As Portland grew during the 19^th and 20^th centuries, smaller towns were annexed along the way.  Some of those towns were substantial, like East Portland.  Others were much smaller, like the little town of Linnton across the Willamette River from St Johns. The last post touched on the Lower Columbia River Highway. This time we will come back closer to the beginning of that road.

MILL TOWN

Linnton holds a special place in my heart as it was where the plywood mill my father worked in for the better part of two decades was located.  The mill was a rather unique working arrangement in that it was an industrial coop.  Workers bought a single share which gave them a job and the opportunity to share in all of the profits made by the company as well as its risks.

The men worked hard and no matter what job they worked at; all earned the same pay.  My father spent most of his time working on the big dryers which dried the green veneer peeled from logs stored down in the river below the mill – log shortage ended the green end in 1992.  They worked hard spending six days a week at the mill.  The work was 24 hours with three shifts, though several jobs did not include the graveyard shift.  Those jobs were ten hour shifts instead of the eight hours for the other jobs.

I worked at the mill after I turned 18, pulling in 48+ hour weeks six days a week during all school breaks – high school and undergraduate time.  I used to look forward to school.

INDUSTRY AND TIMBER ON THE RIVER

The mill began in 1951 and had 250 shareholders working at its peak.  There were other employees working on an hourly basis as time went on.  In 2000, the mill shut its doors for good due to lack of timber to profitably process – similar to what went on in much of the timber industry in the Pacific Northwest at the time.

Originally, the site existed as part of a larger lumber mill owned and operated by the Clark & Wilson Lumber Company.  That mill had been a major employer for Linnton since they bought the mill in 1905 from Robert Suitor, a lumberman from Dallas, Oregon, who had built the mill a year prior.  Clark & Wilson was a large timber-lumber firm involved as a major player in Columbia County.  They became part of the Crown Zellerbach world later on – though Willamette Industries has roots in the Clark & Wilson world, too. The Clark & Wilson timberlands in Columbia County have ended up in the Weyerhauser orbit today. The mill shut down in 1947 due to lack of available timber and a large fire. Old drying sheds made up part of the new plywood mill.

A shipbuilding company had also been a going concern for a while just upstream from the mill.  That area has become the site for huge gas tanks which hold most of the gas for Oregon atop fill sites noted as problematic in case of a major earthquake. This remains a large question mark for locals.

NEW BEGINNING IN AN ENDING?

Originally, shareholders put up $5000 to own a working share.  The money went to providing capital for which the mill could operate.  Shares definitely increased in price over the years.  Members buying in later bought in usually on time with contracts written up.  Shareholders selling late in the mill’s lifecycle usually saw very little in the way of return because of the long downturn in the industry.  Complications from taxes and industrial clean up led to those owning shares at the end getting little, as well.  Selling of the property became limited by the environmental problems of an industrial site on a river.

A hope to sell to develop the riverfront property for housing was squashed by the Portland City Council in 2006 because of environmental concerns.  The mill site was later sold off to RestorCap which demolished the mill along with removing the contaminated fill site the mill was set upon.  Toda, the site has been restored to a ‘natural’ setting where people are not allowed to enter.  There is even a little slough in which young salmon can rest on their journey downstream to the ocean.  The site is incongruous among all of the gas and oil storage tanks found along the riverbank in this area.

COMMUNITY

Linnton is comprised of several different residential areas squeezed in between US 30 and the steep Tualatin Mountains rising immediately to the west.  The official town sits above the highway to the west up on steep slopes rising above the traffic light across from the Community Center and the Decoy Restaurant.  A former school on the south side enjoys new life as a condominium project.

The south border of the old town coincides with the Trimet bus stop along the highway where Linnton Trailhead is located.  Here, there is enough room for four to five cars.  Linnton Trail takes off into the forested Linnton Creek canyon above.

