettering themselves, the town is run by a handful of families who only hire within, most of the town makes less than $35,000 a year and your future employment depends on which church you attend."about 0:08:46
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Lewiston, Idaho91 miles
- Ontario, Oregon105 miles
- Moscow, Idaho110 miles
- Kendrick, Idaho112 miles
- Moses Lake, Washington137 miles
- Garden City, Idaho145 miles
Everything here is as told in the episode, on the date it went out; figures and places may have changed since. Endings are covered: open an episode and use the spoiler switch to read them.