Polk County Place Names
Compiled By M. Constance Guardino III
January 2013
(1) Ford Family Slave Quarters (2) Former Slave Louis Southworth
(3) Lucinda & Nathaniel Ford (4) Polk County Courthouse (5) Glen O. Burnett
Airlie was the
southern terminus of the narrow gauge line of the Oregonian
Railway Company, Ltd. The tracks were subsequently widened to
standard gauge, and the property acquired by the Southern
Pacific Company. The station was named for the Earl of Airlie,
president of the syndicate of Scottish businessmen who bought
the narrow gauge railway built by the people of Yamhill County
and in 1881 extended it to this point. The Earl of Airlie
visited Oregon during the course of construction of the railway.
Most of the track on the Airlie branch was taken out in 1929.
The post office, established Sep. 5, 1882, was located on the
Luckiamute River about eight miles southwest of Monmouth. Jos.
A. Dalton was the first postmaster. The office was discontinued
Feb. 11, 1884, and re-established Sep. 14, 1885. It was
discontinued again Jun. 15, 1943 and moved to Monmouth.
Ballston,
originally known as Ballsville, was named for Isaac Ball, owner
of the original donation land claim on which the community was
founded. The post office, established Jul. 19, 1880, was located
about three miles east of Sheridan. Nathan Dickson was the first
postmaster. It was discontinued Jun. 30, 1953. Ballston post
office became a rural station of Sheridan, and was discontinued
Sep. 30, 1969.
Ballsville post
office was established Sep. 19, 1878 and discontinued Jul. 19,
1880 when it became Ballston. Andrew N. Martin was the first
postmaster.
Bethel was named
for the Bethel Church in Missouri by Rev. Glen O. Burnett. It
was located in Plum Valley about two miles east of McCoy. Bethel
Institute merged with the Monmouth Christian College, now the
Oregon College of Education at Monmouth. It was established by
members of the Christian Church, locally called Campbellites,
with gifts of money and land. The post office was established
Feb. 24, 1865, land discontinued Mar. 26, 1880, when it was
moved to Zena. John H. Hawley was the first postmaster.
Black Rock was
the western terminus of a branch of the Southern Pacific
Railroad from Dallas. It was located about five miles west of
Falls City, and was named for an outcropping of shale in the
area. The post office was established Nov. 17, 1906 and
discontinued Oct. 15, 1943, when the office was moved to Falls
City. Louis Gerlinger was the first postmaster.
Bloomington was
located on the lower reaches of the Luckiamute River near the
community now known as Parker. The post office was established
May 25, 1852, and discontinued Jun. 24, 1863. Eli W. Foster was
the first postmaster.
Bridgeport is an
unorganized locality on Little Luckiamute River about three
miles east or downstream from Falls City. It is said to have
been named for a pioneer bridge over the stream, but the exact
location of the structure is not known. Bridge Port post officer
was established Jun. 1, 1854, with Saml. T. Scott first
postmaster. The name of the office was very soon changed to
Bridgeport. It continued operation until Jan. 13, 1874.
Broadmead is
descriptive of the broad meadows surrounding the post office,
located about four miles southwest of Amity on Salt Creek. The
office was established Jan. 8, 1915, and discontinued Sep. 4,
1942, when the office was moved to Amity. The first postmaster
was Wm. H. Morris.
Buell post
office, located on Mill Creek, about six miles southeast of
Willamina, was established Mar. 31, 1900, with Frank Oviatt
first postmaster. The community, near Elk Horn, was named for
Elias Buell, who was born in New York in 1798. Buell was a
pioneer settler who operated a sawmill and small store here, and
was most likely the father of Cyrus Buell, the Elk Horn
postmaster in 1869. Buell’s wife, Sarah, was also born in New
York in 1800. In 1950, a chapel erected in 1860 at Buell was
still standing. Buell post office was discontinued May 31, 1924,
and re-established Jun. 8, 1927. The office closed to Sheridan
Sep. 30, 1943. Elk Horn post office, located on Mill Creek near
Buell, was established Nov. 16, 1869, with Cyrus Buell first
postmaster. Buell, who was born in Iowa in 1836, was a prominent
settler on Mill Creek and was interested in the grist mill that
gave the stream its name. For about five years the post office
was on the Buell place about two miles south or upstream from
the highway bridge and present location of the community called
Buell. When Thms. R. Blair was appointed postmaster in 1874, the
office was moved three miles north on Mill Creek from what is
now Buell. The Elk Horn office closed to Sheridan on Oct. 4,
1882, but the locality, which is a little over four miles
southwest of Sheridan by road, is still called Elk Horn.
Buena Vista,
Oregon’s first industrial city, is located on the west bank of
the Willamette about six miles southeast of Independence. The
one shack near the river was the only habitation in miles and no
doubt Georgia-born Reason B. Hall (1791-1869) thought whoever
lived there would be glad to see a stranger. Probably he was—but
for a special reason. He answered Hall’s knock, said his name
was Heck but very little more. Later he told Hall he had an
urgent business matter to attend to and could Hall stay at the
little two-room cabin to watch out for vandals or Indians until
he got back? Hall said he could and moved in, carrying
everything he owned. The stay stretched out for days, weeks and
months. After a year and no Heck, Hall figured no man ever got a
cabin easier. Reason Hall was a veteran of the War of 1812, and
the Black Hawk affray of 1834. He arrived in Oregon in 1846, at
Heck’s shanty a year later and was laying out a city on the site
about 1853. He hired a surveyor named Meadows Vanderpool to line
the streets and lots. New towns of the day were often named for
patriotic reasons, such as Independence and Lincoln, and
following the trend Hall named his Liberty. In fact, postal
records show there are towns named Liberty in Benton, Marion and
Wheeler counties. One grandson in Salem, E. M. Croisant, said
Hall decided Buena Vista seemed more appropriate since several
of his kinsmen had fought in the Mexican War battle of Buena
Vista. Hall may not have understood the Spanish significance of
the name but the site did offer a “beautiful view,” any of
several gentle rises affording splendid panoramas of the fertile
Willamette Valley and its curving river. Even before Hall’s town
was platted it had a general store, started in 1851 by partners
Weil and Sharf who soon added a warehouse. As travelers arrived
some complained because, while their destination was Rocky
Point, Judkin’s Landing or Sidney’s Landing, all on the west
side of the river, they had no way to get across except by
rowboat, swimming their horses and who wanted to remount a wet
horse? So Hall started a ferry in 1852, beginning what is one of
the longest, continuously operating ferry services—allowing for
occasional breakdowns and layups by floods—in Oregon. Later one
of Reason Hall’s sons started another Halls Ferry north of
Independence. Even in 1964, the traveler still crossed the
Willamette at this point by ferry. Other businesses were
established rapidly. Around 1850, Jas. A. O’Neal built a
warehouse in Buena Vista. He decided his town of Wheatland
Landing, grain shipping point 30 miles downriver in the extreme
south southeast corner of Yamhill County east of Amity, would
soon take second place to the new metropolis and moved to Buena
Vista, starting the second general store. The inevitable grist
mill in this land of rolling wheat fields was built about the
same time. H. D. Godley put up a hotel, and one of Hall’s sons,
E. C. (b 1841 IL), opened a wagon shop where the forge glowed
red almost constantly. Hall’s daughter, Mary, married Henry
Croisant who came to Buena Vista after a short and
disillusioning stay in the gold fields of California. A number
of descendants of this union still live in Salem, 21 miles
distant. One, Geo. Wm. Croisant, has an insurance business
there. In 1856, Oregon was anticipating entry into the Union as
a state. Centers of population were in the shipping ports and
infant industrial towns along the Willamette. Competition among
these for the juicy prize of state capitol was intense. No shy
violet, Hall saw his embryo town of Buena Vista as out in front
but felt he could urge it on even more by judicious publicity.
