There were several car clubs in Central Oregon that had their own swap meets with small venues, 35 to 50 spaces.  Someone ran an ad in the Bulletin asking if there would be interest in one big swap meet instead of all the small ones currently.  So the Oregon High Desert Swap Meet was born and held with great success. The free car show has been there since the beginning, always the first Saturday after Labor Day.

1983 was the first year held at the old Deschutes County Fairgrounds. The old fairgrounds were located where the current Redmond Fred Myers is located. We have always stood by not charging admission to come in and look around. 

The Swap Meet continued to grow through the years, but changes were coming. The mid 90’s came with plans for the new fairgrounds and in 1998 the Oregon High Desert Swap Meet and Car Show moved into the New Deschutes County Fairgrounds.

The first year (1983)  there were 250 spaces set up and around 130 filled.  Currently we have 600 spaces.

This is the last flyer from the Central Oregon Old Car Club’s Swap Meet (now known as Oregon High Desert Swap Meet). In 1982 it was held where the old Mountain View Mall used to be, currently the Cascade Village.