"Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes made of ticky tacky
Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes all the same..." [1]
When people think of the suburbs, I think many focus on the blandness of sub-developments and master planned communities. But in Oregon, some of our deepest roots lie Southwest of Portland in the communities of Oregon City and West Linn. As a history buff, I enjoy exploring these places and am lucky to live near Old Willamette which is a National Register Historic District.
At first glance, you might think the storefronts along Willamette Drive are some developer's idea of turn-of-the-century charm. And you would be partially right. They've actually tried to preserve as much of the original commercial row as they can, and then new development matches the style, but has all the modern conveniences. Between Willamette Drive and the Willamette River is the Old Willamette Neighborhood with many homes from the 19th Century, mostly preserved in all of their glory.
You can tour many of these homes in the fall as part of the Willamette Living History tour (http://www.historicwillamette.com/attractions/historic-willamette-events/). They go all out with period costumes, a horse-drawn buggy and volunteers act out little vignettes around town. I recently met the president of the Willamette Falls Historical Society who lives in one of the homes and was a font of local knowledge. She also said that they pick a particular year for the tour, most recently 1908. She has different clothes for different time periods and was very excited that they are going to set one of the future tours around WW2, when women finally have the vote. She has been a suffragette for many a moon since most tours are in the years prior to 1920. Keep that in mind ladies when you vote this week!
There are maps available from several local merchants if you want to take the self-guided walking tour. This area is the heart of many of West Linn's annual festivals, including The Old Time Fair which is down the hill in Willamette Park every July. During the summer months, this neighborhood is also home to the West Linn Farmer's Market, which always feels like a street fair, on Wednesday evenings.
One of the funniest historical traditions is that you will see old fashioned baseball in Willamette Park several times during the summer. The boys wear the old uniforms and play without gloves, while the ladies are in full dress and ready with a glass of lemonade. That never goes out of style.
[1] Made famous by the television show, Weeds. Lyrics by Malina Reynolds. read more