He made a trip to Oregon City and inserted an ad in the Oregon
Spector Apr. 21, 1856. One paragraph stated: “The ground is dry,
and ascending the riverbank, a more healthful situation cannot
be found in the country—no swamp or low or wetland about the
place, and is backed by as beautiful and as rich country as
there is in Oregon.” As an added incentive, Hall wrote: “There
are plenty of the best building timbers handy to the place and
thousands of cords of cordwood.” He made the generous offer “to
the people of Oregon as much ground as will be wanted to set the
state house on, also available as fine a stone quarry as any I
have seen in Oregon.” He ended with: “There is a good steamboat
landing on the Wallamet River. Come forward and poll your votes
for Buena Vista.” But the little river community hardly made a
showing in the voting, Salem taking first place. Yet the town
went ahead. By now many riverboats which before ended their runs
at downstream landings, were including Buena Vista. A school was
started in a one-room log house in 1859 which served as a church
on Sundays. And three years later the post office was
established on Jun. 19, 1866, with Harrison Linville first
postmaster. The office closed to Independence May 31, 1935.
Buena Vista is Spanish for beautiful view or good view. But
while hotels, saloons, schools, stores and blacksmith shops were
all part of the economy, the town’s real growth and fame came
from an industry unique in Oregon, a stoneware and pottery
plant. Much of the pottery used by the pioneers was molded and
burned at the Buena Vista kilns, on the mid-Willamette River.
When Freeman Smith’s six sons were mustered out of the Union
Army at the end of the Civil War, they joined him with the
mother and four daughters in migrating to the Far West via the
Isthmus of Panama. Arriving in Oregon, in late 1865, Smith heard
about a deposit of clay on the banks of the Willamette at Buena
Vista which had excellent firing qualities. Smith, who had
worked in an eastern pottery plant, tested the clay in a
makeshift kiln and bought clay land on the riverbank near the
ferryslip. Then he and his sons went to work building the kilns.
A deposit of finer clay needed for glazing, was found at
Corvallis, 17 miles away. Smith and Company products were
eagerly snapped up by local consumers but this small market was
soon saturated. Freeman loaded a wagon with this jugs and pots
and drove to Albany, confident he would meet with the same ready
sale as at home. After a day of discouraging rebuffs and doubts,
he was about ready to drive home when he stopped at John
Conner’s hardware store. Conner was no more enthusiastic than
others but did offer to take the lot on commission, at the rate
of 50 cents per gallon capacity. When the potter returned to
Albany, Smith found the entire stock of 300 gallon capacity
sold, Conner paying him in gold. By 1870, Freeman Smith was
ready to retire and sold his interest to son Amendee, who with
his brothers, greatly expanded the business, adding such lines
as flower pots and sewer pipe. The 15-inch sewer pipeline
running down Portland’s SE Stark Street was manufactured at
Buena Vista. At this time the plant was employing four “turners”
at the potters’ wheels and a crew of ten Chinese for mixing
clay. The town boomed with the pottery business, enough to
support two physicians, doctors J. C. Woods and Wm. C. Lee, and
Woods with a man named March open a drug store. Buena Vista’s
most imposing saloon, owned by John Wade whose specialty was a
potent spirit called “Blue Ruin,” was sold to Chas. Henry. The
new owner added several other lines of liquor and an “annex” for
the entertainment of lonely traveling men. The town had its
share of fires, the most disastrous one destroying the two-story
Wells Store with IOOF and Knights Templars quarters upstairs. At
midnight of Saturday, Feb. 10, 1870 member of the night crew at
the pottery plant noticed flames shooting from the frame
building. Responding volunteer firemen were barely able to save
half the goods from the adjoining Pitkin establishment and were
forced to stand by as flames leveled both structures. The fire
seemed to have started in the fraternal hall where there had
been a dance that evening. Total loss was about $5000, a serious
setback in those times. Spared by the fire was the notorious
Bust Head Saloon not far away. This little false-fronted drink
emporium from which the more troublesome drunks were ejected out
the back door into a gulch, was the incubator of most of Buena
Vista’s crime. One sensational act of violence in the little
river town was perpetuated by one Tubbs, accustomed to nurse his
grievances at the saloon. Oregon historian Ben Maxwell tells the
story. Tubbs, with an extensive criminal record, was so abusive
to his wife that although pregnant, she left him, taking refuge
with relatives, the Geo. Geer family. On a hot Fourth of July in
1878, Tubbs passed Beech’s Drug Store. Beech was sitting in fron
although most merchants had closed up and joined a citizen’s
march to Independence to celebrate the holiday. In a friendly
tone he remarked to Tubbs: “Sure is a hot day, isn’t it?” Tubbs
was reported to have answered in a “surly fashion”: “Yes it is,
and it will be a day long remembered in Buena Vista.” It was.
About 2pm, B. F. Hall, son of Reason, was sitting on his front
porch when he heard several shots coming from the Geer home. He
hurried over and was just in time to see Ms. Tubbs reel from the
front door and collapse under a big oak tree. While other
neighbors tried to help the wounded woman, he rushed in the
house and found Tubbs on the floor bleeding profusely from gun
shot wounds. He picked up the gun near Tubbs’ hand and saw all
chambers of the old style five-shooter had been discharged.
