Cedar Mill is a suburb in the

Portland, Oregon metropolitan area The Portland metropolitan area is a metropolitan area, metro area in the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington (state), Washington centered on the principal city of Portland, Oregon. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) identifies it as ...

of the United States; it is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, su ...

and an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either hav ...

in Washington County, north of U.S. Route 26 and west of the

Willamette Stone The Willamette Stone was a small stone obelisk originally installed by the Department of Interior in 1885 in the western hills of Portland, Oregon in the United States to mark the intersection and origin of the Willamette meridian and Willamett ...

. It received its name from a sawmill on Cedar Mill Creek, which cut Western Redcedars that were once the dominant tree in the area. The mill's pond was near the intersection of 119th and Cornell Road, and could still be seen into the 1960s, although the mill itself had ceased operating in 1891. The name was established in 1874 with the opening of a U.S. post office named Cedar Mill. As of the 2010 census, the community population was 14,546.

History

Early history

Before white settlement the land was inhabited by the

Atfalati The Atfalati , also known as the Tualatin or Wapato Lake IndiansRobert H. Ruby, John A. Brown & Cary C. Collins, Atfalati, in ''A Guide to the Indian Tribes of the Pacific Northwest'' (3d ed. 2010, University of Oklahoma Press) are a tribe of the ...

, a subgroup of the

Kalapuya The Kalapuya are a Native American people, which had eight independent groups speaking three mutually intelligible dialects. The Kalapuya tribes' traditional homelands were the Willamette Valley of present-day western Oregon in the United Sta ...

, called the "Tualatin" or "Wapato Lake Indians" by settlers. Nearby Beaverton was known by the Natives as "Cha Kepi", meaning "Place of the Beaver". While in 1782 the native population exceeded several thousand, due to diseases brought by the settlers sixty years later, in 1842, the population was merely six hundred. By 1890 the members of the tribe had been reduced to 28 and the last known speaker of the Tualatin language, Louis Kenoyer, died in 1936. Early settlers in the area would recall Native Americans passing through the area, visiting their former lands. Most of the land in the area, as was typical in the

Tualatin Valley The Tualatin Valley is a farming and suburban region southwest of Portland, Oregon in the United States. The valley is formed by the meandering Tualatin River, a tributary of the Willamette River at the northwest corner of the Willamette Valley, ...

, was settled in accord with the

Donation Land Claim Act of 1850 The Donation Land Claim Act of 1850, sometimes known as the Donation Land Act, was a statute enacted by the United States Congress in late 1850, intended to promote homestead settlements in the Oregon Territory. It followed the Distribution-Pree ...

. Pioneer Samuel Walters was the first white settler to arrive in the area, doing so in 1847. William Cornell, namesake of

Cornell Road Cornell Road is an east–west street and traffic corridor in the Portland metropolitan area, in Multnomah and Washington counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. It crosses the Tualatin Mountains (West Hills) between the Willamette Valley and ...

, settled near what is now the easternmost part of Cedar Mill with his wife Emily in 1852. The area became a

school district A school district is a special-purpose district that operates local public primary and secondary schools in various nations. North America United States In the U.S, most K–12 public schools function as units of local school districts, whi ...

in 1856. The sawmill was established in 1859 by John Halsey Jones and his father, Justus, and was the "first organized business"Brody and Olson, p. 41 in what is now Cedar Mill. Plans for the mill, which was located on the south side of

at McDaniel Road (now N.W. 119th Avenue), were established as early as 1855 by the 23-year old Jones. The Jones Sawmill was sold in December 1869 to John Quincy Adams Young and William Everson, becoming the Young–Everson Mill. It was renamed the Young Brothers Sawmill after J.Q.A. Young's sons Linc and Jasper acquired it. It ceased operation in 1891 and was abandoned in 1892. Many of Cedar Mill's early settlers were Irish Catholics. Thomas and Ann Leahy reached the Portland area in 1852 and in 1865 the Leahys, now including their infant son John, moved into a house on present-day Leahy Road, the family's namesake. Thomas died in 1874, and Ann in 1913. Following Ann Leahy's death, the property was divided among John and his brother Hugh. After their deaths in logging accidents in 1929 and 1940 respectively, the property continued in the family and descendants of the Leahy family continue to reside there today. Owen and Mary Murray, the namesake of Murray Road, moved to Oregon in the early 1880s and established a 120-acre farm. Their son Joseph Murray sold the farm due to debts brought on by the Great Depression in 1936.

