 |
| They were spelling it wrong on signs even then! The garage was a place for guys to keep up on community news while they filled up with Red Crown gasoline. |
History in the News
Business in early Cedar Mill
Today’s Cedar Mill business community supports dozens of commercial services. In the 1860’s the area was largely isolated until the surveying of Barnes Road and the connection of Cornell Road to Portland. Once these routes were established, a ready commercial market was created. By 1886, the Oregon, Washington and Idaho Gazetteer and Business Directory described Cedar Mill as:
“A post office in Washington County 7 miles west of Portland, and 9 east of Hillsboro, the county seat. Portland is the nearest railroad station and banking point. A steam and water power saw mill are here. Population, 50. Mail tri-weekly. DA Griffen, postmaster. Dysle Bros. blacksmiths and wagon makers. Everson and Briggs, steam saw mill. DA Griffen general store. Griffen and Sammons Cattle dealers. Hall AC blacksmith. Hall, John C. deputy county surveyor. Reeves and Buchanan, peddlers. Young Bros. saw mill.”
By 1899, the Gazetteer estimated the community had a population of around 100. Through the years, we were able to research various local businesses. By 1882 the general store was established along the Barnes/ Cornell Road intersection and it served as a focal point for the community for many years. The historic building was dismantled in 1959.
 The post office was established in 1874 in the home of JQA Young on Cornell Road near NW 119th. The post office was closed in 1904 but the building still stands, property of the Tualatin Hills Park and Recreation District. The cedar mill was adjacent but all that remains is the waterfall on the south side of the road, next to the old house.
A number of blacksmiths operated in the area but one of the earliest was Fred Dysle who established his commercial smithy in 1881. He ran his shop next to his house on the north side of Cornell about a mile and a half east of NW 143rd. In 1882 his brother, Arnold, joined him as a wagon maker.
Around 1900, Florion Osterhammer opened a cobbler shop in his home on Cornell across from the Cedar Mill Garage. For nearly 30 years, the bachelor made and repaired shoes and work and logging boots for area workers as well as repairing all sorts of leather goods, even torn baseballs and mitts.
The Cedar Mill Garage (which used to be located just west of Cedar Mill Veterinary on Cornell) was built by Byron Stark in 1919 along Cornell across from the Cedar Mill Store. For ten years he repaired Model Ts, farm equipment and commercial vehicles such the general store’s delivery truck and the West Hills Dairy van. The business served the community under different owners including George Foege until 1958. The building housed a variety of enterprises until it was demolished in 2006.
 The West Hills Dairy flourished for 25 years near NW 93rd and Cornell. The old homestead land was purchased by the Wuthrich brothers in 1920. Milk bottles were loaded into the dairy truck and sold in West Portland along a standard delivery route. The Dairy closed in 1944 but the original house still stands.
NOTE: The Cedar Mill History book is temporarily out of print. Copies are available at the library and sometimes used copies can be found at Powells.
|
