Orange Phelps

Orange Phelps (December 24, 1886 – August 4, 1985) was an American businessman and politician in the state of Oregon. A native of California, he attended colleges in the Midwest where he played baseball before moving to Oregon. Phelps settled near Portland in Hillsboro where he opened the first movie theater and later served as a mayor of that city and on the city council. He continued in the movie business until the 1970s and also opened the first drive-in theater in the county.

Early life Phelps was born to Frederick and Alice C. Phelps on December 24, 1886, in Davis, California. Frederick had moved to the West Coast in 1866, where Orange's mother was born, and the couple had four daughters and four sons. Following college he moved to Southern Oregon where he worked at the Granite Hill Mine near Grants Pass, and in 1906 Phelps moved north to Hillsboro, Oregon. Phelps also played catcher for the semi-professional Hillsboro Cardinals for about twelve years, starting in 1909. At that time he also worked as the booking agent for the Crescent Theater. Shute offered to loan Phelps the money to buy the building. Earlier he had teamed up with Harry Hill to build the Hill Theater on Northeast Third Avenue, with that Art Deco-style theater opening in 1937. He won re-election to the council and remained in that office until January 4, 1927. and in 1921 he had helped get the Pavilion at Shute Park built. Phelps won the contest, running on a platform of efficient business, He won re-election as mayor in an uncontested race in November 1932, and served as mayor from January 2, 1929, until January 2, 1935, when J. H. Garrett became mayor. and was a founder of the Hillsboro Happy Days festival that celebrated Independence Day. He also served on the city's planning commission from 1935 until 1969. He was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, a Freemason with the Tuality Lodge, and a member of the Montezuma Lodge. He had been named as the oldest movie theater man still living in the country before he retired. Orange Phelps died on August 4, 1985, in Forest Grove, Oregon, at the age of 98. He was buried at Mount Olive Cemetery in the community of Laurel, south of Hillsboro.