Mill and post office

Front of JQA Young House in Cedar Mill, Oregon (2015)

According to ''

Oregon Geographic Names ''Oregon Geographic Names'' is a compilation of the origin and meaning of place names in the U.S. state of Oregon, published by the Oregon Historical Society. The book was originally published in 1928. It was compiled and edited by Lewis A. Mc ...

'', a "Cedar Mill" post office was established in 1874, in the

John Quincy Adams Young House The John Quincy Adams and Elizabeth Young House, also known as the John Quincy Adams Young House, is a historic American saltbox house built in 1869 in the U.S. state of Oregon.

, built in 1869, which still stands on Cornell Road and is owned by the

Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation District Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation District (THPRD) is a special parks district located in the eastern part of Washington County in the U.S. state of Oregon. Created in 1955, the district covers all of the city of Beaverton and many of those commu ...

. The name was chosen by Young, who had "been commissioned to establish a post office in the area"Brody and Olson, p. 94 and been named the first postmaster. The Young–Everson sawmill, specializing in cedar products, was still the only business operating in the area at the time and was also located directly adjacent to the post office, making "Cedar Mill" a logical choice for the name of the new postal station. Around the same time, in 1874, Young retired from milling, sold the mill to Everson, and moved his family into a new, larger house on the north side of Cornell Road, just across from the 1869-built house that was now being used as a post office. Along with the post office, Young also operated a small store on the ground floor of his former house. In 1976, the Russell family of Cedar Mill had owned the house since 1914. John Q. A. Young served as Cedar Mill postmaster until December 1881. His successor, George Reeves, moved the post office in 1882 to a new general store that Reeves opened in that year, located just northwest of the intersection of Barnes and Cornell Roads. The Cedar Mill post office, always located within a store, was moved two more times before closing on July 3, 1904. The final stamp cancelled at the post office was owned in 1976 by Bernard P. Young, a descendant of John and Elizabeth Young.

20th century

The present-day Leedy Grange #339 building, near the corner of Saltzman and Cornell Roads and near the Cedar Mill Library, was built in 1900 (according to Leedy Grange 1903). It originally housed a

Modern Woodmen Modern Woodmen of America (MWA) is one of the largest (based on assets) fraternal benefit societies in the United States, with more than 750,000 members. Total assets reached US$15.4 billion in 2016. Though it shares the same founder, it is not ...

organization; however, in 1913 (1906 according to the Grange) the building was sold to the Leedy Grange, and the second story removed. The monthly Cedar Mill Flea Market was held at the grange the first Saturday of each month but was discontinued. The first Flea Market was held in June 2010. Public transit service to Cedar Mill was operated in the 1940s by Tualatin Valley Stages, which after 1953 became Tualatin Valley Buses, Inc.–part of a consortium of privately owned companies known as the "Blue Bus" lines. It continued to serve the area through the 1960s, until

TriMet TriMet, formally known as the Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon, is a public agency that operates public transport, mass transit in a Transportation in Portland, Oregon, region that spans most of the Portland metropolit ...

took over the Blue Bus lines in 1970. A Cedar Mill Heritage Quilt was created in the summer of 1976 by 15 local women. It detailed various aspects of Cedar Mill history. Former U.S. Senator

Maurine Neuberger Maurine Neuberger-Solomon, best known as Maurine Neuberger (née Brown; January 9, 1907February 22, 2000) was an American politician who served as a United States senator for the State of Oregon from November 1960 to January 1967. She was the f ...

declared the winner of the quilting competition in September 1976.

Geography

Cedar Mill Falls - Cedar Mill, Oregon (Feb

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy An economy is an area of th ...

, the CDP has a total area of , all land. The appropriately named Cedar Mill Creek flows through the area. The creek begins its course in the Forest Heights neighborhood in northwest

Multnomah County Multnomah County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 815,428. Multnomah County is part of the Portland–Vancouver– Hillsboro, OR–WA Metropolitan Statistical Area. Tho ...

