Gym Photography Project - Prairie City

People in Prairie City are very likely to gush about the beauty of their town. They’ll tell you about their schools, business district, scenery, small town charm and historical significance. And they’d be right. They’ll also probably hesitate, lest you decide this staggeringly beautiful place at the foot of the Strawberry Mountains is your next residence.

A visit to Prairie City is a trip back in time and I count it as one of the many places in Oregon that I want to visit. Jefferson coach and reader of the blog, Heath Merriman visited Prairie City and reported back in his epic travelogue that Prairie City was “a beautiful little town. Its old-town buildings are well kept and it strikes me…as a great little community.” [1]

With roughly 1,100 citizens, Prairie City is the second largest city in Grant County behind John Day. Nestled at the foothills of the Strawberry Mountains at the end of a vast prairie, the town of Prairie City is among the most picturesque in all of Eastern Oregon.



Incorporated in 1891, Prairie City’s roots date back to the early 1860’s during the height of the gold mining days of the area that would become Grant County on a creek now called Dixie Creek. Settlers, frustrated with the dwindling gold strikes in existing mining locations, relocated and found gold along this creek, roughly 3.5 miles above the current location of Prairie.

As the gold began to dry out, the settlers moved towards the prairie and fertile John Day River bottom. Jobs switched from prospecting and gold mining to ranching, farming and logging.

The town was beset by fires and after three fires in 1884, 1887 and 1901, the business district moved to its current location. [2]

Education came before incorporation in Prairie City. The first schoolhouse was a small building outside of town that was used from 1876-1885. Around this time, a new school was built in town that was used until 1901 when it burned down. It was replaced with a large two story school that was used until 1910 when the present school was built. [3]

The Riverside School House is a bed and breakfast hotel in Prairie City and was built around the turn of the century though nobody knows for sure it’s exact date. Previously called the Winegar School, it was located about a mile west of where it currently stands. Currently, it is located on a working cattle ranch at the headwaters of the John Day River and was renamed the Riverside School. It was used until the 1960’s. [4]



Current Prairie City athletic director and 1995 grad Ryan Gerry was kind enough to pass along a slew of photos of the current home of the Panthers. A cavernous and spacious facility built in the early 80’s, there were several things that piqued my interest when viewing the photos of the Prairie City gym.


Gerry lists the capacity as 400 but I would suspect it’s because one side of the floor doesn’t have the traditional wood bleachers one usually sees in gyms. Rather it has smaller metal bleachers and I suspect that drops the capacity.


The balcony on the wood bleachers side would surely increase the capacity by several hundred if it was needed and desired. I’m thinking it would make for interesting standing room only seating if an overflow crowd descended upon the town. Perhaps for a substate game featuring Powder Valley and Prairie City with a trip to Baker City on the line?


Another thing that struck me about this gym, and truthfully, many of the gyms I’ve seen and continue to see, is the giant flag nailed to the wall. This is one of the very best things I have come to love about many of the gyms featured in the smallest classifications. The locker rooms might be cramped and smell like stale jockstraps. It’s probably harder to move around the gym lobby than a New York subway car during rush hour. The bleachers are probably decades old with thousands of scratches, dents and broken wood. But schools and athletic departments rarely scrimp on the United States flag. It is big and beautiful and a constant reminder to all who attend and play the game just how great a nation we live in. I love this about the Prairie City gym.


The third thing that struck me about the Panther gym is the midcourt logo. I’m partial to the center court logo being the school mascot or logo. Prairie City has gone another direction opting instead for a logo with the words “Panther Power” at midcourt. It’s definitely unique and not something I’ve seen too many of. It would be interesting to know if a class donated the money to have it done and if there is a backstory to the selection.

Finally, the last thing I noticed is the size of the lobby. Like the rest of the facility, it looks to be very spacious with plenty of room to maneuver through the crowd. It has a somewhat modern feel to it and is surrounded by trophy cases harkening back to past glory for Prairie City.


Prairie City’s gym is unique so far to the Gym Photography Project. I don’t believe that we’ve seen any other gyms built during the early 80’s and I believe that it looks to be one of the biggest facilities I’ve seen so far.

Currently, Prairie City is trying to build up their athletics program back to where they were in the 90’s when they made seven trips in eight years. In small, rural towns, the cycles are a bit more drastic but Gerry is confident the Panthers are building towards success. The Panthers captured the High Desert League consolation crown in 2009 and lost to eventual district champion Jordan Valley in the first round of the 2010 district tournament.

[1] Merriman, Heath. Aumsville to Baker City: A Backroad Journey to 1A Schools. July 13, 2009. May 28, 2010. http://oregonhoopshistory.blogspot.com/2009/07/aumsville-to-baker-city-backroad.html
[2] A Brief History of Prairie City. March 28, 2010
http://www.prairiecityoregon.com/prairie-city-oregon-history.html
[3] Ibid
[4] History of the School House. June 2, 2010. http://www.riversideschoolhouse.com/history.html