Several other men came in and the report states: “The men wore
sneers on their faces as they watched Tubbs die.” Ms. Tubbs soon
expired also and all agreed it was a plain cause of murder and
suicide. In this kind of weather prompt attention had to be
given to burial arrangements so several villagers made coffins,
the next day B. F. Hall loading them on his wagon and driving to
the cemetery on the hill. Ms. Tubbs was interred there but her
husband-murderer was buried unceremoniously in adjacent, scrubby
land. Sometime later Hall observed the soil had been disturbed
and a little digging revealed an empty space. Discreet inquiry
disclosed the fact that two Polk County doctors paid a
“resurrection man” $50 to remove Tubbs’ remains, clean and sack
them, row the gruesome cargo down river to Independence on a
moonless night. At its height Buena Vista was one of the most
important places along the Willamette and population warranted a
large, two-story school. The pottery plant was easily the most
important industry, employing several hundred men and second in
size was a busy sawmill. Hops were introduced by Adam Weiser in
1867 and became a main crop almost immediately, holding top
place for 70 years. But as the years went by many factors
gradually killed this prosperity, the worst blow being the
bypassing by several miles, of the railroad. Hops declined in
demand and value and the pottery plant moved to the larger
Portland market. Salem, as capitol, drew away most of the
population. In 1964, the town was quiet and almost all the
buildings are gone, including the houses, their locations
indicated in spring by shoals of yellow daffodils. The Smith
Market still operates, the only one that does. The cemetery on
the hill is well cared for, commanding an impressive view for
miles of the Willamette and lush farmlands. Many markers are of
marble, some beautifully sculptured. An open area would seem to
indicate graves once marked with wooden headboards which decayed
early in the moist climate. Ms. Tubbs' grave would likely be one
of them and orchards have long since concealed any trace of her
abusive slayer’s violated resting place.
Butler was named
for judge N. L. Butler of Dallas, who owned a farm near here.
The post office, which was established May 27, 1872, was located
on Casper Creek, about four miles southeast of present-day Grand
Ronde. John C. Ellis was the first postmaster. The office closed
to Grand Ronde Feb. 15, 1911.
Chandler was
named for Thms. C. Chandler, the first postmaster. The post
office, established Apr. 15, 1895, was located on North Fork
Rock Creek about five miles southeast of Valsetz. The office
closed to Rocca Jul. 14, 1900.
Cincinnati was
named for the Ohio city by A. C. R. Shaw, a founder of this
village on the Willamette, who saw a similarity in the sites. A
year after Oregon was organized as a territory, the first novel,
The Prairie Flower, or Adventures in the Far West, was written
in the new country. This novel was published in Cincinnati in
1849. Emerson Bennett was credited with its authorship, but
there can be little doubt that it was motivated and mainly
written by Sidney Walter Moss (1810-1901), a hotel keeper of
Oregon City. It was notable for its portrayal of early mountain
characters and its salty trapper’s dialect. Abigail Jane Scott
Duniway (1835-1915) taught school in Cincinnati in 1853, and
during pioneer days an effort made to establish the state
capital there. In 1859, Duniway, who later became the state’s
most brilliant champion of Woman Suffrage, published Captain
Gray’s Company, a fictional version of the overland journey of
the first immigrants, marked by a somewhat barren realism. Many
female leaders of the abolitionist movement also wanted to end
the domestic slavery of women in the US. In July 1848, a group
of these pioneering feminists met in Seneca Falls, NY, where
they founded the Woman’s Rights Movement. The delegates in the
Seneca Falls convention prepared a list of ways in which women
suffered discrimination and agreed to a number of resolutions
for change. One of these resolutions declared that women
deserved to vote, a right that nearly all 19th Century Women
were denied. Only four Western states gave Women the right to
vote before 1900, the first of these being Wyoming in 1869. In
1911, Oregon historian Jos. Gaston wrote: “The question of equal
rights to women in the exercise of the right of suffrage has
been twice submitted to the electors of the state, and failed to
receive votes sufficient to incorporate the proposition in the
state constitution. It is now again to be voted upon at the
ensuing election, the result of which will not be known in time
to be included in this history. The great leader of the movement
in Oregon, a leader with a national reputation, and a record of
50 years of unfaltering and courageous advocacy of equal rights
to all persons—Abigail Scott Duniway—is at this time
unfortunately confined to her home from the infirmities of age.
But with an intellect that leads that battle of justice, and a
dauntless spirit that halts not at opposition or defeat, from
her home in the City of Portland still goes out to every hamlet
in the state the inspiriting command: ‘Oh watch and fight and
pray; the battle never give over; renew it boldly every day; and
help divine implore.” Cincinnati post office, established Jun.
5, 1851, was located near the mouth of Rickreall Creek, about
four miles west of the heart of Salem. Joshua Shaw was first
postmaster of the Cincinnati office, which closed to Eola May
23, 1856.
Crowley was named
for Solomon K. Crowley, an Oregon pioneer of 1852. The post
office, which was established Apr. 11, 1881, was located on the
Southern Pacific Railroad, about five miles north of Rickreall.
It was discontinued Dec. 13, 1882, and re-established at
Rickreall Dec. 13, 1882. The first postmaster was John C. Allen.
Dallas, named for
Geo. Mifflin Dallas, vice-president under Polk from 1845 to
1849, is said to have been named Cynthia Anne originally. It was
settled in the 1840s on the north side of Rickreall Creek, but
was moved more than a mile south in 1856 because of inadequate
water supply. It was named for Geo. Mifflin Dallas (1792-1864),
vice-president of the US from 1845 to 1849. Dallas was
vice-president during Polk’s administration, and when a name was
chosen. A narrow gauge railroad was built into Dallas in
1878-1880 as a result of a county seat over Independence.
Independence was after the county seat honor, but citizens of
Dallas raised $17,000 and secured the branch line, and this
settled the contest for the seat of government. Dallas post
office was established Oct. 22, 1852, with John E. Lyle
postmaster. It was originally on north Rickreall Creek, but a
water supply problem forced the relocation to its present site.
Attention is called to discrepancies in the available
information about the early name of Dallas. It appears both as
Cynthian and Cynthia Anne. It is reported that this name was
chosen by a Ms. Lovelady in memory of a place in Kentucky, but
the name in Kentucky is Cythiana. Harriet McArthur and Judge C.