, then passes through Cedar Mill before flowing into Beaverton Creek in

Tualatin Hills Nature Park The Tualatin Hills Nature Park is a 222-acre nature park and wildlife preserve in Beaverton, Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's nort ...

. North Johnson Creek, another waterway in the area, begins south of Cedar Mill Creek and joins the main stream at the

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine given ...

World Campus. Cedar Mill Falls is the area's only waterfall, flowing near the Cedar Mill Greenway and JQA Young House. The waterfall, formerly used to provide power for the mill, is a 32-foot high basaltic rock formation. The Sue Conger Memorial Boardwalk, opened in June 2013, allows visitors of all abilities to view the falls. The only lake in the area is Hartung Lake, in the Hartung Farms neighborhood. Johnson Creek also flows through the area.

Demographics

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

of 2000, there were 12,597 people, 4,723 households, and 3,428 families residing in the CDP. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...

was 3,388.3 people per square mile (1,307.5/km²). There were 4,951 housing units at an average density of 1,331.7 per square mile (513.9/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 85.42%

White White is the lightness, lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully diffuse reflection, reflect and scattering, scatter all the ...

, 0.86%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

, 0.41%

Native American Native Americans or Native American may refer to: Ethnic groups * Indigenous peoples of the Americas, the pre-Columbian peoples of North and South America and their descendants * Native Americans in the United States * Indigenous peoples in Cana ...

, 7.47%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 0.21%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of Ocea ...

, 2.70% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 2.94% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race were 6.09% of the population. There were 4,723 households, out of which 39.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.8% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

living together, 8.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.4% were non-families. 21.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 4.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.12. In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 28.4% under the age of 18, 6.9% from 18 to 24, 31.1% from 25 to 44, 25.5% from 45 to 64, and 8.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.0 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $65,730, and the median income for a family was $79,529. Males had a median income of $62,901 versus $36,369 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the CDP was $33,555. About 4.7% of families and 6.7% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 7.4% of those under age 18 and 5.0% of those age 65 or over.

Infrastructure and services

Columbia Sportswear headquarters - Cedar Mill, Oregon

Sunset Swim Center - Beaverton, Oregon (2017)

Fire protection and EMS services are provided through

Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue (TVF&R) is a special-purpose government fire fighting and emergency services district in the Portland metropolitan area of Oregon. Established in 1989 with a merger between Washington County Fire District 1 and the T ...

. Cedar Mill is served by the

(THPRD), which maintains several parks and a few nature trails in the area, as well as the Sunset Swim Center (public swimming pool adjacent to and used by Sunset High School). Like all areas in the Portland metro area, Cedar Mill residents receive ''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 18 ...

''. Virginia Bruce operates the ''Cedar Mill News'', a monthly newsletter running since January 2003. The ''Cedar Mill News'' was known as ''The Milltowner'' in its first edition, but by February 2003 had been changed to its present form, the ''Cedar Mill News''. A local business association known as the Cedar Mill Business Association is involved in the area. The so-called "downtown" of the CDP is located along Cornell Road from approximately Sunset High School to just past the intersection with Saltzman Road.

Library

A non-profit organization named the Cedar Mill Community Library Association (founded in 1974) opened the area's first public library in 1976, located in a shopping center at the intersection of Cornell Road and Saltzman Road (the Milltowner Shopping Center).Ostergren, Jack (March 3, 1988). "Cedar Mill Library to triple its floor space". ''

'', West Zoner section, p. 1. Following expansions in 1978, 1988 and 2001, the Cedar Mill Community Library now occupies of space. The current site is in a former

Rodgers Rodgers is a patronymic surname of Old English origin derived from the Norman personal name "Roger", with the addition of the genitive suffix "-s" and meaning “son of Roger.” The intrusive “d” in Rodgers is either a Welsh or Scottish a ...

store, which closed in 1988 and was remodeled for the library, which previously had been located in much smaller space in another building in the same shopping center. The library was expanded in 2000–2001 through construction of a new two-story addition at the west end.Colby, Richard (May 11, 2000). "Bales enlarges the Cedar Mill Library; the food business will spend $1 million on the project". ''The Oregonian'', West Zoner section, p. 1. The Library Association operates both the Cedar Mill and

Bethany Bethany ( grc-gre, Βηθανία,Murphy-O'Connor, 2008, p152/ref> Syriac: ܒܝܬ ܥܢܝܐ ''Bēṯ ʿAnyā'') or what is locally known as Al-Eizariya or al-Azariya ( ar, العيزرية, " laceof Lazarus"), is a Palestinian town in the West ...

libraries.

