In this edition: Garden Home Extension Group gavels, 1953 Community Church parsonage consecration, more historic names for local Garden Home streets, Remember series entry, Discover Garden Home series entry, April 2021 Gazette.
Garden Home Extension Group gavels
Garden Home Methodist Church gavels 1955
Thanks to our local Garden Home Extension group for their donation of two vintage gavels to us. Otto Arndt gave these gavels to two mission groups at the old Garden Home Community Church. You may recall that Otto lived across from the church, on Garden Home Road. His daughter also gave us his excellent aerial photos of Garden Home.
The Garden Home Extension Study Group has been meeting for over 55 years. Oregon State University sponsors the Extension Program, which is available through the Land Grant College funds for the State of Oregon. They have sent the year’s curriculum to the organization for the officers to then select those subjects of most interest to the local members.
Four lessons that have been selected by the Garden Home Extension Group for 2021 are:
- The Night Janitor” about our brain as we sleep;
- Medical Cannabis…Benefits & Ill Effects;
- Ireland, Green, Clean, Moist and Windy;
- and (my favorite) It’s All About Me…Writing Your Personal History.
They will also host a summer picnic and an outing. For more information or wish to participate, please call Diana Anderson, 503-992-6946.
Parsonage Consecration at the Garden Home Community Church, August 16, 1953
Old Community Church Parsonage Consecration, August 16, 1953 – cover
Old Community Church Parsonage Consecration, August 16, 1953 – inside
Old Community Methodist Church
This church was located on the south side of Garden Home Road at SW 71st. The one hundred year old bell that was hung in the belfry there in 1918 now hangs in the grocery store and will be part of the new store. Many churches of this era wanted their ministers to live near nearby and thus worked to fund and develop a parsonage. This is the church program that the Garden Home Community Church used for the Consecration of the Parsonage on Sunday, August 16, 1953. The minister Reverend John Woods and his wife and four children used the new parsonage.
More historic names for local Garden Home streets
Judge Erasmus Shattuck
SW Shattuck Road sign
SW Shattuck Road (north off of Vermont at SW 65th): Judge Erasmus D. Shattuck was born in 1824 and raised in Vermont. He excelled in school, taught Latin and mathematics and then went on to study law in offices in Atlanta and New York where he passed the bar. With his new wife, Sarah Armstrong, they came to Oregon by boat, via the Isthmus of Panama in 1853.
He entered local politics, education and public life, participating in framing the Constitution of the State of Oregon. As a judge in the Oregon Supreme Court, he also served on the City Council and was an early trustee of the Portland Library. In 1872 he purchased land from the Patton estate “to establish a country estate for his later years.” Shattuck Station was a stop for the Red Electric which was on his property north of Vermont St., associated with a major train wreck in May of 1920, one-hundred years ago. (The Oregon Electric ran through Garden Home.)
Upon his death, Harvey Scott, Morning Oregonian editor, wrote: He is a studious reader, a profound thinker, and an earnest and logical talker. How aspirational!
*Illustrated History of the State of Oregon, Chicago, Lewis Publishing Co. 1893.
*Ancestry. *National Register of Historic Places, under Ole Oleson.
Scholls Ferry Tales book cover
SW Scholls Ferry Road sign
SW Scholls Ferry Road: In 1847, Peter Scholl was an early settler in the area now called Scholls, southwest of Garden Home. He “built a raft of cedar logs and operated it as a ferry across the river. The raft was operated by human power, having been pulled across the river by rope. This later developed to be Scholls Ferry—one of the most prominent ferries on the Tualatin River for many years.” It took the people of Scholls three days to take produce to Portland, traveling in groups of 3 to 5 wagons to cut and dig roadway as needed.
*Scholls Ferry Tales by Margaret Hesse, published by Groner Women’s Club, Scholls, Oregon 1976.
Remember!
Mt St Helens eruption May 18, 1980
Remember the Big Blast 41 years ago, Mt. St. Helens major earthquake May 18, 1980. Killed 57 people.
Discover Garden Home!
Beaver dam at Hideaway Park, April 2021 (photo Kevin Mistler)
Look for the beaver dam on Woods Creek just as you enter Hideaway Park (drive carefully at entrance). Note the chewed trees and backed up water. A tributary of Fanno Creek, Woods Creek, goes under Oleson and merges with Fanno Creek inside the Portland Golf Club. Fanno Creek crosses the Fanno Creek Trail near SW 86th Ave. We will update you with more information later.
Help us find the funny, interesting, or historical places in Garden Home for drive-by or walk-by enjoyment to feature in Discover Garden Home. Take some photos and send them to us at GardenHomeHistory@gmail.com. Each month, we will publish a new Garden Home destination to discover!
April 2021 Newsletter
Page 1 – GHHP Gazette – April 2021
Page 2 – GHHP Gazette – April 2021
Page 3 – GHHP Gazette – April 2021
Page 4 – GHHP Gazette – April 2021
News from March, 2021
St. Patrick’s Day in Garden Home! Enjoy this front yard display on SW 84th!
St Patricks yard display on SW 84th Ave
Where did these street names come from? Here are a few names from the south side of Garden Home Road: (the north side next time)
- Godwin Court (off of Alden): Jack Godwin grew up on Westgard, now SW 87th to become a builder in the area. Here is Jack as a boy on his pet burro, Babe.
- Skyhar Street (west off of SW Oleson): The Skyhar family owned much of the area around Garden Home Park.
- Holly Lane: Although the three early 1950s homes were built in a filbert orchard, Holly Lane was a short path in the newly platted Hollyhurst Addition, off of SW 87th.
