A card promoting the town of Forest Grove, Oregon, showing a forested block "between Fourth and Fifth Street," which have since been renamed Douglas and Elm Streets. It may be the site of what is now Rogers Park. A large house is barely visible behind the trees. Lettering on the bottom and back of the card brags about how Forest Grove is the "prettiest town in Oregon" and provides facts about its infrastructure and industries. This is an example of "boosterism," a common practice in smaller towns in the American West circa 1900, in which towns promoted themselves as destinations for new residents and businesses. This particular card was published by the Forest Grove Board of Trade, which was founded in 1904 to promote the commercial interests of the community.
Black and white image of a young man in an informal jacket with a shirt and tie. James Meek was the grandson of Joseph L. Meek, a fur trapper who was one of the first European settlers in Washington County.
Black and white image of a woman in a dark dress holding a baby on her lap. The woman, Ruth Gates, was the granddaughter of Joseph Meek, mountain man and one of the first European settlers in Washington County.
Sepia-toned image of a group of adults and children gathered around a table covered with quarts of strawberries, with almost everyone in the family holding strawberries. John Holmason and his wife, Rosa, are the couple in the center of the picture. Since the clothing worn in this picture is the same as that worn in WCMpic_12008 and WMCpic_012009, it is very likely that this picture was taken at the same time and also at the Holmasons' new, stick-built home. It is not known whether Holmason also acquired the fields which produced the strawberries with the house or the picture was taken because it was working at Oregon Nursery Company which enabled Holmason to afford this home for his family. The Holmason family immigrated from Hungary in 1905 with their two oldest children, part of a large work force recruited by the Oregon Nursery Company. In addition to Magyar (Hungarian) listed as the Holmasons' native tongue, the same page in the census lists neighbors who spoke Japanese, Romanian, and Canadian French. (See WCMpic_012008 and WCMpic_012009 for other images of this family.)
Sepia-toned image of a family on the front steps of a house, the parents seated in chairs and the children standing on the steps in front of them. There are flower boxes on the porch and fresh flowers hang from the eaves of the porch. All appear to be dressed in their best clothes, and Mr. and Mrs. Holmason as well as their oldest child wear corsages. Since the clothing worn in this picture is the same as that worn in WMCpic_012008, it is very likely that these two pictures together form a 'before and after' set of images, showing the family at their 'old' home, the tent, and then at their new, stick-built home. The Holmasons came to Oregon in the early 1900s from Hungary with their two oldest children, August and Josephine, as part of the Hungarian work force recruited by Orenco Nursery. Listed in the 1910 census as owning their home in Orenco and judging by the ages of the children in the image, this picture was very likely taken in celebration of moving into their new house. (See WCMpic_012008 and WCMpic_012007 for other images of this family.)
Sepia-toned image mounted on cardboard of a homestead, just visible at the base of a hill, with a large number of burned trees visible in the foreground and the background. This photo was taken after the Tillamook Burn, though it is uncertain which particular fire this image represents. Many of the smaller property owners whose lands were burned in the fires eventually let their lands revert back to the counties rather than pay taxes on 'useless' burned land.
Sepia-toned image mounted on cardstock. Many items are displayed, including statues and framework, and several men and boys are posed with items or tools in hand. Eugene Reiss, the young boy in the center wearing a hat, was born in Hungary but spent a great many years in New York City working as a woodcarver. He arrived in Washington County in 1974 and lived here until his death in 1981. A number of his carvings and tools of his trade are in held by the Washington County Museum in their collections.
Black and white image of a newspaper clipping of a young man in a Union Army uniform. Charles Hickethier first appears in the Washington County census in 1880, working as a blacksmith and living with his parents, Daniel and Johana. All three of the Hickethiers list Prussia (now Germany) as their place of birth. (See also WCMpic_001032.)
Black and white image of a somewhat dilapidated saltbox style house. The J. Q. A. Young House is owned by Tualatin Hills Parks and Recreation District and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.