Schools

Public schools in and around the Cedar Mill area include Terra Linda, Cedar Mill, Bonny Slope, and West Tualatin View elementary schools; Cedar Park and Stoller middle schools; and Sunset High School, all a part of the

Beaverton School District The Beaverton School District is a school district in and around Beaverton, Oregon, United States. It serves students throughout Beaverton, Hillsboro, Aloha, and unincorporated neighborhoods of Portland, OR. The Beaverton Elementary School Distri ...

. Private schools include

Catlin Gabel School The Catlin Gabel School is an independent preschool through 12th grade institution located on 67 acres in Portland, Oregon 5 miles west of downtown. Annual enrollment is approximately 780 students from a wide variety of cultures, backgrounds, and ...

, Prince of Peace Lutheran School, and St. Pius X Catholic School. Sunset High School front - Beaverton, Oregon (2015)

School history

The first school district serving Cedar Mill, along with nearby

, the Union School District (District 6), was established in 1856. The first school, serving grades 1 through 8, was built on land donated by pioneer Samuel Walters. The one-room Union School building, built in 1884 and located on what is now N.W. 143rd Avenue adjacent to the Union Cemetery, was replaced by a new two-room building on the same site in 1901, and the school remained in operation until 1948. District 6 was divided twice in the 1880s, with the eastern portion becoming the new Cedar Mill School District in 1883 and the northwestern portion becoming the Bethany School District in 1887 (serving the Bethany and

Rock Creek Rock Creek or Rockcreek may refer to: Streams United States * Rock Creek (California) * Rock Creek (Fountain Creek tributary), Colorado * Rock Creek (Idaho) * Rock Creek (Kankakee River tributary), Illinois * Rock Creek (Wapsipinicon River trib ...

areas, not Cedar Mill). The Union and Bethany districts consolidated in 1948, renamed as Sunset Valley School District. In 1960, the Cedar Mill and Sunset Valley Districts were absorbed by a greatly expanded Beaverton School District (District 48). Another former school in the area was Sunset Valley Elementary School, which was built in 1948 to replace Union School and was located on Murray Road immediately north of Sunset Highway. In 1979, shortly before the school's closure in spring 1980, the building was acquired by

Electro Scientific Industries Electro Scientific Industries, Inc. (ESI) is an American high technology company headquartered in the Portland, Oregon, metropolitan area, specifically in Beaverton, Oregon, since 2021, but from 1963–2021 it was based in the unincorporated C ...

(whose main campus was located nearby) and used as ESI's administrative headquarters until the mid-1990s, when it was razed and replaced by a

Home Depot The Home Depot, Inc., is an American multinational corporation, multinational home improvement retail corporation that sells tools, construction products, appliances, and services, including fuel and transportation rentals. Home Depot is the l ...

store.

Notable people

Aparna Brielle Aparna Brielle (born Aparna Parthasarathy on February 5, 1994) is an American actress. She portrayed Sarika Sarkar on the NBC television series '' A.P. Bio''. Early life Aparna Brielle was born in Clackamas, Oregon to Indian American couple P ...

, actress *

Luis Palau Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archaic ...

, evangelist *

Mike Remmers Michael Remmers (born April 11, 1989) is an American football offensive tackle for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Oregon State, where he finished his career as the Beaver with the sixth-m ...

, NFL Player *

Katee Sackhoff Katee Sackhoff (born April 8, 1980) is an American actress known for playing Lieutenant Kara "Starbuck" Thrace on the Sci Fi Channel's television program '' Battlestar Galactica'' (2004–2009), Niko Breckenridge on the Netflix series '' Anothe ...

, Actress

References

Works cited

External links

Cedar Mill community website

Cedar Mill Library website

Cedar Mill News
{{Authority control Census-designated places in Oregon Portland metropolitan area Unincorporated communities in Washington County, Oregon 1874 establishments in Oregon Populated places established in 1874 Census-designated places in Washington County, Oregon Census-designated places in Multnomah County, Oregon Unincorporated communities in Oregon