Indoor-Outdoor History Camp

Today it was a trip to Dale's Barber Shop in Old Town Sherwood followed by an archeological dig on Chehalem MountainLilly said she never saw a bunch of kids work this hard. They played hard too...
A traditional round of Red Rover at Veterans Park.

History School Project

"Don't forget to put the iron back on the stove and grab one that's still hot." says the instructor. With their eleven year old imaginations, these kids have no difficulty experiencing how tough it was to keep house in 1900. (Believe it or not, these guys are having fun!)

REMEMBER:

"Monday was wash day. Tuesday was ironing day.

"In those days, an iron was an iron! It was a six or seven pound wedge of metal that would retain its heat for only a few minutes. A man's shirt generally required two irons. Several irons would be heating while one was working. Some folks could not afford irons with handles. They would use the same handle for each iron, or they would protect their hand with a thick potholder.

"Irons were heated on a wood fire stove. You had to keep a blazing hot fire going in the stove, even in summer, in order to get the ironing done. Such stoves generate soot. The irons became dirty as they were heating on the stove. They had to be cleaned frequently and if the soot was too thick, they had to be sanded and scraped. If you got the soot on the clean white shirt you were ironing, the shirt would have to be washed all over again."

--from Robert Caro's The Years of Lyndon Johnson: The Path to Power Page 510

Snyders of Snyder Park

Lilly Morgan and Mrs. Snyder compare notes at the public park named after the Snyder Family who owned this property from 1868 till its recent purchase by the City of Sherwood.

Workin' on the Buildin'

About a half dozen Rotarians skipped church this morning in order to keep the Smock House project on track. Lilly was there to spur them on with that good old Gospel song, "If I was a liar, I'll tell you what I would do. /I would quit my li-yin' and work on the building too. /I'm a-working on the buildin'....."

Tickling Those Ivories

Thanks to a generous party, Morback House now has a piano. Unfortunately, none of us in the Historical Society knows how to play. Museum patrons Jerry and Jan Larson of Tualatin dropped by just in time to rescue us.

Historic Maple Tree Break Down

Tree Surgeons Clean Up the MessIt just might be the only surviving remnant of Sherwood's famous 1893 Shade Tree Ordinance. The Maple Tree near the corner of 3rd and Main finally lost several its branches and possibly its life yesterday morning around 10:00. The owners of the tree used to play among its enormous branches when they were children. The falling limbs damaged the house and knocked the garage off its foundation... but it is the possible loss of the tree that is causing the family the most grief.

On the Oregon Trail

About 300 Middleton School Fourth Graders logged a round trip journey of six miles today, probably more than half their parents could have done pulling a heavy load behind them. (Even our ancestors used oxen!) The purpose was to get a better understanding of what it was like to travel the Oregon Trail. The trek is an annual event sponsored by Sherwood Schools, with the Sherwood Heritage Center as a major stopover.
Fourth Graders learning how to handle tools of a long gone generation. Their diligence proved that if they had to survive this way again, they would master these ancient crafts in a hurry.

Now We're Cooking!

Thanks to Lila (at left) the ghost at Morback House has something to heat up his meals with. (He tried to use the photocopier once when this was a Police Station.) Lila knows Old Town Sherwood well. She met her husband Bob there in 1947. She scoffs at the idea Sherwood only had one gunfight. There were several. On one occasion a man rode into town on a white horse and shot a rounder dead for mistreating his daughter. Another shoot-out happened on the steps at the County Court House when two prominant Sherwood gents refused to be satisfied with the Judge's verdict. Lila had plenty of other stories to tell but she had to get home and cook dinner for husband Bob (which won't be easy now that she gave away the kitchen stove).

Teacher to Teacher at Gibbs School

Former pupils of Gibbs School, up on Bell Road on Chehalem Mountain, discuss the restoration of their school house with Sherwood author and Sherwood Historical Society President June Reynolds. The area did not have electricity until 1941. If there was a snow storm, kids were brought to school by horse drawn wagon. Then they would huddle around the wood stove all day long and read by kerosine lamplight. Two of June's history students interviewed and videotaped the folks. The school was named after the second governor of Oregon, A. C. Gibbs, whose first priority was "...to elevate the standard of education, in Oregon, as much as my limited influence and acquirements will permit." (1862 Inaugural Address)

The Robin Hood Dimension

The Sherwood Historical Society supplied the Friar for this year's court and the Friar took the picture (that's why he's not in it). He also gave a sermon. His topic: Once you become a Robin Hood scholar, history never looks the same.