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Title: Mt. Angel Abbey Hops Photographs, circa 1925 - circa 1960s

Predominant Dates: circa 1960s

ID: P 349

Primary Creator: Mt. Angel Abbey (Saint Benedict, Or.)

Extent: 19.02 gigabytes. More info below.

Arrangement: The Mt. Angel Abbey Hops Photographs are arranged into two series: 1: Mt. Angel Abbey Photographs, circa 1925 and 2. Mt. Angel Abbey Photographs, circa 1960s.

Date Acquired: 00/00/2015

Languages of Materials: English [eng]

The Mt. Angel Abbey Hops Photographs consist of pictures from the Abbey dating from circa 1925 and circa 1960s. They show the hop process from planting to harvest. The Mt. Angel Abbey was founded just outside of Mt. Angel, Oregon in 1882. This collection consists of digital images scanned from original negatives owned by the Mt. Angel Abbey and loaned to Oregon State University for digitization. All of the images are available in Oregon Digital.

Mt. Angel Abbey Hops Photographs consist of pictures from the Mt. Angel Abbey dating from circa 1925 and circa 1960s. They document spring hop fieldwork; the harvesting and processing of hops; and social interactions between workers in the fields, facilities, and at gatherings. The difference between processes used in the 1920s and 1960s is a notable feature of the collection. Persons in the photographs aren't identified by name. This collection consists of digital images scanned from original negatives owned by the Mt. Angel Abbey and loaned to Oregon State University for digitization. All of the images are available in Oregon Digital.

The Mt. Angel Abbey was founded in 1882 by members of the Abbey of Engelberg in Switzerland when they settled in the Willamette Valley. In 1887, the monks opened their school and in 1889 established a seminary in conjunction with their college. They follow the Rule of St. Benedict who believed in prayer and work. In 1904, it was declared an abbey and became independent from the Switzerland abbey. The monks focused on their secular college work, and in 1920 began doing retreats for lay people. Now the Mt. Angel Seminary is a liberal arts college and graduate school of theology.

Dating to the earliest time of European farming, Benedictine abbeys were been founded on a strong agricultural basis. Sitting on a hill, the Mt. Angel Abbey overlooks the Willamette Valley and the farm fields. Soon after the Abbey was founded, they started growing hops. The men of the order once oversaw all the crops themselves, including the exportation of hops from Portland to English markets.

In 1926, a devastating fire destroyed Abbey buildings, including the day school for Valley residents that had been established in 1883; it did not harm the fields or crops. St. Benedict's Abbey was registered with the state as an agricultural and educational corporation. By 1935, the Abbey owned 1500 acres of rich valley land, making it one of the largest farm units in Marion County. There were 200 acres of the Early and Late Clusters variety of hops, and their crops were known for good quality and good prices. The majority of the work, from planting rhizomes to shipping bales to buyers, was done by members of the Abbey; however, the larger picking crews required for harvest were comprised of local residents. The facility touted its up-to-date equipment, including two large electric dryers and facilities for storage and transport.

In recent decades, their agricultural fields (with multiple crops) were leased to local farmers. In 2019, they had 700 acres under their ownership, a portion of which is hops farmed by Valley Hops. The order voted to start a brewery business in 2012, began releasing their products in 2014, and opened a taproom on Abbey grounds in 2018. The Mt. Angel Benedictine brewery, one of three of its kind in the United States, uses hops from land they own.

Author: Alyssa Collins and Tiah Edmunson-Morton

More Extent Information: 220 digital files

Statement on Access: Collection is open for research.

Use Restrictions: These items are digital surrogates; physical custody of these images are held by the Mount Angel Abbey. Permission to publish is granted by the Mt. Angel Abbey Library.

Acquisition Note: These materials were digitized by the Special Collections and Research Center in consultation with the Mt. Angel Abbey Library in 2015.

Related Materials:

The Mt. Angel Abbey Hops Photographs are complemented by the Oregon Hops and Brewing Archives Oral History Collection (OH 35), which includes interviews from industry professionals, journalists and community members.

Other related materials can be found in the Zoller Hop Company Records (MSS Zoller), Hop Growers of America Records (MSS HGA), Oregon Hop Growers Association Records (MSS OHGA), and Hop Research Council Records (MSS HRC). Also of note are the research reports in the Crop Science Department Records (RG 095) and the College of Agricultural Sciences Records (RG 158).

For more on their hops farming, see Benedictine Hop Growers of the Willamette Valley (Mount Angel, OR: Benedictine Press, 1935).

The Brewing and Fermentation Collection (MSS BFRC) consists of materials collected by the OSU Special Collections and Archives Research Center pertaining to the history, growth, and culture of the Pacific Northwest brewing industry, including regional hops and barley farming, commercial craft and home brewing, and craft cider and mead. The Oregon Hop Grower / Pacific Hop Grower and The Hopper (1945-1954) are periodicals that supported the growers, brewers, and related industries with articles about crop forecasts and yields, mechanization and technological advances, pests and diseases, research, health, and membership information. They also contain minutes and reports from various state and national grower associations.

The Hop Press: A Memorandum of What's Brewin' newsletter was prepared by Hop Specialist G.R. Hoerner and issued monthly by the Oregon State College Extension Service to provide information on hops and brewing to County Extension Agents in Oregon. This informal publication provides a detailed view of hops growing and production in Oregon and the northwest for this period, as well as information about hops growing in Washington, Idaho, and California. Included are a variety of news items, such as statistics on hop acreage, the costs of production, number of growers, information about industry organizations, summaries and preliminary reports of OSU hops research, news items from newspapers and other publications in Oregon and Washington, agendas for Hop Growers Conferences, and summaries of presentations at these conferences.

Collections linked to Oregon State University research, as well as other manuscript collections are described on the Oregon Hops and Brewing Archives research guide. More information pertaining to the history of hop growing and brewing in Oregon can be found on the Oregon Hops and Brewing Archives website.

Preferred Citation: Mt. Angel Abbey Hops Photographs (P 349), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.

Mt. Angel Abbey (Saint Benedict, Or.)

Agricultural laborers--Oregon.
Hops--Harvesting--Oregon.
Hops--Oregon.
Hops and Brewing
Hops industry--Oregon.
Mount Angel (Or.)
Natural Resources

Digital images.