Oakridge in 1913
Courtesy of Pioneer Museum
Oakridge in late 1920’s
Bldgs 2 and 4 are Templeman’s Feed Store and General Store
Sept. 1, 1926 Natron Cut Off Completed
Courtesy of Pioneer Museum
Courtesy of Pioneer Museum
Courtesy of
Site 2: the Old Railroad Depot
Early Oakridge
In the 1850’s, Oakridge was still “wild mountain country.”
The area was explored in 1852 to find a passable route for
immigrants coming from Central Oregon to the Willamette
Valley. In 1860, the Sanford brothers traveled along the
mountain ridges and built a ranch that included present day
Oakridge. James Sanford ran the ranch until 1909, when he
sold it to Ernest Hyland and C.B. McFarland. Hyland divided
the land into lots and a town slowly emerged.
The railroad provided growth for the area formerly known
only as Hazeldell. In 1912, a new settlement was created and
named Oakridge. Since its beginning as a mountain ranch,
Oakridge has been a railroad boomtown, a logger’s haven, and
an outdoor enthusiast’s paradise.
Museum and Newspaper Office 1960
Courtesy of LCHSM
Site 1: Oakridge Pioneer Museum
In 1959, a group of Oakridge citizens led by Roy Temple met
to celebrate Oregon’s centennial. There was interest in
forming a museum to preserve items belonging to families in
Oakridge. Claude Jones had a vacancy in the front part of the
current museum. With a building available, 18 people present
at the meeting established the Upper Willamette Pioneer
Association. Today the museum houses a vast collection on
early Oakridge, and is a great place to start a walking tour of
the town.
Museum Hours:
Saturday 1pm-4pm
Tuesday and Thursday, 9am-12 noon
Or by appointment (541) 742-2402
Oakridge owes much of its growth to the Southern Pacific
Railroad. By 1910, the railroad was in Westfir, and work
began on Tunnel 22 linking Westfir and Oakridge. It took
a year to build the tunnel and lay track to Oakridge.
According to the high school newspaper, “Men poured
into town, shacks and shanties sprung up everywhere
overnight, four pool halls appeared almost simultaneously,
restaurants, stores, garages, hotels, drugstore, and theater
followed suit. The streets were crowded from dark to
dawn. Then carousing, knife stabs in the night, gambling,
and all other sorts of crime and vice prevailed in the
town.”[sic]
Once here, the train was an integral part of life in the
region. During hunting season it was not uncommon to
hunt from the train, stop and dress the deer, and take the
meat back to town. There was a Friday Night Special that
took Oakridge and Westfir residents for a night in Eugene,
then brought them home Saturday morning. During the
1930’s, a snow train took passengers from Eugene to
Cascade Summit for winter recreation. At the end of the
day passengers would pile back onto the train, soaked and
exhausted, and head back to town. During the summer,
the train would let passengers off to hike into Salt Creek
Falls.
In the late 1970’s, Southern Pacific stopped regular service
to Oakridge, and the town depot was torn down. For the
first 30 years of Oakridge’s existence, the railroad was the
primary employer in town. The trains still come through
town like clockwork, and the sound is a vital part of the
Oakridge experience.
1912 Checking Out the New Tracks by Tunnel 22
Courtesy of LCHSM
Courtesy of
Site 3: Templeman’s Store
Eldon (E.T.) Templeman opened one of the first stores
in Oakridge with John McClane. Soon the two
discovered differences of opinion and decided to
literally saw the building in two. McClane took his half
of the lumber and used it to build a house. Templeman
moved his half directly across from the railroad depot.
Templeman’s store was a gathering place and carried
everything.
Templeman built a storage barn for baled hay, grain,
and livestock with a second story that could be rented
out for dances or events. The store was later torn down
and remade into a home.
1950’s Tree Planting Parade up 1st Street
Courtesy of Pioneer Museum
Site 4: I.O.O.F. Hall
In 1922, teamster Albert Haynie became Deputy
Sheriff. Seeing the value in keeping people occupied
and entertained, he thought Oakridge needed a more
permanent and stable dance hall than Templeman’s
feed loft. Haynie built the bottom floor of the current
structure and then sold it to the International Order of
Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.) in 1925.
The I.O.O.F. added a second story for their meetings.
The bottom floor has served as a dance hall, roller rink,
shoe store, church, and hardware store.
Hills Chevrolet 1954
Courtesy of Pioneer Museum
Site 7: Post Office & Forest Service
In 1912, the post office
was
moved
from
Hazeldell to Oakridge
by Bert Hebert, who
added a pool hall on
the east end of the
building. Shortly after,
he gave up command
to Sarah Jones, wife of
Claude, who ran the
post office out of their
home on Pine.
