This old postcard provides a broad view of the famous Woodard Flume. Casey Woodard, grandson of Walter W.A. Woodard, confirmed this is the Camp B Woodard Mill in Hebron (now underwater). He noted that the butte in the background is used to anchor the dam for Cottage Grove Lake. The[Read More…]

KAREN MUNSELL/PHOTOStaff shortages and other pandemic-related issues brought an end to the local legend. COTTAGE GROVE – Well, the news is out, so to speak. There were more than 100 comments this past Friday on one local social media website regarding the Koffee Kup restaurant in the Village Shopping Center[Read More…]

W.A. Woodard and Gov. Douglas McKay inspecting the Cottage Grove Community Hospital under construction on Birch Ave. Editor’s note: This is Part II of a three-part series. COTTAGE GROVE – W.A. Woodard was a tenacious, self-made businessman, and was, by nature, generous. Woodard credited his success to his employees and[Read More…]

DANA MERRYDAY/CHRONICLE PHOTO Residents came out Saturday to support National Public Lands Day by planting trees and shrubs. COTTAGE GROVE – This past Saturday 35 volunteers joined U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Park Rangers to participate in National Public Lands Day at the Pine Meadows Campground on Cottage Grove Lake. [Read More…]

The Dorena covered bridge is getting repairs. DANA MERRYDAY/THE CHRONICLE DORENA – I was out Row River Road last month and had to do a double-take as I braked when I approached the congested collision where Row River Road hits Shoreview Drive. The distinctive view of the Dorena Covered Bridge[Read More…]

ERIN TIERNEY/CHRONICLE PHOTO The Village Green’s entrance – an iconic destination for western travelers over the decades – is being sold. COTTAGE GROVE – After two years of feeling the financial impacts of the pandemic in the tourism industry, the rustic, historic charm of the Village Green Resort on Row[Read More…]

Cameron Reiten has a love of all forms of telecommunication. As owner of local radio station KNND, the Mighty 1400, it makes sense that someone in his position would need an understanding of electronics to keep the station on the air. This knowledge was no doubt helpful as KNND went[Read More…]

DANA MERRYDAY First of a two-part series. Be Your Best started as a dream and has grown from a loose-knit collective into an almost formal organization about to embrace 501-c-3 status. It is another one of those “only in Cottage Grove”-type stories that involve people seeing a need and collaborating[Read More…]

It was not an official opening, ribbon cutting, or dedication, but in the face of all the bad news connected to fires and the surge in COVID-19, last Thursday’s tour of the future site of the Community Health Clinic in Cottage Grove was just the prescription everyone needed. Invited officials,[Read More…]

DANA MERRYDAY/CHRONICLE PHOTOThe refurbished Buster Keaton mural at the corner of Main Street and Highway 99 in Cottage Grove is one of the features of this week’s conference. It has been a strange summer in Cottage Grove. Some things have seemed normal enough and refreshingly so. Others are not so[Read More…]