From the Archeology People

The first part of “Archaeology for the Curious” basic training series will be offered 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Feb. 2 and Feb. 9, 2008 at Portland Community College’s Rock Creek Campus building 7 room 121. “Introduction to Pacific Northwest Archaeology” will be taught by experienced archaeologists. Contact Jennifer Kozik, or jenniferkozik@gmail.com for more information. Reservations can also be made at OAS’s Website, www.oregonarchaeological.org.

School House Street Demonstration

Hopkins School As She Looked the Day She Died.
The City had been wanting to act years ago, but a newly revived community spirit said Not So Fast. In the end there was no choice. Engineers agreed that it had to come down. Informal discussions between the Historical Society and the City about what should replace it have been promising, but will the new building be as splendid as what was there once?


Those Rascally Historians
On the day we staged our protest demonstration, the City of Sherwood had made preparations for a small ceremony in front of the school house to mark its passing. Alas! The city crew barely got their tent set up before most of them disappeared. They seemed to think the Sherwood Historical Society was mad at them. Of course, we weren't demonstrating against them at all. Our protest was against the decades of neglect and abuse that brought this school building to such a sad end. The City could have stood right by us without compromising themselves. May Sherwood never again relive those days when, for example, Smock's Great Great Grandson Shelby Bowen tossed out valuable historical artifacts because he couldn't find anyone who still gave a damn about defending Sherwood history. We wish the ceremony had gone off as planned. In any case, the coffee and cookies were rescued before the City took down their tent and went home, and were greatly appreciated.

Open House!

TOP LEFT: Esmerelda the Christmas Cow and Santa Claus are the best of chums nowadays. TOP RIGHT: Target Audience Not So Sure. MIDDLE RIGHT: Brass Band on Morback Porch. BOTTOM LEFT: Sherwood Renaissance Singers Debate Format at Morback House. BOTTOM RIGHT: Genius Pianist at Morback House. It all happened one rainy but magical evening at the Sherwood Heritage Center.

Saint Francis School Visits Old Town

Are Fifth Graders of Saint Francis Catholic School serious or goofy? "Definitely serious." said Historical Society trail guide Clyde List, who wore his Friar Tuck outfit and pretended to be Saint Francis Himself (I mean, how much more serious can you get!?). The walk was only supposed to last an hour, but lasted two hours instead, because of all the preparation the kids had done ahead of time. Each student is focusing upon one site along the Sherwood Heritage Trail.

That's the original Saint Francis Church in the background. It's the New Life Assembly of God now.

Put It Back!

Sherwood Historian Odge Gribble clings to the old staircase inside the Old School House. She and the rest of us were invited to tour the doomed building on Monday to see what we wanted saved for the replica that will replace it after it's been torn down. DOOMSDAY will be Tuesday Dec.4 3:00 to 4:00. That's when the bulldozers arrive. INSET: The Sherwood Historical Society's new lapel pin will remind policy makers of their vow to recreate the Sherwood classic. Let's all wear one and say it in unison: Old buildings might wear out, but... "If you can't save it, put it back!"

1973 Class REUNION!

The 1973 Class of Sherwood High School is seeking to update it's class address listings and has been unable to locate alumni with these family names:

Aebischer, Atrops, Baldwin, Batterman, Benedict, Blossom, Brown, Clopton, Cooter, Coyle, Craig, Dietz, Erhardt, Fowler, Geck, Hagg, Hall, Hanna, Hilliard, Holmes, Jensen (Echols), Kelley, Kline, Kresa, Lawson, Leaman (Mom worked at the High School) , Kwiatkoski, Lundy, Middleton, Morrison, Nelson, Parr, Powell, Pratt, Roberts, Rose, Routlege, Scheller, Schwartz, Sorter, Stern, Stobbe, Stone, Walden, Watts, Westling, Wiesman.


If you can help us locate our "lost" classmates, please contact kathyaleblanc@hotmail.com

The Sherwood Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore.

Sherwood Historian June Reynolds (at Right) eyeballs a pool of rain water in Airlie, Oregon. The pond is all that is left of the spot where Sherwood's railroad train used to swing around and head back to Sherwood. The view North stretches on forever across level ground. The view South (at Left) opens onto the coastal mountains, a very different landscape! Willamette Valley wheat farmers and their Scottish backers had high hopes for this peculiar little train. Today the Oregon State Historic Preservation Office calls what's left of the rail line "the most historically significant railroad in Oregon." Alas, "The Peavine," as Sherwood Mayor Morback used to call it, was eventually taken over by the Southern Pacific Railway Company and dismantled.