The US Forest Service moved into the vacant Hebert
building. Rangers in the early days served as patrolmen,
game wardens, surveyors, and US Marshals. They built
cabins and trails, marked timber, scaled logs, located sites
for hotels and mills, and fought fires.
1st Street 1925
Courtesy of Pioneer Museum
USFS Office on 1st Street
Courtesy of Pioneer Museum
Courtesy of
Site 5: Hills Chevrolet
In 1932, Lawrence Hills opened Hills Chevrolet on the corner
of 1st and Pine. He had $300 saved and convinced a friend to
invest $800 more. Together they bought the lot from Eldon
Templeman and built a garage and service station in 30 days.
Getting the cars was a more difficult task. The Chevrolet
distributors in Portland refused to sell any cars to Hills,
thinking they would never get off his lot. Hills found a dealer
in Junction City who worked with him. He and his two
salesmen sold a car a day (new and used) in a town with fewer
than 500 people!
1919 Pack trains supplied fire crews & stocked mountain lakes with
hatchery fish.
Courtesy of Pioneer Museum
Site 6: E.E. (Doty) Smith Store
1920s 1st and Pine. Jones house, Forest Service Building, Doty Smith
Store, and C. Jones Residence and Post Office.
Courtesy of Pioneer Museum
The corner of 1st and Pine was one of the earliest developed
areas of Oakridge. Claude Jones built a 25’ by 74’ building
that housed Smith’s Grocery, run by Doty Smith. In the
1950’s, the corner expanded and became the Uptown
Market.
Claude Jones owned a building where Mountain
Therapeutics now stands. It was a home that many families
rented when they first came to town. It is said that the first
house up Pine on the left is that same C. Jones house.
Between the museum building and what was Doty Smith’s
Grocers, Claude
Uptown Market 1950s
and Sadie Jones
Courtesy of Pioneer Museum
had their own
residence
In the 1930’s, the
building housed
Smith’s Grocery.
In the 1950’s, the
corner grew and
became
the
Uptown Market
and was there for
many years.
Site 8: Cedar & Oak
This block housed Stanley’s Café, a popular place for
railroad workers to catch a meal. Next to Stanley’s was
Silver’s Confectionary, which served milkshakes and ice
cream and had card, pool, and snooker tables in the back
room. Jack Wright and Charlie Briggs both had barber
shops uptown. In those days barbershops also served as
places to clean up. For a quarter, patrons received a towel,
a bar of soap, and use of the facilities. In 1924, Oscar
McAtee bought much of this block. He had a two-story
hotel, Alaska Rooms, on the corner of 1st and Oak, The
Alaska Club, a pool hall that advertised cigars, candies, soft
drinks and ice cream, and McAtee’s Red and White General
Store. The family lived behind the general store. In 1936,
the complex burned. In 1984, the new post office was built.
East End of 1st Street 1928
Charles T. Beach was the first year-round ranger; C.T.
Beach on Hills Creek Reservoir bears his name. Corley
B. (C.B.) McFarland was ranger from 1924 to 1946. In
those days fire crews moved on horseback. Supplies,
including a two week ration of food and water when on
duty in one of the many fire lookout towers, had to be
packed in for miles. Restocking orders would be sent
with tower visitors, and supplies would be dispatched by
packer. When a fire was spotted, the tower man would
locate it on a round map fire finder and communicate the
location to headquarters. Then he would set off with his
pack of tools to try and put out the fire before the crew
arrived. The Forest Service remains a key employer in the
area performing duties from trail building to fire fighting.
Courtesy of Pioneer Museum
Hyland Hotel 1920
Courtesy of Pioneer Museum
Site 9: Clark’s Garage & Nelson Motor Co.
During the 1920’s, there were two businesses located at the
far end of the 1st and Ash block. Ed Clark had a service
garage, and “Ole” Nelson owned a Ford dealership.
Behind the Forest Service building was the Hyland Hotel,
built by the Hyland Brothers in 1917. It burned down in
1923.
View of Garage and Motor Co. 1920’s
Courtesy of Pioneer Museum
Site 10: City Hall & Tree Planting Festival
Special Thanks
to Those People &
Organizations who
made this Project
Possible:
Teaching American
History Grant
Del Spencer
and the
Oakridge Pioneer Museum
Virginia Sherwood and
Bob Hart
The Annual Tree Planting Festival is an event unique to
the Oakridge and Westfir communities. Willard Trumbull
asked the Chamber of Commerce to sponsor an annual
tree planting day. On Nov. 14, 1953 the first Tree
Planting Parade headed up 1st Street into the Uptown
area. Over the years, festival events have included timber
carnivals, pee-wee
rodeos, motorcycle
races, archery
demonstrations,
golf tournaments,
wrestling tag team
matches, beard
growing contests,
horse shoe
competitions, 5k
and 10k runs,
mini-Olympics
events for children,
artisan’s shows, art
walks, street
Tree Planting Court dances, and even
Courtesy of Pioneer Museum
beer barrel polo.
