Glossary

The words you’ll hear around Eugene — places, history, weather and local ways, explained

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Events

Bach Festival: The Oregon Bach Festival, a summer festival of Bach’s music founded in Eugene in 1970.
Country Fair: The Oregon Country Fair, a July art and music fair in Veneta that began in Eugene in 1969.

Animal House: The 1978 comedy filmed at the University of Oregon in autumn 1977.
Deady Hall: The University of Oregon’s first building, finished in 1877.
Eugene Skinner: The pioneer who built the first cabin on Skinner Butte in 1846 and gave the city its name.
Kalapuya: The Indigenous people of the Willamette Valley, including the Chifin band of the Eugene area.
Merry Pranksters: The group led by Eugene author Ken Kesey on his cross-country bus trip.
Pioneer Cemetery: Eugene Pioneer Cemetery, founded in 1872 beside the University of Oregon campus.
Ya-po-ah: The Kalapuya name for the hill now called Skinner Butte.

Saturday Market: The oldest continuously running weekly open-air crafts market in the United States.
SLUG Queen: The campy pageant whose winner reigns as an unofficial ambassador of Eugene.
Whiteaker: The northwest-of-downtown neighbourhood known as a working-class cultural hub for alternative artists.

Fern Ridge: The reservoir west of Eugene where the Eugene Yacht Club holds summer regattas.
Willamette River: The river through Eugene and Springfield, which meets the McKenzie nearby.

Hult Center: The downtown performing arts center that opened in 1982.
Pre’s Trail: The running trail in Alton Baker Park beside the Willamette.
Skinner Butte: The hill on the north edge of downtown, topped by the big University of Oregon O.
Spencer Butte: The 2,058-foot volcanic summit on Eugene’s southern edge.
Whilamut: The eastern natural area of Alton Baker Park, a Kalapuya word for where the river ripples and runs fast.

Autzen Stadium: The Oregon Ducks’ football stadium, opened in 1967 and built into a landfill.
Ems: The Eugene Emeralds, the minor-league baseball team that plays at PK Park.
Hayward Field: The University of Oregon’s track stadium, home of the Ducks’ track teams since 1921 and of Olympic trials.
Pre’s Rock: The memorial on Skyline Boulevard where runner Steve Prefontaine died in 1975.
Prefontaine Classic: The Diamond League track meet at Hayward Field named for runner Steve Prefontaine.
Track Town: Eugene’s nickname, Track Town, USA, earned by a century of running at Hayward Field.
Waffle Trainer: The running shoe Bill Bowerman developed from a waffle-iron sole, a landmark of Nike’s early years.