La Grande, Oregon
city in and county seat of Union County, Oregon, United States
La Grande () is a city in and the county seat of Union County, Oregon, United States. La Grande is Union County's largest city, with a population of 13,026 at the time of the 2020 U.S. Census. The La Grande micropolitan population is 25,076. It is the 16th largest metro or micropolitan area in Oregon.
La Grande is located on the western margin of the Grande Ronde Valley that is bounded by the Blue Mountains and Wallowa Mountains. These mountains and the Grande Ronde River offer abundance of natural resources and wildlife. Initially a logging and agriculture town, it has become a sports and recreation destination.
It is the hub for surrounding communities offering outdoor recreation, shopping centers and entertainment. La Grande is known for its theater and arts as the downtown area boasts Liberty Theater and the Elgin Opera House often has local showings. La Grande also is a college town with a student population of 2,825 at Eastern Oregon University.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “La Grande, Oregon” is city in and county seat of Union County, Oregon, United States. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Grande, Oregon and city, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “city in and county seat of Union County, Oregon, United States” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1645049. VIAF identifies the subject as 126679376. The Library of Congress control number is n81077065. Authority coordinates are 45.327, -118.093. 3 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2020.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “La Grande, Oregon”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow La Grande, Oregon primary sources, La Grande, Oregon archive and Grande research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “La Grande, Oregon”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “La Grande, Oregon” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.