SURROUNDED BY PARKS

Linnton Park, which surrounds the original town on the forested slopes, was established in 1938 by the city of Portland – Linnton being annexed to Portland in 1915.   This park and one just to the south of Linnton Creek – Clark & Wilson Park 1928 – were erected by locals to try and give a feeling to locals what the landscape must have been like before the mills came onto the scene.  Initially, it was the site of a Boy Scout camp. The estate of Aaron Meier, one of the two men who started the local Meier & Frank department stores in Portland, owned the parklands letting Clark & Wilson log the timber.

Both parks were wrapped up as parts of the massive Forest Park in 1948 – along with Holman and Macleay further south.  Forest Park is one of the largest urban forests in the US.  Covering almost 5,200 acres – eight miles long and a mile wide, the park was originally purposed as an urban forest by Frederick Olmstead, civic planner from Boston hired by the city to draw up a plan for Portland’s park futures.

Residential plans were overridden eventually – though not before Leif Ericsson Drive (originally known as Hillside Drive) was set down – because of geological problems due the steepness of the terrain.

Today, the Forest Park complex is a maze of trails open to hikers and many of the paths also open to mountain bikers and horses.  The main magnet trail is the 30-mile Wildwood Trail which extends from the Portland Zoo to the north boundary of Forest Park at Newberry Road.  The opportunity to hike sections is made possible with the myriad of connecting trails to the Wildwood.  One such opportunity exists here in Linnton.

HEADING TO HIGHER GROUND

From the trail head on US 30 you have several options.  The best involves going up Linnton Trail and returning down Firelane 9.  The Firelane is quite steep while Linnton Trail ascends a series of nine switchbacks to gain several hundred feet of dense forestland along a ridge between two branches of the Linnton Creek.  Higher up, the Linnton Trail becomes Firelane 10 which keeps going higher to meet up with the Wildwood Trail.

Once at the Wildwood, you can go north. Ollie and I made a little loop going up the Wildwood and coming back south on Newton Road. Newton is another of the firelanes running through the park.  The appearance of the park by the unitiated may be that of a wilderness. However, most of the park has been logged two or three times in the past.  The Portland Park Bureau originally planned to return the park to a fir forest. That goal was wisely changed to allow for deciduous trees near park borders. There is more fire resistance provided near homes by maple trees versus Douglas firs.

LOOPS BEGIT LOOPS

Firelanes exist running up the steep slopes at several locations. There are twelve lanes between NW 53^rd and Newberry Road.  Significant fires raged through the hills in 1889, 1940 and 1951.  The area burnt or logged was not replanted but left to ‘natural succession’ involving wildflowers, shrubs, hardwoods and finally conifers. 

On weekends, the Wildwood Trail, even in January can be a bit busy given a dry spell.  The firelanes and connecting trails are quieter.  We went south along the Wildwood covering more of the upper area of Linnton Creek to cross busy Germantown Road.

Here, at an upper roadside trailhead, we left the Wildwood on a newer connecting trail. The Cannon Trail drops down to another, larger trailside on Germantown Road – also full on this Sunday afternoon. 

From here, we descended further down on Firelane 9 back to Linnton. The path is a little muddy in spots and fairly steep in others. Just above the houses, we passed an abandoned reservoir. 

The reservoir probably served Linnton as a fire suppression resource like Rocking Chair Dam further to the south.  In this case, it would have been for the residential area known as Waldemere.

RETURN FROM THE WILD

Waldemere, a small subdivision, seems a southern extension of Linnton separated by Linnton Creek.  Three streets cross the slopes diagonally here with the names of Hoge, Mackay and Wilark.  The 1928 Clark & Wilson Park was established above the houses. Street names probably have relevance to the lumber company. Wilark was the name of a company lumber camp above Scappoose, a contraction of the names Wilson and Clark.

Stairs at the north end of Wilark Avenue lead down to an elevated sidewalk above highway US 30.  The Linnton Trailhead lies about a hundred yards to the north.  My progress was slowed just a bit when Ollie tried to make the acquaintance of a neighborhood miniature goat.