Friendliness, progressiveness and community spirit abound.

According to Indian legend, the Quincy Valley or "Quincy Flats" was once a lake. Glacial floods deposited thousands of cubic yards of volcanic soil of which 25 cubic miles was deposited in the 250 square miles of the Quincy Basin. The arid land of this region was used solely for cattle and horse ranges in the late 1800's by Lord Thomas Blythe, a Scottish nobleman.

In 1892, Jim Hill, known as the "Empire Builder", built the Great Northern Railroad which opened the area to settlers. The first railroad camp was located at Trinidad, while Quincy had only a short sighting - the word "Quincy" was on a sign post (the story is told that Jim Hill's daughter named our town sight unseen from a list of names given to her by her father as he brought the railroad west.) Later the business district moved to the south side of the tracks and was incorporated in 1907. Hundreds of Pioneer families sought out the rich Quincy soil, full of hope and a plan for carrying out a new Western empire. As the homesteads grew in number, the town boasted three hotels, two livery barns, a barber shop, a drug store, a bank, several grocery and general stores, and enough saloons to make a typical Hollywood "Western".

Along with the city's growth, there was a constant organization and reorganization of groups which sought to find a way to bring irrigation waters to their rich soil. Any number of plans and surveys were made, but always they came to an impasse when financing was considered. Making a living from the land was a tremendously hard task in those early days and as the years went by, many of the homesteaders struck out for greener pastures. In 1920 and 1921, when a severe drought caused statewide crop failures, and many of the wells in the Quincy area went dry, all but the most courageous idealists gave up their dreams and moved out of the Valley. Those who stayed on made up in spirit what they had lost in numbers.

Finally, in 1933, when Quincy seemed to be wobbling fatally on its last financial legs, the federal government supported the 30-year-old dream of those first pioneers and pledged its aid. Patience was still needed by these hardy, optimistic and undaunted pioneers as they continued working and waiting until 1951 when the first trickle of water became a flowing canal.

Today, Quincy is a highly productive agricultural area with 200,000 irrigatable acres under production. The fertile soil and ideal climate conditions make it possible to grow a variety of crops! Potatoes, apples, wheat, alfalfa, corn, vegetable crops for food and seed are a few of the major crops grown in the Valley. The economy of the Quincy Valley is based largely on agriculture, with several processing plants, packing houses and light industry in the area. Quincy is a relatively new community with the advent of irrigation and a sense of friendliness, progressiveness and community spirit abound.