(The following is re-printed from the History of Happy Valley
produced by Grade Five at Happy Valley School, May 1969)
TRANSPORTATION AND ROADS
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For a few years after the first settlers moved into the valley there were no real roads
there, only trails made by wagons cutting a track through the woods and fields. Gradually
the trail over Mt. Scott was widened and improved by the people living in the valley. They
used road scrapers drawn by horses to do this work. This road was terribly steep, very
muddy in winter, very dusty in summer. In some places it was impassable in very wet
weather, so it was improved by having logs placed side by side across it in those areas.
This was called a "corduroy road" and was pretty rough to travel over. Later,
this road was graveled, but not until 1915.
About 1900 John M. Deardorff felt that there should be another way out of the valley
besides the difficult road over Mt. Scott, and he persuaded the county commissioners to
have a new road surveyed and built going north to Foster Road. He also helped with the
building of this road and it is now called "Deardorff Road."
Little by little these roads were improved by the county, but not until more modern times
were any of them paved. The first road paved was in 1925.
At first wagons were the main means of transportation. As the roads got better some
buggies were used and finally, carriages. The first automobile in the valley was owned by
a family called "Pearson" and was purchased by them in 1915.
MODERN CONVENIENCES
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Telephone lines were extended into the valley in 1908 and the first telephone installed.
In the fall of 1925 electricity was brought in. Some of the "old timers"
remember this date very well because it happened just before Christmas and they put
electric lights on their Christmas tree instead of the dangerous lighted candles.
The dates of the first radio and television set are uncertain. By the time these
inventions were common, so many new families had moved into the valley that several may
have appeared at the same time.
After World War II, or about 1946, a central water system was built and homes were then
able to have modern bathrooms and kitchens. Sewage disposal was by means of privately
owned cesspools. A fire department was established soon afterwards when Happy Valley
received its charter and was constituted a city. Its population is now over one thousand
people.
Footnote: Research for this article by Mike Elliott and Scotty Martin
HOMES AND BUILDINGS
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The Deardorff family built the first home in the valley in 1852. It was constructed of
logs and there was just one room with a large fireplace at one end. This room, with the
attic above, sheltered the family until more rooms could be added. This they did from time
to time until the house contained as many as four rooms. Much later this house was
replaced by a frame house built in the style of the houses of that day, in two stories,
with about four rooms below and two or three rooms above, with a large attic above that. A
few of the first frame houses in the valley also had basements underneath. A well was
usually dug as near the kitchen as possible so that water would be close at hand.
OLD HOMES
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Several of the old frame houses are still standing
and most of them are still occupied. Mr. Archie Strickrott and his wife still live in
their home at 12510 Southeast Mt. Scott Boulevard. |
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The house built by the Ulrich's on this same street
is now the Marvin home (Editor's Note: In 1996 this is the Cliff Anderson home) |
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George Zinser built the house just east of the fire
station. This was the first plastered house in the valley. In 1901 Charles Rebstock bought
that place and lived there for several years. It is now occupied by others.
Fred Zinser's first home was a log cabin on Mt. Scott built in 1890. This was the
birthplace of Elmer, Royal, and Lydia Zinser, all of whom still live in the valley. Later
they built a large home on the site of the present Kirk Cooper home. When this house
burned down another was built in its place. Finally, this one was moved down Mt. Scott
Boulevard a little way to make room for the new Cooper home. The Eberlin's now live in the
large Zinser home.
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The old Paulson home, built around 1890, still
stands near 132nd Street and King Road, but it has long since been deserted and is now
known as "The Haunted House" by all the children in the valley! (Editor's Note:
This house no longer stands) |
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A few very old barns still remain, the most notable
being the one at Happy Valley Dairy which is close to one hundred years old. It is the
only building left from the original donation land claims and was built by John M.
Deardorff. It's timbers are hand hewn and mortised, and tied with oak pins. This building
was meant to last a long time, and it has. Concerning this barn, Arthur Deardorff ,
grandson to the man who built it, relates this amusing story:
"Shortly after the barn was completed, a man of German descent heard about it. After
looking it over carefully, he turned to the builder - my grandfather - and said 'A dom
fine barn, dot - dom vel poot togedder, too!'"
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The old German was right. The barn is in good
condition today and is still being used by the dairy. (Editor's Note: The barn is still
there in 1996, but the dairy is not!)
Footnote: Research for this article done by Jay Canary and Chaud Spitzer
CHURCH
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One of the early settlers, Mr. Harden, donated some of his land for a church, the corner
of 132nd Street and Southeast King Road. (Editor's Note: Should this be 129th and King?)
The first building was frame, consisted of just one room, and was put up in 1891, and its
denomination was Evangelical. There was no resident pastor. Every Sunday a minister from
Lents walked over the mountain to hold services in the church .
Before the building of the church the people went to Sunnyside or to Rock Creek for
worship. Later, a few of the people who did not belong to the Evangelical church attended
services held in the school house by ministers of their faith.
