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There’s only one Cedar Mill!

A lot of people get confused about the name of our community. How many mills are there?  Much of the confusion is because of nearby Cedar Hills. People from other parts of the Metro area aren’t even sure if there are two distinct places or if it’s all Cedar Mills...

Cedar Mill was formally named in 1903, by former mill owner, John Quincy Adams Young, when he was named Postmaster. Cedar Hills, on the other hand, was the name of a huge subdivision begun in the 1950s north of Beaverton.

Even before that, however, people pluralized the mill. Here’s a photo of George Foege’s garage on Cornell. That’s George in the middle, with a couple of Standard Oil representatives. The photo is from the ‘30s (check out those jodhpurs!). Rumor has it that the garage was the location for “happy hour” where local guys would gather and pass a bottle after work! It was torn down in 2005 when veterinarian Rick White needed space for his dog boarding service.

Neither Cedar Mill nor Cedar Hills is a city. Both are communities in unincorporated Washington County. Want to find out why? Read our series, “Urban Needs, Rural Government” to get the full story.

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