Wallowa AtlasA LIVING PORTRAIT OF A PLACE
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A living record · Industry

Bronze casting and sculpture

Foundries, sculpture studios and bronze hardware: a specialized network across the valley.

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Wallowa Lake and the mountains, seen from the county park at the north end. Regional landscape context for this record.
Wallowa country

Wallowa Lake and the mountains, seen from the county park at the north end. Regional landscape context for this record.

Gary Halvorson, Oregon State Archives · 16 May 2012 · CC BY 4.0 · Image & source ↗

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The earlier atlas showed only one researched foundry. That was a coverage gap, not evidence that Valley Bronze was the county’s only bronze operation.

Bronze work is a distinctive local specialization. Calling it a large industry requires employment, payroll or output evidence; cultural visibility and the scale of a commission do not establish its share of the county economy.

Valley Bronze of Oregon ↗Oregon Folklife Network, University of Oregon ↗Timber Bronze ↗Curtiss Studios ↗U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics ↗

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6 matching records · 6 in this inventory · Page 1 of 1

Foundries, studios and hardware producers have different roles. Historical and uncertain operations are shown explicitly. These six documented participants are a starting inventory, not six confirmed operating foundries.

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A documented foundryValley Bronze of Oregon
Valley Bronze of Oregon ↗
Connected from business recordCurtiss StudiosConnected from business recordJoseph Art CastingsConnected from business recordParks BronzeConnected from business recordTimber Bronze 53, LLCConnected from business recordTZ Bronze
From the photograph collection

The wider landscape.

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A road, fence, and open prairie on the Zumwalt.View photograph
Zumwalt Prairie

A road across the prairie

Rick Swart, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife2015-11-15
Glacier Peak reflected in Glacier Lake, in the Eagle Cap Wilderness.View photograph
Eagle Cap Wilderness

Glacier Peak, reflected

Matthew Tharp / U.S. Forest Service2012-08-11
The Wallowa Wild and Scenic River, photographed in May 2017 by the Bureau of Land Management.View photograph
Wallowa River

Wallowa Wild and Scenic River (34998394195).jpg

Bureau of Land Management Oregon and Washington2017-05-25
The larger story

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An old truck in a field near Enterprise, with the Wallowa Mountains behind it.
Chapter 04 Work & livelihoods

Made here. A life built here.

One Joseph worker moved from the sawmill to bronze casting to public works. His path, an earlier sign painter’s commissions, and the county’s payroll figures reveal an economy more connected than its industry labels suggest.

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