Generations later
Polehn Farm
remains a
Redland
landmark
he world had not yet
seen the 20th Cen-
tury when a homesick
German names Frank
Polehn found kinship with the
community
of
Redland,
Oregon, an area that reminded
him of his homeland, the Black
Forest.
It was within that haven of
nostalgia that Polehn even­
tually settled. He planted his
roots on a hill about eight miles
southeast of Oregon City,
found a job in a sawmill,
married and started a family. .
Twenty years later, Polehn’s
roots were more firmly
established upon this site. He
completed the family home, a
large white structure that cap­
ped the top of the hill.
According to Lois Vancil,
granddaughter to Polehn, life
was simple until it became
complicated by the Depression
of the 1930s.
“My grandfather was caught
in a typical bind at that point of
the Depression,” she recalled.
“He had many debts.”
“Eventually, he asked my
dad (his son, Richard Polehn) if
he couldn’t make a go of it,”
she continued, “with hopes
that the family wouldn’t lose
the farm.”
According to Vancil, Polehn
Farm was “dropped” on
Richard Polehn in 1935. An
Oregon City man, Polehn had
a wife, Gladys, and three
children, Clara, Lois and Ber­
nie. Until 1935, he had sup­
ported his family by' cutting
wood.
Lois Vancil was 12 years old
when the big house began to
shelter a second generation of
Polehns.
“My grandparents moved in­
to another house on the farm,”
she recalled.
Ingenuity, combined with chard grass appeared to thrive
devotion and hard work, the best. But that crop ended
proved to be a profitable com­ up producing only heartache.
bination, as Richard initiated
“We had a beautiful crop of
the long climb out of a hole of
debts. First, Polehn abandoned orchard grass, over 40 acres,"
the work horses, with which all said Vancil. “Then one day we
previous farming had been got a hot East wind, and within
an hour, the whole crop was
done. A tractor was acquired on the ground.”
and that became the nucleus of
the farm’s production.
Arriving at a state of produc­
tion was a slow process. “Dad
got involved with the county
agriculture extension officer,
John Inskeep,” Vancil recalled.
“They worked together, trying
to figure out which crops could
grow on the depleted soil.”
Inskeep assisted Polehn,
assisted in experimenting with
crops and fertilizers, and in
evaluating the results.
Among crops of clover,
meadow fescue, meadow fox­
tail, and chewings fescue, or -
“It was amazing to me, how
well my father took it,” she
continued. “He just threw him­
self into the next project. It im­
pressed me as a child to see his
bravery.”
Despite disappointments,
however, the efforts paid off.
The Polehn Farm began
producing lawn grass seed. A
seed cleaning mill was added to
the farm, one of the first plants
of its kind in the area.
With the help of the plant
and hours of work, the Polehns
realized their goal and set
Polehn Farm financially on its!
feet.
Farming continued to bei
successful throughout most of
Richard Polehn’s life. The farnl
saw many crops of grass seed!
as well as strawberries, black!
berries and later prunes an|I
pears.
In the meantime, the Polehl
girls, Clara and Lois, were!
married. The only Polehn son!
Bernie, was killed in WorlB
War II.
As years passed, Polehns
Farm not only produced, but!
expanded. Neighboring far™
joined the Polehn Farm until
during the ’50s, it reached its
heights of 800 acres. As tH
’50s turned into the ’60S
Polehn Farm produced its
yearly crops and provide®
many jobs for local people. I
However, the early ’70s sal
not only an aging Richard and
Gladys, but decreased demand
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rurUamas Communitv Collera