This simple frame house in Airlie was built for guests of the "Peavine." It's a private dwelling now,located across the county road from the turn-table site. Airlie is named in honor of the 10th Earl of Airlie, the Scotsman in charge of the railroad between 18(78?) and 1881. Your visit to Airlie is not complete without Clyde List singing The Bonnie Hoos o' Airlie (Francis Child Ballad #199).

Heritage Trail Treck a Success

We had good crowds and the best bunch of actors ever. It was raining cats and dogs when the two pictures below were taken, but, thanks to Rebekah Lodge, we had our anti-Saloon Rally Anyway.
BAR- FLIES OPPOSED TO PROHIBITION
PROHIBITIONISTS OPPOSED TO BAR-FLIES

STEVE KENNER'S Photographs of the Event are Insightful as Well as Technically Excellent! Wish We had Room for Them All Here.


Saturday's Morning Crowd Gathers where Livery Stable, Model-T Dealership, and Robin Hood Theater once Stood.

Saving the School House, an Update

Last night's City Council meeting was filled with public commentary about the Old School House building on the corner of Pine and Third, in Old Sherwood Town.

It used to look like this.


Now it looks like this (well, it did last winter anyway).

It's been really frustrating for us to stand up and demand the City save something that isn't actually there.

The man in charge of tearing things down and building things up in Old Sherwood Town is Jim Patterson of the City of Sherwood. After the Public Comment segment of the meeting ended, Patterson went out of his way to explain that the City wants to put the School House back the way it was in the earlier photograph. He's even been talking to the Sherwood School District about , you know, making it a genuine school house again, with real live kids and everything. "Let's never forget who we were." is Patterson's motto. At least one private party is interested in Patterson's concept as well.

I think it was Picasso who said Every Act of Creation is Also an Act of Destruction. Is the City our Picasso now?

September Fever

Gosh dang. What an interesting month. The Sherwood Historical Society has been busy at Champoeg and at Butteville Store just down the trail. We've made out like bandits at the fabled Music on the Green event. Artifacts galore are being gathered for display at the museum. Alas, this blogmeister remains speechless without a photograph or two to show. Hello? Anybody out there? I heard flash bulbs flashing during these events. Show us what you got!

CLYDE and JUNE at BUTTEVILLE STORE by ODGE


CLYDE, JUNE, CRYSTAL and RICK at BUTTEVILLE STORE by BARRY


MUSIC ON THE GREEN by POLLY


WALT SHELBURN BOWEN JR.
The Great Great Grandson of J.C.Smock (center) Died This Month.
Send Cards or Notes to Avamere, 16500 SW Century Drive, Sherwood
PHOTO at MORBACK HOUSE by Clyde 2003


CLYDE and JUNE at TIGARD HOUSE on the 16th
by POLLY
Unidentified Tigardian Dances to June's Spoons.


Guest "SHELBY" BOWEN INVESTIGATES MORBACK HOUSE, 2004.
He Grew Up there, But Never Heard a Ghost.

Request for Information

Hello,I recently bought the historic Schlichting house off of Roy Rogers and Seely. My children are the 5th generation of our family living in this house. I'm trying to find more history on the house and thought you might point me in the right direction. It looks like my great-grandfather, a Rupprecht, purchased it in 1941 and became the second owner. One brick has "BEN 5-19-28" carved into it. I have heard that another great-grandfather, Otto Krebs, laid the brick on the house. I'd be curious to find more about the original owner (Christiansen?), Sherwood's second brickyard (owned by Otto Krebs), and also see if there are any old pictures of the house. Thank you, Steve Muralt

Friends Like These!

United States National Bank Vice President and Manager of Community Relations David Wynde stopped by at our regular August meeting to present Sherwood Historical Society President Joan with a $1,000 donation check. This is the third such check we've received from USNB.

Smock House Out House at Last!

There are people in Sherwood who might be appalled by the idea that a group of Scouts from Venture Troop 184 would choose to build an outhouse as a merit badge project. We're not talking about the kind you see in a public park. We're talking about an honest to God-awful stinky, two-holer, corncob, Montgomery Ward catalog type of outhouse here.

Don't worry. We're not actually making it available for public (or any other kind of) use. The project came about as part of the Sherwood Heritage Center's never ending effort to help us modern people understand the "Good Old Days" a little better. Here Scout Stephen Fox is being assisted by fellow Scouts Corbin Bowen, Brandon Wozniak, Doug Wozniak, Ed Wozniak, and Micheal Aden. Of course, being Scouts, they were too busy to wave at the camera even with their left hands.

