Trail Days 2006

What could a bank robber, three Quaker girls, a coonskin hat, and a few sticks of dynamite have to do with the history of Sherwood?
The crowds just kept getting bigger during our fourth annual walking tour, also known as Heritage Trail Days. By Sunday afternoon there were between 15 and 20 visitors exploring our core area. This included a couple from Germany and another from England (from Nottingham, no less!). The Sherwood Gazette reports that "...tourism will likely grow in the Washington and Yamhill County areas." To which we might add: "...along with the world's curiosity about our typical little 19th Century railroad town."
See Gallery for more pictures.

Trail Days Report

See Our 2006 TRAIL DAYS PAGE!

COMMENT: OLD PHOTOGRAPHS at MORBACK HOUSE

"It is sobering to realize how one little story can keep someone living on in a descendant's memory. Once that story is forgotten, the person vanishes as if he never existed." --Charles Simic, The New York Review, October 5,2006
These are but two of the many mystery photographs the Sherwood Historical Society has received. They are of people who may or may not have lived here at one time. We just don't know. What were their names? What did they know that we might benefit from today? We will probably never know.

The City Still Loves Us!

Sherwood Historical Society President June Reynolds receives a box of historical items from Sherwood Mayor Keith Mays. Most of the artifacts once belonged to Woodmen of the World, which provided vital support to its members in the days before Social Security and Medicare.

In the Heart of Sherwood: Garth Hite Farm

Speaking of bucolic farm scenery, this photograph of Garth Hite appeared in the Sunday Oregonian April 1, 1950. It was probably taken from Pacific Highway. You'd be plowing up G.I.Joe's parking lot if you tried to farm that spot today. Garth was band-leader Don and Woody Hite's dad. (The caption reads: "Old-Timer G. E. Hite, born 70 years ago in Washington County, is long time farmer near Six Corners. Atop tractor, he eyes oat field he's sewing.")

Aebischer Farm Revisited

Here's a more recent (1980) view of the Aebischer Family Farm atop Chehalem Mountain. The view is looking toward Mount Hood. Lilly Morgan says she used to go skinny dippin' in that pond at the top of the picture.

The FOLKS Return!

We played and sang our hearts out at the Oregon-Idaho Border where the famous Jimmie Stewart movie, Bend in the River, was made. We also jammed at the annual Dufur Threshing Bee. On our way to Dufur we stopped in at the county seat of Baker County to research any possible connection with Sherwood's most famous historical figure, Delmar Baker (1892-1975). No such luck, but what a museum Baker City has! Most Haunting Memory of the Trip was found at Maryhill Museum. According to the caption: "This portrait of Tsar Nicholas II, the last ruler of Imperial Russia... hung in the Russian Embassy in Belgrade, Serbia (later Yugoslavia). During a riot which occurred near the time of the outbreak of World War I, the embassy was looted, the painting was slashed and the Russian ambassador was killed." The slashmarks across the Czar's face provide a pretty startling accent to such a tranquil place as Maryhill!

When's the Next Wine Tour Leaving?

July 27 work on the Pine Street crossing.There's been a lot of talk lately about running an excursion train from Sherwood South into the Willamette Valley. The train would have to cross Rex Hill to get there. Lots of luck! "Rex" is said to be a play on the word "wrecks." As in "train wrecks." For example, according to the Sherwood News-Sheet, April 10, 1912, a steam train once "...reached a point where the grade is considerably of a downward pitch, and where the bank is in the neighborhood of forty feet high, owing to which fact the engineer had slowed down, when suddenly they struck something that raised the engine into the air, almost turning it on its side. Several Sherwood citizens were on the train at the time... and they testify that when their coach reached this mark the jar was anything but pleasant." After some investigation, "a small boy" was found to be the cause of the mishap. In spite of it's shakey reputation, Sherwood's train is regarded as one of the most historically significant railroads in Oregon. It was done the Oregon Way!

New Old Photographs

Family photographs of the Dan Aebischer farm reveal a bucolic side of life you can still glimpse during Sunday afternoon drives throughout the Sherwood mailing district. The Aebischer farm was located atop Chehalem Mountain.

Second Visit from Edogawa

25 youth from the City of Edogawa Japan spent a morning at The Sherwood Heritage Center today. This is the second year in a row that the Center has hosted visitors from that distant clime. Their tasks were pretty exotic. They washed some clothes, baked an apple pie and made some butter. After that they relaxed and helped The Folks sing songs about the Oregon Trail.

Music on the Green

Sherwood Historical Society volunteers serving the folks down at Olsen Park. The harmony gets better year by year.