H. Carey of Portland and Cpt. O. C. Applegate of Klamath Falls
said in 1927 that the place was named for Ms. Jesse Applegate,
whose given name was Cynthia Anne. The Applegates lived in Polk
County at the tine the place was named. Baskett Slough
originates in the intermittent lakes west and south of Mt. Baldy
and four miles northeast of Dallas. It flows eastward several
miles and joins Mud Slough. The slough contains 2,492 acres and
was named for Geo. J. Baskett, an early valley thoroughbred
horse breeder. Baskett was born in Kentucky in 1817 and settled
on a donation land claim near this slough in Oct. 1850. The
farmed fields, rolling oak-covered hills, and shallow wetlands
are home to many wildlife species. Evelyn Sibley Lampman
(1907-1980) was born in Dallas, and died in Portland. She wrote
several books for children, including The City Under the Back
Steps, Halfbreed, and Cayuse Coyote. She used the name Lynn
Bronson on some of her books. David R. Heil (b 1955) spent his
early years exploring the meadows, woods, and stream in his
hometown of Dallas. His fascination with nature led him to a
career in science education. Since 1988, television viewers
across the country have watched him as the host of “Newton’s
Apple,” a Public Broadcasting (PBS) science program. Heil is
also the associate director of the Oregon Museum of Science and
Industry in Portland.
Dixie was the
local name for Rickreall during the Civil War and for some time
thereafter because of Southern sentiment in the community, but
it was never the name of a post office. Located on Rickreall
Creek, four miles east of Dallas, Rickreall is an old town by
Oregon standards. In 1845, John E. Lyle arrived from Illinois
and almost immediately opened a school in the home of col.
Nathaniel Ford near the site of Rickreall. Ford, who owned
Slaves, settled here in 1844. Rickreall post office was
established Jun. 30, 1851, as Rickreal, with Ford first
postmaster. The office was discontinued Apr. 11, 1857, and
re-established Jun. 19, 1866, as Rickreall, with Ford again
serving as postmaster. Many insist that La Creole River should
have been called Rickreall, that it was so called by the Indians
in the days when they dug camas bulbs along its banks. Others
insist that La Creole was the name used by French-Canadians in
memory of a young Indian Woman who was drowned in it at the
present site of Dallas. As a compromise, the stream is called La
Creole River below Dallas and La Creole Creek at Dallas and
Rickreall above it. La Creole Academy at Dallas was founded by
Horace Lyman. The school was chartered with the name Rickreall,
by the territorial legislature in Dec. 1852. The name is given
as Ricrall in an advertisement in the Oregonian, Feb. 7, 1852.
Oregonians of the settler period, live the Amerindians before
the, were tinged with melancholy, but, unlike the their
aboriginal counterparts, they trafficked very little with
spooks. However, at Rickreall and a few other places in the
Willamette Valley were haunted mills. In Benton County was a
hollow locally known as Banshee Canyon tenanted by the ghost of
Whitehorse, a suicide. From the old-long-vacated Yaquina Bay
Lighthouse came cries from a throat that was not human and light
from a place where no light was.
Doak’s Ferry,
later known as Lincoln, was probably named for Andrew J. Doak,
who was first postmaster of Valfontis post office in 1854. Doak
had a donation land claim claim close to the present site of
Lincoln, a community at the east edge of Spring Valley. Milton
Doak, possibly his son, was born in Oregon in 1857, and was
living in Buena vista at the time of the 1870 Census. Lincoln is
located at the eastern edge of Spring Valley, on the west bank
of the Willamette, seven miles northwest of Salem. It is said to
have been named for Abraham Lincoln, who had been assassinated
two years earlier. The town grew up with riverboat
transportation as a wheat shipping center. Grain was hauled from
points as far distant as Willamina. The post office was
established May 31, 1867, with Danl. Jackson Cooper (b c1837 TN)
first postmaster. There had previously been an office at or near
this location, called Valfontis. Lincoln post office was
discontinued Mar. 31,1901 and patrons have been served by a
rural route from Salem.
Elk Horn post
office, located on Mill Creek near Buell, was established Nov.
16, 1869, with Cyrus Buell first postmaster. Buell, who was born
in Iowa in 1836, was a prominent settler on Mill Creek and was
interested in the grist mill that gave the stream its name. For
about five years the post office was on the Buell place about
two miles south or upstream from the highway bridge and present
location of the community called Buell. When Thms. R. Blair was
appointed postmaster in 1874, the office was moved three miles
north on Mill Creek from what is now Buell. The Elk Horn office
closed to Sheridan on Oct. 4, 1882, but the locality, which is a
little over four miles southwest of Sheridan by road, is still
called Elk Horn. Buell post office, located on Mill Creek, about
six miles southeast of Willamina, was established Mar. 31, 1900,
with Frank Oviatt first postmaster. The community, near Elk
Horn, was named for Elias Buell, who was born in New York in
1798. Buell was a pioneer settler who operated a sawmill and
small store here, and was most likely the father of Cyrus Buell.
Buell’s wife, Sarah, was also born in New York in 1800. The post
office was discontinued May 31, 1924, and re-established Jun. 8,
1927. The office closed to Sheridan Sep. 30, 1943.
Ellendale, a
deserted town, developed around a grist mill built here in 1844
by Jas. A. O’Neal. Near his mill O’Neal erected a store and
living quarters, and before long O’Neals Mills, the first post
office in Polk County, was opened. Located about two miles west
of Dalles, on Rickreall Creek, The post office was established
Jan. 8, 1850, with Jas. A. O’Neal first and only postmaster. The
name of the office was changed to Nesmiths Mills when Jas. W.
Nesmith became postmaster on Aug. 21, 1850. That office was
discontinued Oct. 22, 1852. But in 1849 the mill was sold to
Jas. W. Nesmith and Henry Owen, who in turn, four years later
sold it to Hudsons & Company. In announcing the purchase of
“the flouring mills and contents...” in the Oregon Statesman for
Jul. 19, 1853, the new firm assured its prospective customers
that it was prepared to “furnish flour of the first quality to
miners and the country trade”; that it had completed
“arrangements whereby fresh stocks of merchandise would be
received by boat from San Francisco twice monthly”; and that it
was the intention of the firm to have its “upright and circular
sawmill” in operation by October. To keep the latter pledge,
Ezra Hallock and Luther Tuthill in 1854 built a dam a mile above
the grist mill and there built the sawmill. It was the only mill
of the kind for miles around and people flocked to see it. Part
of the equipment was the only planer in that section of Oregon,
all lumber having previously been dressed by hand; its
installation proved a master stroke of enterprise on the part of
the mill, which furnished much of the lumber for many of the
buildings still in the neighborhood. In the early 1860s, judge
Reuben P. Boise, one of the outstanding members of the Oregon
bar, and several others bought the mill and incorporated
themselves as the Ellendale Woolen Mill Company, rebuilt the
building, installed new machinery, and constructed a
boardinghouse and other dwellings for mill employees. Ellendale,
rechristened in honor of Ellen Lyon Boise, rapidly grew into a
busy village. The small white building was used as slave
quarters for Negroes belonging to one of the mill owners before
the Civil War. The long, low house was the old store and
boardinghouse.