Black and white image of a family seated in a formal portrait studio. Samuel Walters was the first European American to claim land in the Cedar Mill area, and by marrying he gained even more land, since wives were allowed to claim anywhere from 160 to 320 acres in addition to that which their husbands already held. This provision in the Donation Land Claim Act meant that Oregon women were not only in high demand, but they married far younger than was typical for the times, most by the time they were 17, and some years earlier than that. (The national average age of marriage for women at this time was 20 to 21 years old.) In the 1870 census, Naomi Walters is listed as 17 years old with two sons, a three-year-old and a one-year-old, the two boys in this image. The younger child, Elial, died before the next census was taken in 1880. Naomi would have been approximately 18 or 19 in this image, and Samuel about 50 years old.
Black and white image of a couple. He is seated in a chair holding a pipe, while she stands next to him with one hand on his shoulder. Notice her tightly shaped bodice and the bustled skirt gathered at the back of her dress. Her dress also has velvet cuffs and a velvet collar, all typical of women's fashion styles in the late 1880s.
Black and white image of a small house with a covered front porch and two side additions. Snow covers the roof and the ground, and is piled up on the fence rails. Several of the trees behind the house appear to have been burned off.
Black and white print of the Walker family standing outside a cross-gabled, two -story home. Note the rain barrel by the eaves of the back porch, and the hammock hanging between posts on the front porch.
A portrait of early Oregon settler Henry Harmon Spalding (1803–1874). This carte-de-visite photograph probable dates from the 1860s or early 1870s. Spalding was a missionary who came to the Oregon Territory in 1835, where he attempted to convert the Nez Perce and other tribes to Christianity. A handwritten note from Spalding to T. R. Cornelius appears on the back.
Black and white photograph of a cross-gabled, two-story wooden house that appears to have been abandoned. The exterior is weathered, and porch supports in the back are knocked askew. Vegetation in the yard is overgrown. Cantilevered sections jut from the roof of one gable, forming a covered porch below. A wide, second-story balcony that appears to have covered a carriage porch at one time.
Black and white photo of a two-story house behind leafy trees. House appears to be Colonial style. A two-door car is parked in the front, and a riding lawnmower is just visible in front of that.
Sepia-toned image mounted on heavy mat of a horse and wagon and several people in front of a cross-gabled, two-story house. A man and a woman stand in front of the house; she wears a light-colored, long dress with slightly puffed sleeves. The man wears a suit and hat. The man in the wagon wears overalls, and the wagon appears to be one meant to carry either freight or passengers, with low sides and a flat cover over all. The house has a covered porch along one section, with stick-style detailing. The front of the house has a bay window next to a covered porch, both of which are incorporated into a balcony for the second floor. Two chimneys are visible, and a boardwalk runs in front of the picket fence that surrounds the house.
Sepia-toned image of a group of children gathered on the front steps of a building. The children range in age from very young to older teens. The girls wear knee-length skirts and dresses of varying styles; the boys wear everything from overalls to suits with short pants. Some boys wear hats, while others wear newsboy style caps. Most of the older students are girls, and there is a man in a suit at the rear of the group.
Sepia-toned image of a gabled building in some disrepair. The building is single-storied, with three visible windows. Boards are broken off of the lower outside portion, leaving the framing inside visible. The roof is in disrepair, and the building sits in a bare field. Trees in full leaf are visible in a row along the right side of the image.
Black and white image of a group of children in front of a building. Most are younger, though a few older girls stand at the back of the group. Most of the girls wear dresses with a yoke or collar. Some of the boys wear longer pants, jackets, and newsboy caps, while others have suspenders on. One boy in the front of the group holds a snare drum and two drumsticks. the children stand on a boardwalk in front of a building with two doors visible behind them in an opening.
Sepia-toned image of a wooden street with plank sections. Two streetlights sit on either side of the street in the foreground; and a number of two-story buildings line the street. A sign reading 'City Drug Store' extends from the second story of one storefront. A few men in suits stand about in front of the businesses.