- Shirley Lane and SW 88th Avenue (originally Dorothy Lane): Shirley Johnson was the daughter of the 1950’s Gust Johnson service station owner at the SW corner of the intersection. Her sister, the famous Dorothy Johnson is shown here, circa 1955, with the SW 88th sign that was to bear her name. However, the U.S. Post Office decreed that certain street names be changed to numbers. Dorothy Johnson lives in Florida and we enjoy her notes and love for Garden Home.
Jack Godwin on Babe the burro in front of Godwin home on Westgard Ave (now SW 87th)
Dorothy waving at street sign (now SW 88th Ave)
Congratulations to the Garden Home Gardeners for the new sign indicating their care of our many SW Oleson median gardens. This garden graces the middle of Oleson at Skyhar. The garden at Oleson and 80th has been cleaned up, ready for the spring and summer blooms covering the utility equipment.
Garden on SW Oleson Rd at SW Skyhar – Garden Home Gardeners, March 2021
Garden Home Gardeners – Oleson at Skyhar
Garden Home Gardeners – Adopt-A-Road sign
Firlock Lane: Although the street is now named SW 78th Ave., it was the route to the Firlock Station, a stop for the Oregon Electric train which also had an elevated platform for Aaron Frank’s horses to board for their trips to horse shows in California or New York. You may also have an old can of Firlock Paint, which was developed by Carlo Poutala in the 1970s.
Poutala, Firlock Paints
A Small Town Rises: A recently published book tells the fascinating story of a local girl who volunteered to go to Mississippi to work in the Civil Rights struggles of the 1960s. Mary Sue Gellatly, sister to Bill Gellatly of Garden Home, grew up in Multnomah Village and eventually married a Black volunteer with whom she worked in Mississippi. A Small Town Rises was written by Bill’s wife, Lee Anna Sherman, and is available from Garden Home Library or bookstores. The book title adds: A Sharecropper and a College Girl Join the Struggle for Justice in Shaw, Mississippi.
February 14 Valentines Day and Oregon Statehood: Oregon officially became the 33rd state just 162 years ago in 1859! Here is a valentine postcard sent to Miss Vivian Tigard with the 1915 Garden Home postmark and simple address (courtesy Steve Bauer).
1915 Valentine’s Day postcard to Vivian Tigard – front
1915 Valentine’s Day postcard to Vivian Tigard – back
Steve Bauer sent us a second vintage postcard photo from Ebay, with a 1913 Garden Home postmark from Hillsdale depicting a train wreck. The writer tells Alfred: “I was over there March 1st. I went over with 2 horses from here. I rode them, it took me about 3 days. I stopped a day with Uncle & Auntie. I might be up sometime next month or July. Best regards to you all. Andrew” The train photo is marked PRN for Pacific Railway and Navigation Company. Thanks to Steve Bauer for the postcards.
1913 train wreck postcard – front
1913 train wreck postcard – back
Old Market Pub is now open for limited indoor dining in addition to the great plastic encased seating outdoors. One of the best outdoor spaces around! When you are inside, take a moment to find Garden Home History’s big vintage postal safe and historic photos from Colin Lamb’s Thriftway store. Visit the Old Market Pub website. Read more about the history of the Old Market Pub.
2021 Old Market Pub and Brewery outdoor seating
GardenHomeHistory.com website statistics: During January 2021, we had 1,045 visitors with 2,621 page views. During the year 2020, we had 11,149 visitors and 32,999 page views. The most popular articles generally are our stories on:
- Mark and Leona Whitney and the Whitney Cannery, 1950-1976
- Mollie Miles – The Years After 1945
- Garden Home Junction of the Oregon Electric Railway
Our popular story on Mollie Miles had 102 views just in January 2021. We suspect many of those visitors were actually looking for the Mollie Miles from the Ford vs. Ferrari motion picture. Our Mollie Miles lived over near the Portland Golf Club and has a most interesting story.
Mollie Miles from Garden Home
New Housing Developments: You have probably noticed the two large housing developments on SW Garden Home Road. Both the Piper Ridge development at SW 87th Ave. and the Garden Home Estates between SW 81st Ave. and SW 78th Ave. will each have 9 new homes developed by Westwood Homes (plus the original homes on the respective lots). Both properties were previously large pastures with horses in the last century. Early Garden Home was platted with large lots for typical family needs such as a cow, chickens, fruit trees, pasture, and a garden.
Recent Events
Thanks to a generous donor, our special 10th Anniversary Gazette was printed and postal mailed to our entire list of subscribers. Thanks for the many nice comments about receiving this printed Gazette which was postal mailed to almost 400 families for whom we have home addresses. We print and mail our three or four Gazettes each year to those families who have paid an annual $10 for this service. All Gazettes are on our website under Newsletters.
To receive The Garden Home History Gazette and our Updates by email, send us an email at gardenhomehistory@gmail.com, and ask to receive it. It’s free! Or, you can subscribe to the printed editions of the Gazette by US Mail for $10 per year.
GHHP Gazette – December 2020 (PDF)
Get Involved
Historic Garden Home street sign
Historic Garden Home street signs: We currently have about 35 of the Historic Garden Home street sign toppers in our community. Each sign was purchased by a friend or family member to honor their loved one. Click here to view photos of the signs and for information about sponsoring a sign.
Our generous donors permit us to print and mail this newsletter for our non-e-mail people and for the Garden Home Recreation Center. We also replace the Historic Garden Home street signs once for signs that disappear, current cost for each sign. We also have website costs, printing, paper, plaques and many other costs of an organization. Donor names are listed on our History Bulletin Board at the Recreation Center. Thank you to all of our donors and to all of our volunteers for their time and skills.
Garden Home History Project 