Eola, located on
the west bank of the Willamette, five miles southwest of Salem,
was formerly known as Cincinnati, and so appears when the post
office was established on Jun. 5, 1851, with Joshua Shaw first
postmaster. It is said to have been named by A. C. R. Shaw
because of the fancied resemblance of the site to that of
Cincinnati, OH. The place was incorporated with the name of Eola
by the territorial legislature on Jan. 17, 1856, and the post
office was established as Eola on May 23, 1856. The office
closed to Salem on Mar. 19, 1901, started operating as a rural
station of McMinnville on Jun. 1, 1955, and finally closed its
doors on Jun. 30, 1965. Abigail J. Scott Duniway (1835-1915)
taught school in Cincinnati in 1853, and during pioneer days an
effort made to establish the state capital there. In 1859,
Duniway, who later became the state’s most brilliant champion of
Woman Suffrage, published Captain Gray’s Company, a fictional
version of the overland journey of the first immigrants, marked
by a somewhat barren realism. The name Eola comes from Aeolus,
god of the winds in Greek mythology. There seems to be good
authority for the belief that the name Eola was suggested by a
local musical enthusiast named Lindsay Robbins who disliked the
name Cincinnati, and offered the new name because he was fond of
the Aeolian harp. However, Geo. H. Himes thought that Shaw
suggested Eola as well as the original name. On May 22, 1863,
cpl. Royal A. Bensell, who was stationed at Ft. Yamhill, wrote
in his journal: “Still onward, we find Eola, small and quiet.
Five miles of river bottom road, and we discern the capitol of
this great state Oregon.”
Etna was a post
office at the Riggs place a few miles north of Rickreall, and,
according to Cecil L. Riggs, was possibly named for Mt. Etna in
Sicily, which erupted violently in 1852. The post office,
established Sep. 4, 1856, was located near Baskett Slough a few
miles north of Rickreall. Thms. J. Riggs first and only
postmaster of this office, which was discontinued May 8, 1868.
Rickreall post office was out of service from 1857 to 1866, so
there was need of another office in the locality. Baskett Slough
originates in the intermittent lakes west and south of Mt. Baldy
and four miles northeast of Dallas. It flows eastward several
miles and joins Mud Slough. The slough contains 2,492 acres and
was named for Geo. J. Baskett, an early valley thoroughbred
horse breeder. Baskett was born in Kentucky in 1817 and settled
on a donation land claim near this slough in Oct. 1850. The
farmed fields, rolling oak-covered hills, and shallow wetlands
are home to many wildlife species.
Falls City is
located on the Southern Pacific Railroad, about eight miles
southwest of Dallas.The post office, named for the falls of
Little Luckiamute River, just west of the community, was
established Oct. 28, 1889. Franklin K. Hubbard was first
postmaster of this office, formerly known as Syracuse. Hubbard
was born in Missouri around 1845, and was living in Bridgeport
at the time of the 1870 Census.
Firholm post
office, established Apr. 8, 1883, was located on Mill Creek,
about six miles southwest of Sheridan. Nathan Blair was first
postmaster of this descriptively named office which was intended
as a replacement for the Elk Horn office, close the previously
year. The Firholm office was discontinued Jul. 9, 1883. Nathan
Blair, who was born in Oregon in 1851, was living in Grand Ronde
at the time of the 1870 Census.
Fort Hill, just northeast of Valley
Junction, was named because Willamette settlers built a
blockhouse on its summit in 1855-1856. The federal government
sent troops to this place and established Ft. Yamhill on Aug.
30, 1856. The blockhouse was later moved to Grand Ronde Agency
and still later to Dayton and set up in a public park.
Gerlinger was
named for Louis Gerlinger, a well-known Oregon lumberman and
railroad builder, who promoted The Salem, Falls City &
Western Railway, later purchased by the Southern Pacific
Company. The crossing of this line and the original west side
line a mile south of Derry was named in honor of Gerlinger.
Grand Ronde, as
applied to a valley and two communities in Western Oregon, is
universally misspelled, but the style is so firmly fixed in the
public mind that there seems little chance to change it. The
USBGN tried to secure the use of Grande Ronde but without avail.
The French word ronde, meaning circle or roundness, requires the
adjective agreement grande, and the two words together may be
taken as describing a fine large valley of excellent appearance,
more or less hemmed in by hills. This valley and the one in
Union County were named by French-Canadian trappers because of
their aspect, but the valley in Eastern Oregon is always called
Grande Ronde. For many years there was a Grand Ronde Indian
Reservation in Polk and Yamhill counties. There were 1046
Indians on this reservation in the census of 1867. The Grand
Ronde Agency, which was in Yamhill County, was closed in the
fall of 1925, but a community remains. In the 1920s the railroad
was extended from Willamina and the present Salmon River Highway
was started along South Yamhill River. These both bypassed Grand
Ronde Agency about a mile and a half south in Polk County and
the present community of Grand Ronde grew up just west of the
mouth of Rock Creek. Grand Ronde post office was established at
the site of Ft. Yamhill, about a half mile north of what is now
Valley Junction. About 1894 the office was moved to Grand Ronde
Agency in Yamhill County, and in the early 1920s it was moved to
the present site of Polk County. Grand Ronde post office,
established Feb. 16, 1861, with Benj. Simpson first postmaster,
was initially located near the site of Ft. Yamhill, on Yamhill
River near the mouth of Casper Creek. Grand Ronde Agency lies
about a mile and a half north of Yamhill County, and it was here
that the post office operated from 1894-1924. Post Office
Department records indicate a change in spelling to “Grande
Ronde” from 1894 to 1924, but the Official Register simply
indicates that the post office name was a one-word form
“Grandronde” during this period. In 1895 Butler post office was
established at the locality of Ft. Yamhill. The railroad was
abandoned in the 1980s. Beautiful Willamette, written by the
first postmaster’s poet son, Saml. L. Simpson (1846-1899), was
published in the Albany States Rights Democrat Apr. 18, 1868.
Spirit Mountain, about a mile north of Grand Ronde, was so named
because Native Americans thought Spirits or Skoomums lived on
it. It was at one time called Cosper Butte for a family of early
settlers. Dr. Rodney Glisan and other officers stationed at Ft.
Yamhill climbed this mountain on Oct. 30, 1856, but Glisan does
not mention a name in Journal of Army Life, 374-375.
Independence is
located about two miles east of Monmouth on the west bank of the
Willamette. The post office was established Apr. 3, 1852, with
Leonard Williams first postmaster. The community was named by
Elvin A. Thorpe, who founded the community. The name was in
compliment to Independence, MO. Thorpe was born in Howard
County, MO, in 1820. He came to Oregon in 1844, took up a
donation land claim at the present site of the town, in Jun.