Those of us who remember life before indoor plumbing will notice that the little building sits about 100 feet too close to Smock House, except in winter time, when it would have been considered 100 feet too far!

Robin Hood Festival

Here is one magnificent photograph of Maid Marian sent to us from the Sherwood artist D. K. Boljat. Like the Steve Kenner masterpiece below, it's an image sacrificed on the altar of Sherwood, so that the town will continue to prosper and grow.

Such reverence helped get the attention of Money Magazine According to this month's issue of the magazine, Sherwood features "...a juxtaposition of old and new, with reverence toward both the city's historic past and its bright, expanding future."

(Photo at Right) Marian's mini-maids don't show the same reverence for Marian's marksmanship. Oh well. In any case, the magazine's high opinion of us means that Sherwood's "historic past" is newsworthy to somebody besides the Sherwood Historical Society That's the best news of all.

Letters from Our Friends

OregonHeritage.com "The Home Page of Oregon History" has been blitzing us with email lately. Take a look at their site. There's no spam. Just solid newsy stuff.

Morback House from the Sky

Sherwood's photographer extraordinaire Steve Kenner sent in this aerial view of Morback House. It was taken during the Robin Hood Festival, when we were marketing strawberry shortcakes like mad-- as you can see from all the signs on the porch.

Survivors in Brooks, Oregon

Only one wagon of the Oregon Trail Travelers made it across the Prairie this year. Of course the intrepid Lilly Morgan and her friend from the Boston Globe were the lucky ones, seen here. After taking some time out for songs and stories for the little folk, they started out for Sherwood and may get here before the snow falls.

Japanese Visitors Return!

Today, on our way down First Avenue, we noticed some workmen discussing some stuff they'd just dug up at Block 5, Lot 8. Alas there was no time for the Sherwood Historical Society to roll up our sleeves and offer to help. We had visitors of our own at The Heritage Center!
About twenty youth from Edogawa Japan came to see us. This is the fourth year their town council has sent them to Oregon to study our ways and days. Here the intrepid Lilly Morgen leads a procession through the tall trees of Parrett Mountain Farm. "When we come here we see the relationship between a farm-town and its farmers." she said. Some guests from Holland were also on hand.

Teachers visit Old Town

"Today's Old Sherwood Town Walking Tour was part of a two day class for school teachers offered through the Heritage Institute/Antioch University. In the class, we visit four communities over two days. We begin in Wilsonville, and then tour Tualatin on day 1. On day 2, we start at the Tualatin River Wildlife Refuge before visiting Sherwood. Later, we explore Cook Park in Tigard, and the Tigard Library. The goal is to provide teachers with information relating to local history and natural science. It's a lot of fun."
--Mr. Peter Chausse

July 4 Reality Check

Opinion by Historical Society Secretary Clyde List.

I've just finished re-reading George Orwell's 1984 and there are a number of things in 1984 that are just like what we see all around us in 2007. For example:

1. The "news" is not. (What passes for news may really be a paid commercial, warns Peter Ames Carlin in today's "Oregonian").

2. Musicians take the world stage merely to beller nonsense at the top of their lungs. (In 1984 the "words of these songs were composed without any human intervention whatever....")

3. Terror is on every side. (in 1984 it's always "Goldstein" we hate. Today it's the no less illusive Osama ben Laden.)

4. Radio talk jocks and their loyal fans prove daily that "...stupidity is as necessary as intelligence, and as difficult to attain." (Hermann Goering once commented that the trick is to keep everybody mad so that they'll believe anything you tell them.)

If Orwell were alive today what would he say to the People of Sherwood? In Orwell's Old Town (London), there are no antique stores because it is illegal to own anything that might remind people of "...an age quite different from the present." In Orwell's Old Town, anything of antique value is quickly melted down. Even old people's memories are "...nothing but a rubbish heap of details."

Thank God, the Sherwood Historical Society is on hand to scream bloody murder any time we see the past being bulldozed to the ground. The most memorable advice Orwell gives: Save your memories. Don't wait for the Historical Society to say they're worth saving. Nothing you remember about your life is too trivial.

History Camp at Parrett Mountain Farm

This year's History Camp featured a full scale replica of a covered wagon at Parrett Mountain Farm. It was put on display by the Yamhill County Museum. Some pretty convincing covered wagon folk from Yamhill and Columbia County also showed up. Of course, Sherwood's own mountain man, Blue Bonnett and forlorn castaway Lilly Morgan were on hand to make sure the kids didn't get trampled by the oxen.

