This is the Gilliam County courthouse at Condon as seen on September 16, 1958. It was built in 1957-58 and replaced the old courthouse which was sited on the same place. Gilliam County was created February 25, 1885 by the state legislature. It has a land area of 1237 square miles. The county was named for Colonel Cornelius Gilliam, who commanded the forces of the provisional government in 1847-48 after the Whitman Massacre, in the campaign against the Cayuses. He was killed toward the end of the campaign, March 24, 1848. Gilliam was born in North Carolina in 1798. He came to Oregon in 1844. About 1883 a man named Potter owned a homestead just north of Thirtymile Creek, upon which there was a fine spring. He became involved in financial difficulties, and the land became the property of Condon and Cornish of Arlington. Condon and Cornish sold lots in the townsite, and in 1884 David B. Trimble took the necessary steps to secure a post office which was established July 10, 1884 with him as first postmaster. Trimble suggested the name Condon. Harvey C. Condon, for whom the place was named, was a practicing lawyer and a member of the firm of Condon and Cornish in Arlington. He was the son of Judge J.B. Condon, a pioneer jurist of eastern Oregon.