1845. On May 22, 1863, Royal A. Bensell wrote in his journal:
“Get the teams started for home and take the Salem road myself.
Pass through the flourishing town of Monmouth, noted for its
institute and arid situation. Six miles further and we pass
Independence, situated on the Willamette. Next place bearing a
name is Leona, one house and ferry. Still onward, we find Eola,
small and quiet. Five miles of river bottom road, and we discern
the capitol of this great state Oregon.”
Lackemute post
office, established Mar. 14, 1851, was named for the Luckiamute
River, which joins the Willamette in southern Polk County.
Harrison Linville (b c1814 TN), was the first postmaster of this
office, one of the earliest in the county. The office was close
to the Luckiamute River, probably a little west of the present
Pacific Highway West, and in the extreme south part of the
county. It also appears that the office was moved several times
in the Lower Luckiamute Valley to suit the postmasters. Linville
was later postmaster at Buena Vista near the mouth of the
stream. Isaac Staats (b c1815 NY) lived near the junction of
Little Luckiamute, some eight miles to the west. Known examples
of postal markings, all manuscript, bear a variety of spellings
of the name of this office, which was discontinued on Nov. 23,
1874. In later years there was a railroad station Luckiamute on
the Oregonian Railway narrow gauge line a little north of the
Luckiamute River and about four miles northeast of Pedee. This
place never had a post office. Time has done much to obliterate
the community. In the interest of simplicity government mapping
agencies have dropped the word “Big” from the the main branch of
Luckiamute River. Little Luckiamute River rises in the Coast
Range southwest of Dallas. It joins Luckiamute River south of
Independence. Luckiamute is an Indian word the meaning of which
is unknown. Stories to the effect that it is based on an
incident having to do with a deaf mute may be dismissed as
fiction.
Lawn Arbor post
office, established Apr. 12, 1855, was located on South Yamhill
River, about three miles southwest of Amity near the
Polk-Yamhill county line. Marshall B. Burke was first postmaster
of this office, which was formerly known as South Yamhill. The
South Yamhill office was established Jul. 6, 1852, and was
located in the vicinity of present-day Broadmead. The Lawn Arbor
office was discontinued Feb. 22, 1865.
Lewisville was
named for Mary (b c1823), and David R. Lewis I (b c1814 KY),
pioneers of 1845. Their donation land claim formed the basis of
the community, which was located just north of Luckiamute River,
about five miles southwest of Monmouth. By the 1980s, nothing
remained to mark its location. Lewisville post office was
established in Apr. 21, 1868, with Abraham Wing first
postmaster. Wing was born in Poland in 1838, and was living in
Lackemute at the time of the 1870 Census. The Lewises, who lived
in Lackemute at the time of the 1870 US Census, were the parents
of David R. II (b c1845 MO), Jas. H. (b c1849 OR), Eliza (b
c1853 OR), and Mariah (b c1855 OR). In the Hart Cemetery near
Lewisville is the grave of Jas. A. O’Neal, who came to Oregon
with the Wyeth party in 1834, and who served as chairman of the
second “Wolf meeting,” held on Mar. 6, 1843, and as a member of
the legislative committee appointed by the meeting. On Feb. 28,
1905, Lewisville closed to Monmouth.
Lincoln, formerly
called Doak’s Ferry, is located at the eastern edge of Spring
Valley, on the west bank of the Willamette, seven miles
northwest of Salem. It is said to have been named for Abraham
Lincoln, who had been assassinated two years earlier. The town
grew up with riverboat transportation as a wheat shipping
center. Grain was hauled from points as far distant as
Willamina. The post office was established May 31, 1867, with
Danl. Jackson Cooper (b c1837 TN) first postmaster. There had
previously been an office at or near this location, called
Valfontis. Lincoln post office was discontinued Mar. 31,1901 and
patrons have been served by a rural route from Salem. Doak’s
Ferry, later known as Lincoln, was probably named for Andrew J.
Doak, who was first postmaster of Valfontis post office in 1854.
Doak had a donation land claim claim close to the present site
of Lincoln, a community at the east edge of Spring Valley.
Milton Doak, possibly his son, was born in Oregon in 1857, and
was living in Buena vista at the time of the 1870 Census.
McCoy post
office, established Dec. 19, 1879, was located on the Southern
Pacific Railroad, about nine miles north of Rickreall. The post
office was named for Isaac McCoy, who owned the land upon which
the community was built. McCoy was born in Indiana in 1833, and
was living in Eola at the time of the 1870 Census. Jas. A. Sears
was first postmaster of this office, which became a rural
station of Dallas on Apr. 30, 1959, and was discontinued Mar.
15, 1968.
Monmouth was
named for Monmouth, IL. In 1852 a group of citizens of the
Illinois community crossed the plains to Oregon, and after
spending the first winter at Crowley, five miles north of
Rickreall, settled in 1853 near the present site of Monmouth.
Members of the party gave 640 acres of land on which to
establish a town and a college under the auspices of the
christian church. The place was surveyed in 1855 by T. H.
Hutchinson. The money secured from the sale of lots was devoted
to the building of the christian college, which was known as
Monmouth University. At a mass meeting the people selected
Monmouth as the name of the new community, in home. In 1856
mercantile buildings were erected. The first house was built in
1857. The post office was established Feb. 25, 1859, with Jos.
B. V. Butler first postmaster. In 1871, due to the influence of
the church, the name of Monmouth University was changed to
Christian College. The college underwent vicissitudes due to
lack of funds, and was once offered to the state for a
university. In 1882 the Oregon legislature passed a bill
creating the Oregon State Normal School at Monmouth, which
absorbed the Christian College. The name of the school was later
changed to the Oregon College of Education and more recently
renamed Western Oregon State College.
Nesmiths Mills,
formerly known as O’Neals Mills was located on Rickreall Creek,
about two miles west of Dallas. The post office was established
Aug. 21, 1850 with Jas. W. Nesmith first postmaster. The office
was discontinued Oct. 22, 1852. O’Neals Mills post office, the
first in Polk County, was established Jan. 8, 1850, with Jas. A.
O’Neal first and only postmaster.
O’Neals Mills,
the first post office in Polk County, was located about two
miles west of Dalles, on Rickreall Creek. The post office was
established Jan. 8, 1850, with Jas. A. O’Neal first and only
postmaster. The name of the office was changed to Nesmiths Mills
when Jas. W. Nesmith became postmaster on Aug. 21, 1850. That
office was discontinued Oct. 22, 1852. In 1845, O’Neal built the
first grist mill in Polk County, a few hundred feet from what
was later Ellendale. About 1849 O’Neal sold the mill to Jas. W.
