• Washington County’s history at risk
• Young House trees recognized by the Oregon Heritage Tree Program

Washington County’s history at risk

Without prior public notice, the board and staff of the Washington County Historical Society (WCHS, DBA Five Oaks Museum) closed the doors of the building on December 29, 2024, and furloughed its half-dozen staff due to lack of funding.

Euro-American settlers (pioneers) had been collecting and preserving artifacts since the late 1800s. In a real sense, Washington County was the end of the Oregon Trail where many pioneers made their homes, displacing the native Kalapuyan/Atfálati tribal people. WCHS was founded with those collections in 1956, operating out of several locations in Hillsboro as the collection grew.

The organization was supported by public donations until 1975, when Washington County began to pay for one full-time and one part-time employee to manage the collection, which now included county records. Eventually the county used some of its lottery allocation for the museum.

With support from local businesses, foundations, private donations, and the county, the museum purchased and moved into new headquarters on the Portland Community College Rock Creek Campus in 1982. The building was enlarged to better store and preserve the collection in 2008. The county retained ownership of the collections, PCC owned the land the museum was bult on, and WCHS gave the building to the county. Programming included public exhibits and events, and educational resources for teaching local history.

The Board of County Commissioners (BCC) transferred all administrative and financial responsibility to the Society in 1987 and agreed to continue funding to manage the collection. In an institutional change to collect and preserve not just historical items but also to promote Washington County arts, science, and culture, the historical society changed its name to the Washington County Museum in 2008. (Excerpted from an article in The Oregon Encyclopedia.)

In 2020 the organization was rebranded as Five Oaks Museum, and the focus broadened and de-emphasized history. County and donor financial support began to dwindle.

Efforts by the museum board to secure emergency funding failed. The bankrupt nonprofit organization has a debt of more than $100,000 and is presumably in the process of being dissolved by the Oregon Department of Justice. Washington County terminated the 1987 Agreement with WCHS on April 7, 2025 and took possession of the building.

The BCC has held a couple of Work Sessions discussing the future of the collections with another session slated for May 13. In the meantime, county staff has ensured that the building is maintained and has been working to update collections software critical to maintaining an inventory. A comprehensive inventory of the collection needs to be undertaken.

Local history groups around the county had been meeting for years as the History Roundtable. Upon learning of the closure, the group began to discuss ways to preserve and protect our cultural heritage, and engaged the Committee for Community Involvement (CCI) which has written a letter encouraging the BCC to continue its role in maintaining the building until a solution is found, and to engage in a public process to find a way forward. In the face of annual budget shortfalls, despite the fact that museum funding came from Oregon Lottery dollars, several commissioners expressed a desire to disperse the collection.

Roundtable members encourage the community to contact your commissioners to ask them to engage in a public, collaborative effort to establish responsible stewardship of the county’s historical collections. The future of our past is in their hands.

Young House trees recognized by the Oregon Heritage Tree Program

In April, we received word that three trees on the grounds of the Elizabeth Constable & John Quincy Adams Young House on Cornell were added to Oregon’s Heritage Tree list. The huge Shellbark hickory stands behind the house, while the Bartlett pear and the Gravenstein apple are just on the west side of the house. The house and small park are owned by Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation District (THPRD).

Treekeepers of Washington County members have long loved these Young House trees and filed the paperwork with the Oregon Travel Information Council to nominate them as Heritage Trees. Although achieving this designation does not give the trees any protections, gaining recognition for them may help bring them to the community’s attention. Standing in the deep shade of the hickory tree or watching a deer enjoy fallen fruit from the ancient apple tree—those are thrills that can deepen our enjoyment of trees.

In 2021 members of the Cedar Mill Historical Society spearheaded an effort to revitalize the long-neglected fruit trees. As part of the pruning work, cuttings were taken from the pear and apple tree and grown out by Cornell Farm Nursery. The saplings will be available for purchase at the 2025 Cedar Mill Cider Festival on September 21. THPRD, the Friends of the Young House, and the Heritage Tree group will conduct a dedication during the Festival.