South Eugene Tour
South Eugene TourMeet Wiley GriffonAs you travel this route, you’ll meet Wiley Griffon, who is Eugene’s first Black resident to be identified by name. Griffon made his home here in the 1890s, when statewide exclusion laws prohibited Black people from owning property or even living within the city limits. Griffon worked various jobs, as a streetcar driver and as a UO janitor. He also owned a home near 4th Avenue and Mill Street, in proximity to the Eugene Water and Electric (EWEB) building.DirectionsWalk, ride or run to the 2100 block of Willamette Street. If you are driving, you may park in the public lot at the corner of 24th Avenue and Amazon Street near the South Eugene track. From there, proceed north on the Amazon bike path. Cross at the KidSports facility and continue past the soccer fields and up the walkway toward Willamette Street. You can see the Wiley Griffon mural from across the street. To view the mural up close, please use the crosswalk at 22nd and Willamette.
Wiley Griffon Mural
Wiley Griffon MuralOn Willamette Street, between 20th and 22nd, you’ll see a mural painted on stairs that people used to catch the trolley in the 1920s.Arriving in Eugene in the 1890s, Griffon worked as the driver of the town’s first streetcar service. It was a single mule-powered car that ran on narrow-gauge tracks from the Southern Pacific Railway station just south of Skinner Butte to the University of Oregon.Griffon served numerous roles including driver, conductor, dispatcher and "largely the motive power by persistently shoving along the ambling mule,” according to the Eugene Morning Register.When the streetcar shut down, Griffon went on to work at the University of Oregon in the late 1890s as a janitor at the men’s dormitory, Friendly Hall. Today, Griffon is recognized as the UO’s first African- American employee.According to University of Oregon Hidden History: “Although Griffon was neither the first nor the only African American in Eugene, he was the first one mentioned by name as being a resident. Despite the exclusion laws in effect at the time, which forbade the presence of nonwhite American citizens in Oregon, Griffon and other minorities came to live in Eugene.”Griffon held various other jobs in the community, including that of waiter on a railroad dining car, according to the Eugene Daily Guard. In 1913, the year of his death, he was working at the Elks Club in Eugene.Ila Rose painted this mural in May 2019. Eugene resident Gwynne McLaughlin led the project with support by Cheri Turpin and Mark Harris of I Too, Am Eugene: A Multicultural History Project.LINKS:https://www.klcc.org/post/mural-honors-wiley-griffon-s-legacy-eugenehttps://hiddenhistory.uoregon.edu/items/show/1https://www.friendlyareaneighbors.org/blog/willamette-street-trolley-stairs-historyhttp://special.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/news/sevendays/25812273-35/oregon-black-history-african-county.csp
Let's Move!
Before heading to the next stop on this route, we invite you to pause at the walkway across Willamette Street from the mural and do a few exercises and stretches.
Wiley Griffon Monument
Wiley Griffon MonumentWILEY GRIFFON1867 -- 6/26/1913Inscription:Once described as "Eugene's pioneer colored citizen" and "one of the most industrious colored men in Eugene," Wiley Griffon was well known on the streets of Eugene. A tram operator, he drove the city's "horse" drawn trolleys. These trolleys preceded what eventually became what we know as Lane Transit District today. The fare was 5 cents and children were described as saving their pennies to ride with Mr. Griffon who would give them hard candy, stories and sometimes a free ride home. His carriage carried many Eugene citizens to their final rest here in this cemetery.Mr. Griffon was neither the first nor only African American in Eugene. He was the first one mentioned by name as being a resident. Despite exclusion laws in effect at the time forbidding the presence of non-white American citizens in Oregon and Eugene, Mr. Griffon and others came to live here.Mr. Griffon owned a home overlooking the Millrace on the site of what is now EWEB's employee parking lot. He was employed variously, as a janitor for the university dormitory, a waiter on railroad dining cars, and a porter at the Elks Club when he died. In one obituary he was fondly remembered for having a ready smile, a kind word, being a devout and devoted Christian, and a man who was not known to drink or use profanity. Another obituary indicates some of what he must have endured to live and make a home here. It is to that spirit of endurance this historical monument is dedicated.“Despite living in a time and place that was not welcoming to African Americans, evidence suggests (Wiley Griffon) weathered those times positively and was mostly respected in return. Griffon is buried in the Eugene Masonic Cemetery, but his tombstone went missing at some point. However, when Eugene residents and students realized this unfortunate situation, funds were raised and donated to erect a historic monument and plaques at the Lane Transit District and Eugene Water and Electric Board offices.” - University of Oregon Hidden HistoryThis monument was erected by Lane Community College Black Student Union, Erik and Ann Muller, Eugene Water and Electric Board (EWEB), Lane ESD Teaching American History, the Eugene Human Rights Commission, Lane County Human Rights and Affirmative Action Advisory Committee, Adrian and Khaliyah Rodriguez, Cheri Turpin and Mark Harris: I Too, Am Eugene: A Multicultural History Project.Sources:https://www.registerguard.com/article/20150412/news/304129946https://itooameugene.com/#
South Eugene Tour Complete
Before you're done, take a moment to reflect.
