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History of Parkdale, Oregon
History of Parkdale, Oregon
by Stuart of GorgeConnection.com
The land along the Cloud Cap road, which is now Hwy 35 became a popular destination of homesteaders in the late 1800's. A school was built at China Hill which was named for the Chinese road crew. Twelve pupils were taught by Miss Hope Shelly. In 1908, the school was moved one mile east and it was named Valley Crest. Carrie Monroe was also one of the teachers.
Amos Billing homesteaded on the north side of the valley adjoining Dee Road and he built a log cabin on what came to be known as Billings Road. At the time, it was a wilderness location and Billing would bring Mary Fish Gribble and her sons to the location. It is north of what is now Jims market.
The Oregon Lumber Company built the first railroad in the valley and it became the year of the world fair. A German engineer was engaged to construct a splash dam above the old immigrant ford at the foot of Middle Mountain. This was the location where the east fork flows into the middle fork. The large sawmill and world markets started a boom in the area which lasted until after World War I. A ten-acre townsite was laid out in 1911-1912 after the completion of the railroad to Parkdale. Popular vote by the community was responsible for the name Parkdale and the name was given to its first post office, which for many years was operated at McIsaac’s store.
By 1907, many new settlers arrived at Parkdale and this influx continued for almost a decade. People were arriving from as far away as New York and although these city dwellers were unaccustomed to life in the country, as many as 68 established themselves in the upper valley from 1907 to 1916. Only a few descendants remain today.
When the area around Parkdale was just beginning as a settlement, it was a forested area with just a few ranches and a small number of homesteads. Over the years it has developed into an important orchard and farming community. Parkdale became a progressive town with an important trading and civic center.
The area around Parkdale was a delight to the community with its view of Mt. Hood and it was dreamed that when the Mount Hood Railroad would extend it's system from Dee to Parkdale in 1909, new settlers would be tempted to locate in the forested areas and convert the land to commercial farmland. The community’s dream was realized when the railroad was completed and many passengers from Hood River to Parkdale had only one vision. They wanted to locate new homes and plant apple trees and strawberries. Many were quite wealthy and the work of clearing the land of the large conifer trees went forward without interruption. Thousands of apple trees were planted within a year of the new settlers arrivals. Before the boom time of the railroad, only a few orchards had been planted in the upper valley.
At the time of the establishment of the railroad, there was no trading center at Parkdale. In 1910, R.J. McIsaac saw an opportunity created by the railroad and established a store. This of course, was in the town’s infancy and the store has grown up with the community. The name of R.J McIsaac will always be associated with Parkdale’s progressive movement. McIsaac also developed Middle Fork Irrigation and established the Parkdale Water System.
A good combination for prosperity for Parkdale was set up. The upper valley was teeming with potatoes, strawberries, and dairy products. There was virgin forest to harvest and summer tourists came in droves. The upper valley had Parkdale as its center. Within a year, the one-room school with Hazel Edington as teacher became too small so a high school was built by 1914 on ground purchased from H.L. Sommers.
About the time of the arrival of New Yorkers in 1906, Japanese men came to the Upper Valley for work. They were all bachelors so they sent for their far-away sweethearts and sometimes picture brides. When the ladies arrived, they got married and had children. The men are all dead now but some of the wives are still living (2010). Some of their grand-children are following in the footsteps of their ancestors as farmers.
Parkdale has always been a cooperative community; irrigation, church, school roads, and an abundance of orchards. With good transportation, medical, dental, and hospitalization are taken care of in Hood River which is only 17 miles away.
Numerous varieties of people have come to the area to work the orchards and were always happily assimilated into the community. In the 1930s, the “dust bowlers” from Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, and Oklahoma arrived. After World War II, “winos” became a by-word for seasonal jobs but they were fondly remembered by the growers. The sixties were the era of “hippies” and they greatly aided in securing the crops from winter snows while they attempted to find themselves. Many did find themselves and many now remain as conservative local citizens. Today there is an influx of aliens from Mexico and although there have been a few problems with the border patrol and labor camps, the fruit has always been kept off the trees and under wraps.