Nesmith and Henry Owen, who operated dit until 1854, and then
sold it to Hudson & Company. Due to the length of time
necessary to communicate with Washington DC, O’Neal’s
appointment may have been made after he had sold the mill.
Reuben P. Boise came to Oregon in 1850, and took up a donation
land claim at Nesmiths Mills in 1852. He named the place
Ellendale for his wife, Ellen Lyon, native of Massachusetts, who
sailed from new York to San Francisco in the record time of 89
days on the Flying Cloud. The mill flume too water from the
creek on the south side and crossed to the north side near the
present county bridge. One of Oregon’s pioneer woolen mills was
started in Ellendale in 1860.
Parker post
office, established Sep. 27, 1880, was located on the Lower
Luckiamute River and the Southern Pacific Railroad, about two
miles north of Suver. Jas. L. Coutee was first postmaster of
this office, which was discontinued Mar. 13, 1882. The office
was re-established as Parkers on Dec. 12, 1884, land was
discontinued Dec. 31, 1907. It was re-established as Parker on
Aug. 24, 1914, and closed to Independence on Mar. 31, 1927. The
Bloomington office served this locality from May 25, 1852 to
Jun. 24, 1863. Eli W. Foster was first postmaster of this
pioneer office.
Pedee owns its
name to col. Cornelius Gilliam who was born in North Carolina in
1798 and came to Oregon in 1844. He was killed in 1848. Either
he, or members of his family, named Pedee Creek, a tributary of
Luckiamute River. Pedee community is near the mouth of this
creek. The name is, or course, from the famous river of North
and South Carolina which was doubtless frequently in the minfds
of the Gilliams. The stream in the South is officially Peedee,
but the place in Oregon is spelled Pedee.
Perrydale is
located four miles west of the Eola Hills, and a little over a
mile west of McCoy. The community was named by Wm. Perry, a
pioneer landowner. The post office was established Aug. 12,
1870, with Jacob C. Cooper first postmaster. Cooper, who was a
merchant living in Salt Creek at the time of the 1870 Census,
was born in Missouri in 1846. On Jun. 30, 1953, Perrydale became
a rural station of Amity, and was discontinued Apr. 3, 1973.
Plum Valley is a
little vale on the west slope of Eola Hills, about three miles
northwest of Zena, south of Bethel and east of McCoy, and it
drains westward into Ash Swale. Its name came from the wild
plums that grew in the vicinity according to John E. Smith in
his booklet, Bethel, the name was probably selected by Amos
Harvey. Plum Valley post office was established Nov. 30, 1854,
on the Absalom H. Frier claim, a little to the south of the
valley and about on the south line of section 20. Frier, who was
born in New York in 1814, served as first postmaster. He was a
farmer living in Etna at the time of the 1870 Census. In 1856
the office was moved to Plum Valley proper. It was moved several
times but never far from Bethel. The office was discontinued
Aug. 13, 1863.
Polk post office,
established Mar. 9, 1885, was located on Luckiamute River, about
a mile east of the earlier Bridgeport office. Lycurgus Hill was
first postmaster of this office, which closed to Lewisville Dec.
7, 1885. This was the first of two different post offices with
this name in Polk County. The second one was located on the
narrow gauge Oregon Railway Company line about three miles
northeast of Dallas. This Polk post office was established Apr.
12, 1899, with Peter R. Garber first postmaster. On Feb. 15,
1902, the second Polk office closed to Dallas.43
Rickreall, located on Rickreall Creek, four
miles east of Dallas, is an old town by Oregon standards. In
1845, John E. Lyle arrived from Illinois and almost immediately
opened a school in the home of col. Nathaniel Ford near the site
of Rickreall. Ford, who owned Slaves, settled here in 1844.
Rickreall post office was established Jun. 30, 1851, as
Rickreal, with Ford first postmaster. The office was
discontinued Apr. 11, 1857, and re-established Jun. 19, 1866, as
Rickreall, with Ford again serving as postmaster. Many insist
that La Creole River should have been called Rickreall, that it
was so called by the Indians in the days when they dug camas
bulbs along its banks. Others insist that La Creole was the name
used by French-Canadians in memory of a young Indian Woman who
was drowned in it at the present site of Dallas. As a
compromise, the stream is called La Creole River below Dallas
and La Creole Creek at Dallas and Rickreall above it. La Creole
Academy at Dallas was founded by Horace Lyman. The school was
chartered with the name Rickreall, by the territorial
legislature in Dec. 1852. The name is given as Ricrall in an
advertisement in the Oregonian, Feb. 7, 1852. During the Civil
War and for some time thereafter Rickreall village was
frequently referred to as Dixie because of Southern sentiment in
the community. The name Dixie was used colloquially for several
decades, but it was never the name of a post office. Oregonians
of the settler period, live the Amerindians before the, were
tinged with melancholy, but, unlike the their aboriginal
counterparts, they trafficked very little with spooks. However,
at Rickreall and a few other places in the Willamette Valley
were haunted mills. In Benton County was a hollow locally known
as Banshee Canyon tenanted by the ghost of Whitehorse, a
suicide. From the old-long-vacated Yaquina Bay Lighthouse came
cries from a throat that was not human and light from a place
where no light was.
Rocca post office
was on Rock Creek located in the southwest corner of the county,
about six miles southwest of Valsetz. The office was established
Apr. 30, 1895, with Maggie L. Hampton first of four postmasters.
During its entire existence, it was in the Hampton home. When
the office was first proposed it was planned to have Saml.
Center act as postmaster, but as he was moving from the
neighborhood, other arrangements were necessary. Center asked to
have the office named for his daughter, Mary Rocca Center, who
had been named for a friend of her mother who had married an
Italian. In the 1970s, Morris X. Smith of Chitwood lectured some
schoolchildren: “Rocca is not even written up in the book,
Western Ghost Town Shadows, because it didn’t last very long and
there isn’t very much information about it. If you’re coming
from Siletz it’s east towards Logsden just before Valsetz.
Maggie Hampton lived there with her sister in their parents’ old
home. I remember an orchard there with all varieties of apples,
filberts and hickory nuts. There was a chicken yard up on the
hill. I went deer hunting up there one time with a friend of
mine. On Jul. 17, 1899, she wrote in yearbook, ‘If you meet with
one pursuing ways the wrong have entered in working out its own
undoing with sin, think to this sinful disposition would a kind
word be in vein? Will you look with cold suspicion, will you
back the truth again?’ Rocca post office closed to Nortons Aug.