Class of 1947 Visits Morback House

The Senior Class of 1947 came to Old Sherwood Town yesterday (Saturday) to share a few memories and shed a few tears over how wonderful it felt for their generation to come out of World War II alive. Their school house carried the title "Sherwood Union High School" then. Today the building is Sherwood Middle School. The alums expressed their appreciation for what the Sherwood Historical Society has done to preserve Rebekah Hall and Morback House for future generations.

Hello Fourth Graders!

This was the scene at the Sherwood Heritage Center today as umpteen million Clyde Hopkins Elementary School 4th Graders descended upon us. (Note Smock and Morback Houses in background)
The basic idea was to relive, for a few minutes, the appalling hardships we ancestors (seen here) faced when electricity and internal combustion weren't part of daily life. All three elementary schools came to the Heritage Center to see how we were getting along.

Here Archer Glen students are being welcomed by Lilly Morgan,

A.K.A. June Reynolds, whose amazing organizational skills make it possible for the Sherwood Historical Society to take part in such an elaborate project. Here she seems to be playing the role of Sacajawea to Middleton School's Fourth Graders. Bread and butter making, washing clothes, and wood working were demonstrated.

Then and Now on Highway 99-West

Sherwood historian Clyde's dad (2nd from left) and uncles during a rare day of rest. Photo taken around 1950, looking South. Highway 99 West was a two-lane road then all the way to California. 99 was the most important North-South corridor in Oregon. (Actually there were two highways-- 99 West and 99 East. They split in twain in North Portland and came back together again at Junction City, Oregon. 99 East covers the East side of the Willamette River.) Clyde discusses the spiritual significance of Highway 99 on his website. The photo below shows the same spot today.

What puzzles the historian most is why 99W doesn't plow straight through Old Sherwood Town. It would have been the shortest, least costly way to go. Probably, the credit goes to Mayor Morback and a mistaken belief that the economic significance of the railroad would always be greater than the highway's. It was a mistake, but only for the business community. We kind of like the way things turned out!

What a GreatTime to be Poor!

The Sherwood Oregon Robin Hood Festival, Oregon's longest running small-town festival, is happening again this year. The free-to-the-public event is held every third weekend in July. Friar Tuck represented the Sherwood Historical Society before the Court of Maid Marian Wednesday evening. "The important thing is to listen for the music Robin Hood plays on his bugle horn." Tuck explained, "Robin Hood was a not-so-great swordsman. It's his musical talent that saves him."

-Tuck's History of the Event.
-Get Involved! Contact the Sherwood Robin Hood Festival Now!

Another Day Another Conference!

Past President June Reynolds (far left) poses with Michael, Ashley, Wick and Janet at the Oregon Community School Conference in Portland. "We presented an hour and a half workshop on how to combine new and old photographs as a historical learning service project." says June.

Alto's Gasoline Engines Show

Historians June and Clyde divide their time between analyzing a Sherwood artifact (in this case, a property abstract that goes all the way back to President Grant's administration) and playing another old time song. The information being presented in this photograph roused great interest from the banjo picker. It contained quite a few details about a land fraud case that his grandparents got involved in the year they came to Sherwood, in 1892. "I knew they had to send back to Michigan for more money." he said, "But this tells me a lot more. I'd never got close to this information if it hadn't been for the Sherwood Historical Society."

No matter how hard our historian/musicians played, the antique gasoline powered bubble machine stole the show again this year.

Down the Upstair Case at Morback House

Upstairs at Morback House, apron history expert Bobbe Schafer lectures the Sherwood High School Family and Consumer Science Class (that's what they call Home Ec now). Members of the Rebekahs and the Historical Society were well represented in the audience. Schafer's topic was the history of aprons down through the ages. During the same week, an overflow crowd from Lavender Teahouse clamored up and down the staircase, while, on the main floor, an old Sherwood family (the Obersts) recorded its history.

You might say it was a pretty busy week at Morback House.

Smock House Porch Number Two

Smock House gets her front porch. It's amazing how many local Sherwood contractors have donated time and labor to bring this house back to life. We can't complain about the support we've gotten from City Hall either. It's like a barn-raising in the old 19th Century tradition! And this is just the beginning. Just wait till you see the plan President Joan has for landscaping the yard. We're going to have a water well and out-house and everything!

Back yard ramp will comply with our federal government's Americans with Disabilities Act.