Oregon City - Stevens-Crawford Heritage House

The Stevens-Crawford House is one of the historic houses in Oregon City, and a landmark on Oregon's Mt. Hood Territory Heritage Trail.

The American Foursquare Home was built in 1908, making it the youngest of the historical homes in Oregon City (the others dating from 1843 - 1860 or so).

Therefore the Stevens family themselves had the use of electricity and running water. 

So while many Oregon City tours will focus on pioneer days, the Stevens-Crawford House shows you life during the Progressive Era (1901-1929).

The tour is mostly self-guided, though the staff we spoke to there answered questions before and after and were very helpful.

There were many fun artifacts on display, and we found our progress from room to room interesting.

It is a tour where you are encouraged to touch things, so you can type on the typewriter or play the piano. 

(If something should not be opened or used, there is signage.) 

Because both the house and the Museum of the Oregon Territory are both part of the Clackamas County Historical Society, tickets for the house tour can also gain you admittance to the museum, within 30 days of the original admission. That was also a very interesting tour.

In addition, the Stevens-Crawford house is right next to the Ermatinger house.

While they are under separate oranizations, they are collaborating on this years Friday Night Frights, combining spooky tours of both houses with a trip to a local speakeasy.

https://www.orcity.org/Calendar.aspx?EID=904 

We were glad that we finally made it there.

COVID: This is indoors. Ventilation felt a little better than expected, but it still makes sense to mask.

Accessibility: While this is not surprising for an older house, it is not accessible for those with mobility difficulties. There are two staircases inside the house and even access to the first floor requires going up a set of steps.

http://clackamashistory.org/schh

Sandy Area Historical Museum

The building for the Sandy Area Historical Museum is relatively shiny and new, having been built in 2009.

However, the historical society itself goes back to 1926. 

In addition, the building itself is on land that was part of the Barlow Road, which crossed the area from 1845 to 1919.

Literally at the crossroads of local history, we found enthusiastic staff with lots of information on the exhibits and the history of the area.

Signage was pretty helpful as well.

There are exhibits on early commerce and the timber industry, as well as prominent community members.

It does frequently get used for research, including family history research. 

They have helpfully included a play area for researchers accompanied by children.

One thing that may have been a little surprising is that there were no films or touchscreens; multimedia usage has become very common.

There is enough to look at that you may find you don't notice the absence.

It is also very conveniently located, near Jonsrud Viewpoint and Joe's Donuts and on the way to Mt. Hood, where you really can't miss it.

It's worth taking some time to stop by.

And let us not forget, it is one more stop on Oregon's Mt. Hood Territory Heritage Trail.

COVID: It is indoors and enclosed, so I recommend masking.

Accessibility: There is an elevator and handicapped restrooms. This being a modern building is helpful for that.

https://www.sandyhistory.com/

Sandy: Jonsrud Viewpoint Park

I was initially going to treat both the viewpoint and the Sandy Historical Society together, but they were both so good, that felt like shortchanging them.

The Jonsrud Viewpoint was not even on the list of Heritage Trail sites when we first started visiting them. There were improvements made in 2020, and I think the addition to the list must have happened then.

When visiting Heritage Trail sites, there are frequent references to the Barlow Road.

The Barlow Road was an extension to the Oregon Trail allowing land passage from The Dalles, as alternative to expensive and dangerous river passage.

That is not to say there were not still dangers or frustrations -- one of the areas was referred to as "The Devil's Backbone" -- but it was another option, and more possible for many of the wagons heading Westward.

With its view of Mount Hood and the Sandy River, you can get a sweeping view of the terrain.

I will note that it was hazy that day, so even though it looked like we had a good view, I cannot prove it. I did see the mountain, I just couldn't really photograph it. 

You are also situated across from the first house West of the Cascades.

There are well-done informational signs. 

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the water fountain worked. That is not always the case.

With bus parking, there are options for tour groups and school field trips.

COVID: The attraction is completely outside. 

Accessibility: There is accessible parking and the paths are pretty navigable, but one of the coolest things about this is that one of the recent updates was to add a special scenic viewer adapted for color-blindness, a condition affecting 350 million people worldwide.

I don't know how many of them will make it to this spot, but it's a nice feature.

You can look over the history of this part of the Oregon Trail without any fear of dying of cholera or dysentery.

https://www.ci.sandy.or.us/parks-rec/page/jonsrud-viewpoint-park

https://www.mthoodterritory.com/heritage