10
community
january11
2011
Keasey Century Farm:
of Keaseys associated with the property, is now 82
years old and is an amateur historian about the Vernonia
region. Ralph Keasey has lived on the Keasey Farm on
and off through the years and was the acting caretaker
at times. I recently visited with Ralph and his wife
Caroline at their home on the property and learned a
little about the history of the Century Farm.
According to Ralph Keasey, his great
grandfather, Eden Keasey, was born in Indiana but was
always on the move. He had been living in Texas and
had a daughter living in Portland when he moved to
the Vernonia area and built the original farmhouse on
the Keasey property around 1889. That farmhouse,
built with split fir rafters and split cedar siding, is still
standing on the property, although it has been added to
and renovated over the years. Eden and his wife, Nella,
had purchased the homesteaded 160-acre tract that had
previously been logged, but had not had a home built
on it. Eden passed away in 1904.
Eden’s son, Carroll, Ralph’s grandfather (who
was known as Cad), took over the property. He was a
bachelor when he arrived, but married Bertha Deitrich
from another pioneer family in the area. Ralph’s
father, Theodore, known to everyone as Ted, and his
wife, Hilda, moved onto the property after Carroll and
Bertha had moved to Corvallis. Ted and Hilda had just
married in November of 1923 and had seven children
over the years. Ralph is the middle child, born in 1928,
with two older brothers, an older sister, Marge, and
three younger sisters.
A Family Farm Survives in Vernonia
my siblings were interested in the property,” explains
Ralph. “It was our home and so he decided that would
be the best way to handle it going forward.” Rather than
leave the property to one heir, the family corporation
was formed in 1971 and continues to be the decision-
making body for management of the property.
continued from front page
a wetland area, became so impassable that the postal
service refused to deliver the mail. “It was in terrible
shape, so they rebuilt all that and then paved it,” said
Keasey.
Rock Creek Road became Keasey Road when,
according Ralph, the postal service was renaming
Some of the outbuildings on the Keasey Farm property, including a large barn in the background, have
historical significance.
Ralph grew up on the property, attending the
small, one-room Rock Creek schoolhouse for three
years with nine other students, starting in 1934. He
then traveled to Vernonia for the rest of his early
education after the area was consolidated into one
educational district, graduating from Vernonia High
School in 1946. He attended Oregon State University,
studying geology and agriculture before being drafted
in 1951, spending two years in Japan and Korea.
After returning from the military, Ralph and his father
operated a chainsaw business, one the first of its kind-
- Ted ran it until 1960 and Ralph took over after that,
retiring in 1975. Ralph and Caroline moved onto the
Keasey property in 1974 when Theodore became sick
and needed help maintaining the property. Ted passed
away in August of 1974.
According to Ralph, his father, Theodore,
took the initiative to form the family corporation that
continues to manage the assets of the property. “All of
“I think your father wanted it left in the family some roads in the area. “The Post Master came to me
without anyone selling it off and this was one way of and said, ‘What would you think about petitioning to
doing that,” adds Caroline. Ralph and Caroline built a rename this Keasey Road,?” explains Ralph. If you
second home on the property where they continue to have ever met and talked with Ralph Keasey, a humble
man of few words, you know how he felt about that.
reside.
Ralph’s sister, Marge, and her husband, Dick “Yes, I did the petitioning,” says Ralph, somewhat
Wysong, moved into the old farmhouse after Ted sheepishly. “I went around to all my neighbors-- it was
passed away. “The house was in pretty tough shape kind of embarrassing,” adds Ralph with a chuckle.
The family property grew from 160 to almost
after my dad died,” said Ralph. Dick and Marge began
doing renovations, including replacement of the old 400 acres over the years as adjoining pieces of property
cedar block footings that many old houses from that were purchased. Originally, the Keaseys tried farming,
age were built on. They also replaced the original clearing trees for fields and pastures. According to
chimney that was in the middle of the house, moving it
continued on page 11
to the outside, among other projects.
According to Ralph, the
railroad came through the area in the
early 1920’s, reaching Vernonia in
1921. A number of rail companies
built lines in the area, including the
Oregon-American, and a line was
built out along Rock Creek over
the next few years-- the old grade is
still visible to this day-- stretching
across the properties along Rock
Creek, including the Keasey farm.
The Keasey farm was at one time a
railroad stop called “Homewood,”
named, according to Ralph, by his
grandmother.
Over the years, the property
served as the local post office from
around 1900 to 1924 until the railroad
line came through. According to
Ralph, one of the rail line owners
petitioned the postal service to
relocate the post office to the end of
the line in the area now known as
Keasey-- it’s at the end of what was
once known as Rock Creek Road and
is now called Keasey Road. “They
just kept the name, even though no
Keaseys lived out there,” explained
Ralph.
Ralph says Rock Creek
Road was a gravel road until the
early 1960’s, when parts of the road,
especially a straightaway through The old Oregon-American rail line once ran through the Keasey property.
