In this occasional feature, we explore the origins of Central Oregon place names. To suggest a place name for explanation, contact Julie Johnson, jjohnson@bendbulletin .com or 383-0308.

What: Hill and Harriman streets Where: Bend’s Old Town Historic District The story: Bend’s future brightened in 1911 when James J. Hill brought his Oregon Trunk Railroad line south from the Columbia River, creating the critical link that could transport goods and people into Central Oregon and valuable timber out. The railroad set the stage for Bend’s development as a timber town, a destiny that was realized in 1915 when not one, but two major lumber companies announced plans to build mills in Bend.

Earlier, Hill and Edward H. Harriman, a rival rail baron, had raced to build competing railroads on opposite sides of the Deschutes River. From the Columbia south to Bend, the men’s crews laid track at a furious pace starting in 1909, peppering their labors with occasional attacks on the other side’s equipment, supplies or crews, according to historical accounts.

Hill won the race by securing a key piece of land at Metolius, south of Madras, where the bank on the opposite side of the river was impassible and Harriman’s Des Chutes Railroad could build no farther. Harriman, defeated, was forced to ask his rival to share the Oregon Trunk track into Bend.

Despite their enmity, Hill and Harriman were instrumental in Bend’s transformation from a hamlet of 536 people in 1911, when the trains arrived, to a booming timber town of 5,415 in 1920. Without a railroad, Bend could have withered into obscurity.

The city of Bend honored Hill and Harriman with street names in 1913, according to city maps from the period.

A 1913 city ordinance that aligned streets names and established a house numbering system turned the era’s Hood Place, Tenth Street and Third Street into Harriman Street, and changed Fourth, 11th and First streets to Hill Street. Hill and Harriman streets run parallel to each other not far from the train tracks, just as Hill and Harriman’s tracks ran parallel down the Deschutes River canyon. One more thing: Hillman, an amalgam of the rail barons’ last names, was an early name for Terrebonne, according to Lewis McArthur in “Oregon Geographic Names.”

— Julie Johnson