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Stand By Me – Brownsville/Castle Rock, Oregon

Words by Ice Cream Man

Photos by Ice Cream Man

When I was 11-years old my dad took a couple friends and I to see Stand by Me. Since it was rated R, he had to buy us tickets then head back to work at Doo-Dahs in Cerritos Mall. We werent sure what we were in store for, or why a kids movie would be rated R but we sure were excited to see it.

You can imagine the impact Stand by Me had on me? Due to my dad being from Alabama (Roll Tide!) and my mom loving to go to flea markets and antique swapmeets, Ive always been into old and classic things. Mix that with an adventure that involves sneaking out with a bunch of friends and youve got a great idea of my childhood.

The movie starts with Richard Dreyfuss narrating the thoughts of the main character, Gordie Lachance, I was 12 going on 13 the first time I saw a dead human being. It happened in the summer of 1959 – a long time ago, but only if you measure in terms of years. I was living in a small town in Oregon called Castle Rock; there were only twelve hundred and eighty-one people, but to me it was the whole world. Ever since first hearing those words Ive wondered if Castle Rock actually existed. I heard years ago it was filmed in Lebanon, Oregon but upon further research, found out filming took place just south of there in Brownsville.

While in Corvallis for Knife and Jackies wedding, Knife, Kevin, and I hopped in Bessie and headed over to check out the town. Its been over 20 years since they filmed there so we werent expecting to find much that still looked the same. To our surprise, very little had changed and we instantly were transported back in time as we wandered around town talking to locals about the movie. The local history museum had some pamphlets detailing where scenes were filmed and our first stop on the self-guided tour through the small town was the park where they filmed the infamous pie eating contest with Lard Ass.

Right next door to the park was Gordies house which didnt look like it had aged at all. Our next destination was to try to find the treehouse where the boys would play cards and make fun of each other. The area where we were told it was had recently been prepped to sell and we saw a few trees that mighta been the one but it was hard to tell. Ive youve got a few hundred thousand bucks you can buy all the lots and have a great view of central Oregon.

On the way back to downtown we stopped off at a tire swing behind the local church then headed down an alley behind the Blue Point Diner. Thats where Chris Chambers (aka River Phoenix) hands Gordie a gun he stole/borrowed from his dad and it accidentally goes off. We picked up a bunch of knick-nacks around town then Knife snapped some shots of Bessie leaving downtown and driving over the same bridge the kids walked across coming back into town at the end of their adventure. If youre ever driving up I-5 just a little north of Eugene, you should stop by Brownsville and check it out. Not just for the Stand by Me stuff. Its a cool, small town and the park on the west side is beautiful.

9 Comments

Rodolfo Poletti April 20, 2010 at 5:44 pm

hi i’m from bahía blanca, argentina, i saw the film when i was nineteen years old,and i never could forget that movie, and now, 24 years later i show it to my kids and they enjoy it like me, i hope sometime know this place, thank you very much and sorry about my english.

leah o September 3, 2010 at 6:06 pm

I’m watching Stand By Me right now…looked online to see where it was really filmed (saw your note about going the Blue Point Diner area and right then and there that scene was on. Pretty neat). Would love to go there someday myself. P.S. Roll Tide ;)(Grad ’96)

Ice Cream Man September 8, 2010 at 6:45 am

Roll Tide! It’s gonna be another good year. Now we just gotta get my other team out of the dumps… Go Clippers!

lester vineyard February 14, 2011 at 8:23 pm

great movie and great plot, but the bad language is awful

Gabe March 5, 2016 at 2:27 pm

I have just seen it after 20 years. It is as good as it was before, highly recommended movie.

Mynor Escobar September 20, 2016 at 11:06 pm

It reminds me when I was a kid,Never will get tired of watchin IT.

Donna Branham July 19, 2017 at 12:57 pm

I watch this movie with my children many years ago now they’re all growing up and going off to college and we just sat down and watched it today. July 18th 2017. My how time flies we must have watch this movie 100 times or more over their lifetime. I don’t know what person made a comment about the language, the kids talk much worse today than ever. Those kids have morals these kids today have none. My kids do, I made sure that. I was a lot like Phoenix’s character, a girl version. I wish we had movies like that today I wish we could go back to the way it was back then God bless you all.

Kathy September 25, 2017 at 4:15 pm

Watching it right now….one of the last few great movies made that I do enjoy each time

R.Maddix April 19, 2018 at 12:50 am

Great movie! I was 12 in 1959 and can see some of the friends I grew up with in this move. I grew up in Washington county, OR. About 100 miles north of where the movie was filmed, but can relate to the country side and the characters in this movie. I relate best to Gordie and my best friend was a kid just like River Phoenix. Really brings back memories.

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