McCredie Hot Springs was once a thriving resort

By SHEILA CHITWOOD/for The Herald  —  McCredie Hot Springs is 9 miles east on Hwy. 58 just after the Blue Pool Campground.  Look to the right for a parking lot and walk a little further to the springs.

This was once the site of a grand two-story lodge (complete with a small hydroelectric plant to provide electricity), a general store, several cabins, and a large concrete bathing pool whose warm mineral waters were thought to have medicinal healing powers.

In 1910, a developer by the name of John Hardin leased the property from the newly established Forest Service.  At that time the area was called Salt Creek Springs (because mineral springs in those days were typically called “salt springs”).  With some help from some Portland financial backers, Hardin built his dream resort.  He was particularly proud of the big, central fireplace, which burned eight-foot logs.

In 1917, Portland Judge W.W. McCredie and his wife visited the resort and shortly thereafter became financial partners with Hardin.  McCredie was very well-known in the area, not only as a Federal Court Judge, but also because he owned Portland’s professional baseball team.  When the railroad from Eugene to Klamath Falls was built, the train stop at Salt Creek Springs was called McCredie Station.  McCredie and Hardin sold the resort in the early 1020’s and subsequent owners created new names, but McCredie Springs was the name that has endured to the present time.

The last proprietor of McCredie Springs was wealthy lumberman George Owens, who took over in 1956.  Owens had plans and the resources to modernize the resort, but the hotel burned to the ground in 1958, and the 1964 Christmas flood shifted the Salt Creek channel southward, destroying the bridge and the swimming pool.  The only remains of the resort today are a horse chestnut tree that was planted at the entrance of the hotel and some broken slabs of concrete from the swimming pool on the south bank of Salt Creek.

The Oakridge Museum has the original set of building plans for “Salt Creek Springs” as well as an update from the Forest Service in 1927 indicating which buildings should be torn down and an approval for new buildings.

Written by Sheila Chitwood for the Dead Mountain Echo, June 2008.