The Tree Planting Festival, in early May, continues to be a
source of pride and identity, a huge event that draws
people back to the community.
1915 Oakridge Livery and Feed Stable
Courtesy of LCHSM
Site 11: Oakridge Livery Stable
By 1915, Sharp and Michaels had built “the old red barn.”
“Grandpa” Neal shod horses while entertaining town folks.
Carl Reiner ran a tannery and taxidermy shop out of the
same building. In the 1940’s, Mayor Gerspach and a man
named Kuehn took over the business. The mayor’s “office”
was a horseshoe keg stool and a homemade desk in the
blacksmith shop. Since then the building has been a
second hand store, a bicycle repair shop, and an apartment
building. It currently houses Diamond Traffic Products.
Oakridge School 1917
Courtesy of LCHSM
Fire Department 1960’s
Courtesy of Pioneer Museum
Lane County Historical
Society and Museum
(LCHSM)
Marcia Brown
and the
Oakridge High School Library
Dan Rehwalt
Students and Staff at Oakridge
High School
Art by Cailey Sokolowski and
the OHS Geography Class
Next to City Hall is the former site of the Oakridge Fire
Department. In the 1920’s, citizens managed to get a “fire
cart” from the valley consisting of an axle with buggy wheels
and a barrel for a hose. They hosted a basket social to raise
money for the hose. Whenever there was a fire whoever was
nearest would dash to the cart and sprint to the scene of the
fire. Fire hydrants were two inch steel pipes without enough
pressure to really put out a blaze. Fires were a huge problem
in the early days, and
many businesses
burned to the ground.
In 1947 community
members built the hall
with funds the city
collected from
gambling outfits in
town. Mayor “Dutch”
Gerspach used the
money to buy materials
for the building and
organized the first
1926 Fire where Christian Church is now
volunteer fire
Courtesy of Pioneer Museum
department.
Sight 12: First School in Town
The railroad brought families to town. By 1911, it was
time to build a new school. A temporary classroom was
set up in the Woods Hotel while the new school was being
built on Ash. In 1912, the two room building was ready.
The first five grades were in one room, and the three
upper grades met in the other. In 1919, they added a
9th grade, and soon the need for a high school was
evident. Claude Jones donated a building on Pine.
In 1921, a high school
was built for seven
students. In 1929, a new
high school was built at
the present site, and was
remodeled in 1957. The
present primary school
was built in 1948. The
school on Ash served as
the American Legion
Hall and was torn down
Oakridge Students 1916 LCHSM
in 1978.
1st Street during Tree Planting 1954
Courtesy of Pioneer Museum
1950’s Tree Planting Parade in front of Paddock Building
Courtesy of Pioneer Museum
Site 15: Paddock’s Hardware
Site 13: Block between Cedar & Pine
In 1947, The First National Bank of Oregon set up
temporary quarters in Ed Clark’s Garage. By 1948, the new
bank on the corner of 1st and Cedar was complete. Next to
First National was a hardware store built in 1957. Next to
that building were Charlie Croner’s Drug Store and Charlie
Paddock’s Central Market, both built in the 1920’s.
Croner’s Drug Store served as the liquor store as well as the
telephone office, possessing the only phone in town until
after WWII.
Croner was a kind man who often quietly provided for the
needs of community members. If children came to the
store in dire need of shoes, shoes would magically appear at
their door the next day.
The Uptown Theater was across Cedar, where Siuslaw bank
now stands.
Charlie Paddock loved Oakridge so much that he convinced
his brother, Jim, to move out from New York. In 1925, Jim
opened a hardware store on the corner of 1st and Pine. The
store was located on the first floor with six apartments
upstairs. Paddock’s Hardware would later become Weber’s
Hardware, a clothes store, and then a record shop.
J. Paddock’s Hardware
Courtesy of Pioneer Museum
Uptown
Oakridge
Wood’s Hotel 1912
Courtesy of Pioneer Museum
Historic walking tour
Site 14: Woods Hotel
One of the first hotels in town was the Woods Hotel,
owned by Arch Woods. Arch saw a need for lodging for the
railroad men, and he purchased a lot from Hyland and
McFarland. All of the building materials had to be brought
up from the valley by wagon and four-horse team because
there were no saw mills in the area. The Woods was a
popular place for railroad firemen to stay, at $1 a day or $5
a week. Engineers, however, stayed at the Willamette Hotel
up the street on Oak (currently the empty lot next to the
grey brick building).
Created by the staff and students
at
Oakridge High School