1870, with William N. Bonham first postmaster. W. W. Stone became postmaster on October 9, 1871, and the office was closed April 14, 1873. This office appears to have been the third in what is now Grant County, preceded only by Canyon City and John Day City. The office was of course named for the county and for General U. Š. Grant. In a letter printed in the Blue Mountain Eagle, Canyon City, March 7, 1947, R. R. McHaley, former county judge, says: "William N. Bonham owned a ranch about a half mile northward from the present town of Mount Vernon, and W. W. Stone lived in the same neighborhood, so that this must have been the location of Grant post office. There was no town of Mount Vernon when Grant post office was created. I stayed all night at the Bonham residence in 1875, and there was no town of Mount Vernon then. The Bonhams kept a public stopping place at their ranch home." The compiler thinks that Mr. McHaley has solved the problem of the location of Grant post office. There was of course another Grant post office much later on in what is now Sherman County.
GRANT, Sherman County. Grant is a station on the railroad in the north part of Sherman County. It is not now a post office although it was at one time. The place came into being when the railroad was built in the early '80s and it was known at that time as Villard in honor of Henry Villard, the great railroad man. The name was later changed to Grant for William Grant of The Dalles. In 1883 the community was burned. The townsite was platted in November, 1883, by William Murray and W. Lair Hill. The Columbia River flood in 1894 practically wiped out the town and citizens were forced to seek hillsides for safety.
GRANT COUNTY. Grant County was created October 14, 1864, and was named for General U. S. Grant, who at the time was at the height of his fame as a military leader for the northern armies. Grant County was carved out of parts of Wasco and Umatilla counties. Grant County has a land area of 4532 square miles.
GRANTS Pass, Josephine County. Many stories have been circulated as to how this community got its name. Grants Pass citizens for the most part are inclined to the belief that the name was applied as a result of the capture of Vicksburg by General U. S. Grant. About the time the news arrived in southern Oregon, men were engaged in improving the road over the low hills north of the point where the city is now situated, and they celebrated General Grant's victory by naming the summit Grants Pass. This name was later applied to a nearby stage station and then to a post office, and on completion of the railroad the post office was moved from the stage station near the geographic feature called Grants Pass to a point near the railroad station and the present community took its name from the post office. On October 12, 1921, Geo. H. Parker wrote Geo. H. Himes that the post office at Grants Pass was established in 1865 and the first postmaster was Thomas Croxton, Croxton desired to perpetuate the name of General Grant because of Grant's record in the Civil War, and asked the postal authorities to name the new office Grant. According to Parker the petition was refused because there was another Grant in Oregon. Government records indicate that the office was established March 22, 1865, with the name Grants Pass, and with Croxton postmaster. This substantiates Parker's statement, although it does not prove that Croxton originated the idea of the name. The fact that he substituted Grants Pass for his original proposal indi