31, 1918. Nortons post office was located on the Southern
Pacific Railroad, about six miles west of Nashville. It was
established Apr. 6, 1895, with Jas. S. Huntington first
postmaster. Named for the Norton family, early settlers in this
part of the Yaquina Valley, the post office closed to nearby
Eddyville Jan. 15, 1934. In 1985, Evelyn Parry of Toledo wrote:
“It was one of the many offices to serve an isolated group of
homes with mail three times a week. Gertrude Chamberlain
Phillips said her grandfather, Rich. Jas. Robinson, carried the
mail from Nortons to Rocca on horseback during the winter and by
buggy during the summer. Maggie Hampton was the postmaster for
several years.”
Salt Creek rises
in the foothills of Dallas and flows northeast into the South
Yamhill. John Ford of Dallas said it was named in pioneer days
because of the salt licks on its banks. The advance of
civilization has apparently obliterated the licks. Salt Creek
post office was located about six miles northwest of Dallas on
Salt Creek. This office was established Jul. 6, 1852, with Jas.
B. Riggs first postmaster. Riggs, who was born in New York in
1802, was farming in Dallas at the time of the 1870 Census. Etna
was a post office at the Riggs place a few miles north of
Rickreall, and, according to Cecil L. Riggs, was possibly named
for Mt. Etna in Sicily, which erupted violently in 1852. The
post office, established Sep. 4, 1856, was located near Baskett
Slough a few miles north of Rickreall. Thms. J. Riggs first and
only postmaster of this office, which was discontinued May 8,
1868. Rickreall post office was out of service from 1857 to
1866, so there was need of another office in the locality.
Smithfield,
formerly a railroad station about five miles northeast of
Dallas, bears the name of Absalom M. Smith (b c1840 PA), a
potter pioneer settler. Smithfield post office was established
Jul. 28, 1893, with Ira Kimball (b c1800 NH) postmaster, but the
railroad station was in service before that date. The post
offices was closed before Mar. 1900. The railroad through this
place was originally the narrow gauge line of the Oregonian
Railway Company, later standardized by Southern Pacific Company.
The tract has been removed and the site is now mostly farmland.
South Yamhill
post office, established Jul. 6, 1852, was located on South
Yamhill River in the vicinity of present-day Broadmead. Marshall
B. Burke served as first postmaster. On Apr. 12, 1855, the name
of this office was changed to Lawn Arbor. Burke also served as
postmaster of this office, which was discontinued Feb. 22, 1865.
Spring Valley
post office, established Mar. 5, 1852, was located along Spring
Valley Creek, about one mile northwest of Zena. Sanford Watson
was first postmaster of this office, which was discontinued Sep.
1, 1855. Watson, who was born in Kentucky in 1801, was farming
in Etna at the time of the 1870 Census.
Sugarloaf post
office, established Apr. 16, 1895, was located in the Siletz
Basin in the same locality as present-day Valsetz. It was named
for Sugarloaf Mountain, a conical peak just north of South Fork
Siletz River. John S. Wright was first postmaster of this
office, which closed to Rocca on Apr. 30, 1904. Valsetz was a
company town located on Siletz River, 16 miles west of Falls
City. After the bad forest fire of 1910, the Wm. W. Mitchell
Company built a railroad up the Luckiamute to the summit of the
Coast Range and began logging in western Polk County. In 1910
construction was started on a sawmill and a company town at the
terminus of the railroad just over the divide into the Siletz
River drainage. The town was named Valsetz, made-up from parts
of the name of the Valley & Siletz Railroad. Valsetz post
office was established Nov. 6, 1920, with Marion Zimmerman first
postmaster. It was discontinued Jun. 30, 1984, and the community
ceased to exist.
Suver is was
located on the Southern Pacific Railroad, three miles south of
Parker. The town was named for Jos. W. Suver, who was born in
Virginia in 1819. Suver and his wife Deliley, settled on a
donation land claim at the present site of the community in
1845. Suver was farming in Buena Vista at the time of the 1870
Census. Saml. Cohen was first postmaster of this office, which
closed to Monmouth on Feb. 15, 1935.
Syracuse, located
on the south bank of Santiam River, about two miles west of
Jefferson, was founded in 1848 by Milton Hale. In the autumn of
1845, Hale staked his claim on the south side of the Santiam.
Returning with his family, in the spring of 1846, he found the
river impassible, and with an ax, an adze, and an augur, he
constructed a ferryboat to convey his possessions across. Other
travelers arriving before barge was completed waited to use it
in crossing. Thus encouraged, Hale continued to operate the
ferry for many years. Syracuse post office was established Oct.
1850, with Jacob Conser first postmaster. Nearly all of the
emigrant travel to the upper valley on the east side of the
Willamette passed this point. The town of Syracuse, on the south
side of the river, soon had a rival on the north in Santiam
City, which became an important trading point, and Syracuse post
office closed to Santiam City Jul. 27, 1852. Both towns
prospered for many years, then disappeared, until no trace of
them except the cemetery remains.
Valfontis post
office, established Sep. 29, 1854, was located at the eastern
edge of Spring Valley, on the west bank of the Willamette.
Andrew J. Doak was first postmaster of this pioneer office,
which was discontinued Aug. 8, 1865. The origin of its name has
not transpired, thought its meaning may be surmised: it was just
another term for Spring Valley. Claybourne C. Walker became
postmaster Jun. 12, 1855. Walker, who was born in West Virginia
in 1819, was farming in Eola at the time of the 1870 Census.
Doak and Walker had claims close to the present site of Lincoln,
a community at the east edge of Spring Valley, and Valfontis was
in that neighborhood.
Valsetz was a
company town located on Siletz River, 16 miles west of Falls
City. After the bad forest fire of 1910, the Wm. W. Mitchell
Company built a railroad up the Luckiamute to the summit of the
Coast Range and began logging in western Polk County. In 1910
construction was started on a sawmill and a company town at the
terminus of the railroad just over the divide into the Siletz
River drainage. The town was named Valsetz, made-up from parts
of the name of the Valley & Siletz Railroad. Valsetz post
office was established Nov. 6, 1920, with Marion Zimmerman first
postmaster. It was discontinued Jun. 30, 1984, and the community
ceased to exist. The forerunner to Valsetz was Sugarloaf post
office, established Apr. 16, 1895. It was named for Sugarloaf
Mountain, a conical peak just north of South Fork Siletz River.
John S. Wright was first postmaster of this office, which closed
to Rocca on Apr. 30, 1904.
Zena, a ghost
town, was first called Spring Valley, because of the numerous
springs in the vicinity. It became Zena in 1866, when D. J.
Cooper and his brother, on building the store and obtaining the
post office, named it after the last syllables of their Wives’
names, Arvazena and Melzena Cooper. The pioneer Zena Church was
built in 1859, was still standing without alteration in the
1950s. The church bell, widely known for its tone, was cast in
England and came around the Horn.
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