It may be in a west coast state with a progressive history, but I can testify unreservedly that growing up in The Dalles, Oregon, during the 50's and 60's was the epitome of hometown Americana of that era. It is still situated in what most political observers consider a very safe Republican congressional district, and remains a place where the word "hippy" can sometimes be overheard used as an epithet. I stopped by the building today where I opened my first checking account about 48 years ago. I was only twelve, and had landed my first job for wages, an afterschool gig at a local print shop, requiring my parents to sign off on a special work permit. Back then, it housed The Oregon Bank, which used its assets to lend to local businesses and farms, before it was to be gobbled up after deregulation, first by Security Pacific, which itself was absorbed by Bank of America. And so it is that I found the gleaming glass and white concrete monument to Sixties modernity surrounded today by picketers. Photos and a few details past the jump.
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