The original church building was torn down in 1915 and replaced by a larger and more
modern one which is still standing. Regular services are still held in this little church
which is now known as the Happy Valley United Brethren Church, and it continues to serve
the spiritual need of the people.(Editor's Note: In 1996 this is known as the Happy Valley
Evangelical Church)
An interesting incident concerning the church is told by one of the descendants of the
early members of this church. As the story goes, the language used in the services was
English at first. Then, several German families moved into the valley and became members
of the church. Soon all the services began to be held in the German language. This
continued until the Rebstock family came. Mr. Rebstock was asked for his opinion about the
language. He replied that since this was an English speaking country to which all of them
belonged the services should be in English. His opinion was respected and the services
were in English from that day on.
Footnote: Research done by Lori Stein, Ruth Moultrie, Jacque Anderegg, Terri Ann Davis
CEMETERY
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From the very beginning the settlers needed a place to bury their dead, and such a place
was found near the summit of a neighboring knoll now called "Scouters'
Mountain." The first to be laid in it was an unknown man who had arrived in the same
wagon train with the Deardorff's and who died in 1852, shortly after reaching the valley.
John M. Deardorff donated five acres of his land on the mountain for the cemetery, only
one acre of which has actually been used. This is where twenty-seven graves, mostly of the
Deardorff's and their relatives, are found in a fenced off area surrounded by a wilderness
of tall trees, and adorned by clumps of wild flowers in springtime. Most of the headstones
have been restored; a few had to be replaced by newer ones. The first grave is that of the
wagon pioneer, the last is that of Edith Guidi, 1932. Twelve of the graves are of children
and infants. Prominent, old fashioned headstones mark the resting places of the original
pioneers: Christian and Matilda Deardorff, John M. and Rachel Deardorff, John Bennet and
Clara Deardorff. The cemetery has been closed since the burial of Edith Guidi. It can be
reached by means of a trail leading down from the Boy Scout Lodge on top of the mountain
and by another trail from the approach road to the lodge.
Two of the Deardorff descendants, Mrs. Mabel Cockle and Miss Annette Deardorff, have
formed an association called the "Christilla Pioneer Cemetery Association" to
help restore the cemetery and keep it in good condition. A deed has been obtained to keep
these graves set aside as a county cemetery. At present, it is under the custodianship of
the Boy Scouts of America, and permission to visit this cemetery must be obtained from the
Lodge.
Footnote: Research done by Lori Stein, Ruth Moultrie, Jacque Anderegg, Terri Ann Davis
EDUCATION
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<Picture: First School Building>
The pioneers were very much interested in the education of their children. For the first
few years, however, children had to go to Rock Creek or to Sunnyside to school. In 1891
John Bennett Deardorff donated an acre of his land for a school. A small one room frame
building with a steeple on top was constructed in the same place where Happy Valley School
is now located, on Southeast King Road. Mr. Deardorff also got a large school bell made
and had it put up in the steeple. Rachel Deardorff made the first American flag for the
school. It contained forty-four stars at that time. Inside the schoolroom two small
cloakrooms were built near the front door. The teacher's desk stood on a raised platform
at the other end with a door on either side leading into the yard. Students' desks were
double and were screwed to the floor in two long rows leaving a middle aisle. A large wood
stove stood in the middle of this aisle and kept the room warm in winter. Water had to be
brought in a bucket from a nearby spring, and everyone drank from the same dipper. Two
outdoor toilets were built behind the school, one for boys and one for girls. The only
playground equipment were homemade seesaws.
One teacher taught all of the grades from one through eight in one room. The total number
of pupils averaged about forty. Some were as young as six years, and occasionally one was
as old as twenty-one. This was because some older bays and girls who had not had an
opportunity to go to school when they were younger wanted to go to school to learn to read
and write .
The first teacher was Mr. Lonnie Brooks who taught for one year. Between 1892 and 1930
there were twenty-seven teachers in all. Most of them came from outside the valley. A few
of them boarded with families in the valley while they were teaching. In 1930 Miss Mabel
Scott began to teach and remained at the school until 1955 - a long record!
The original school building was replaced by a larger one in 1917. A basement containing a
wood burning. furnace was added, also a covered playshed in 1921. In 1936 a wing
containing a stage was put on. Two more classrooms were added in 1952 and another two in
1956. Finally, in 1960 the main part of our present school building went up. This section
was built of brick. In 1967 the latest addition of the school was added, the north section
containing the fifth and sixth grade classrooms.
The first school was called "Christilla", a name formed from the first part of
"Christian" and the last part of "Matilda", after the first pioneers
in the valley. Later this was changed to "East Mount Scott" and finally to
"Happy Valley".
Footnote: Research done by Heidi Larson and Patty Wyler
ORIGIN OF NAME: "HAPPY VALLEY"
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A descendant of an early settler gives this version:
The valley was referred to as a "Hollow". Boys from the "Hollow"
enjoyed drinking Grandpa Deardorff's delicious apple cider before attending church
services at Sunnyside and often used to arrive there singing loudly and gaily. Sunnyside
dwellers were soon referring to them as "The happy boys from the Hollow," and
after awhile the area became known as "HAPPY VALLEY"
(The above is re-printed from the History of Happy Valley produced by Grade Five at Happy
Valley School , May 1969)
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© 1996, 1998 Gustaf Communications, Happy Valley, Oregon All Rights
Reserved.
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