Morrow County stretches from the wide Columbia River to the forests of the Blue Mountains. In between the juxtaposed landscapes lie vast sweeping fields of wheat, irrigated agriculture, and dry grasslands. Many early settlers came to this region on their journey west during the great migration of the mid-1800s. Irish immigrants were drawn to the rolling hills that reminded them of their home country and accommodated their sheep herds. Through the years, five distinct communities developed within the county. Heppner, which is the farthest south and just at the foothills of the Blue Mountains, holds the county seat. It was nearly wiped away in a devastating flood that took place in June of 1903, still considered the most deadly natural disaster in Oregon. Boardman and Irrigon, which sat on the banks of the Columbia River, both had to move their city centers south to accommodate the rising waters once the John Day Dam was built in the 1960s. The majority of these original settlements are now under the waters of Lake Umatilla. Ione and Lexington both served and continue to serve the wheatland farmers and ranchers around them. They once rivaled Heppner in their size and commodities but have dwindled with the absence of the railway. Each community boasts a number of beautiful historic homes and buildings as well as fascinating histories of the towns and personalities of the people who made them.