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About Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1919-1980 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 11, 1953)
o S S THE CAPITAL JOURNAL, Salem, Oregon Tuesday, Anjfust 11, 1953 Historical Guesses Made About Eola and Popcorn By BEN MAXWELL Dr. Thomas Condon, early Oregon geologist, viewing creation out of. the surge of the Inconceivable, believed that in tertltary times, 30 or 40 mil lion years ago, the Eola bills war islands in the Willamette trough that extended north ward and Included Puget Sound. Then the mammoth and broad-faced ox prevailed and waters of this inland sea then measured nearly 160 feet deep above what is now the site of Salem. Lewis A. McArthur, emi nent Oregon geographer, points out that the Eola hills extend from Eola on the south to a point near Amity IS miles to the northward and that their greatest elevation Is 1170 feet. The northern extension of the range is known as Am ity hills. Eola hills derived their name from a hamlet founded on the donation land claim at William Duran in the late 1840s. Then the place was called Cincinnati and was ac cessible to small steamboats that could crowd their way a few hundred yards up the burshy Rlckreall creek from the confluence of that stream with the Willamette. 1834. Marysville had Us name changed to Corvallis (heart of the valley, If you please) by the legislature of 18S3. So, the road from Doak's ferry to Corvallis received that des' cription after 185J. But the matter of nomen clature becomes Involved. A msp of the locality made by a government surveyor in 1851, now a possession in transcript of the Union Title Insurance company shows a highland road well above Eola, where the chickens got mired in 1893, crossing the Rlckreall where the ground remained reason' ably solid in winter. . Early In the 1850s Cincuv nati became Eola. Decades aco someone suggested that this unique name was lnnspir ed by Lindsay Bobbins, a lo cal music teacher who was fond of the Eolian harp. Oth ers more grounded in classi cal mythology liked to believe that the place was named for Eolus, a god of wind, since wind along the river seems to be a natural condition in this locality. A later, cynical generation accepts Eolus as the namesake for Eola but for a different reason. Joshua (Sheep) Shaw and his son, A. R. C. Shaw, promoted Eola though the towniite was some little dis tance from their own claim. They advertised In the Oregon City Spectator for June 13, 1849, that the site commanded a fine view of the La Creole valley, was well supplied with excellent water from several large springs, had timber and rock of excellent quality and was sustained by a back coun try as rich and flourishing as any in the Willamette valley. Oldtlmers read that, heard more and laughed In their whiskers. They knew, as a later generation cam to know, water in the locality Is where you find It, that today there may be mor timber than there was then and that the tough, igneous rocks are just as abundant as ever. This later generation came to sus pect that the oldsters called the place Eola because the arly promoters were pretty windy about the natural ad vantages of the locality. And Eolus, you know, was the pa fan god of the wind. Anyway, the town (and It became Incorporated In 1853 though the legislature was told it consisted of but two houses and a bam a perfidy) did not flourish long. Capital Journal for January 7, 1893, said the road at Eola was so bad that chickens became mired In the mud. At the turn of the century the hamlet con sisted of a store and a brandy distillery patronized by some and deplored by others. Ascending steeply from Hoi man state park is a gravel road that leads past Leo SpiUbart's farm, "April Hill" and deteriorates markedly In payability as U continues sharply upwards to form i Junction with what was form erly known as Cehlar road, now Eola Drive. That road is described in old documents as the military road leading from Doak i ferry to Corvallis. Military road as it applies to the Doak s ferry route is a misnomer in all respects save one. In early days congreM granted the states and terri tories funds for construction of roads ostensibly for military usage fighting Indians, for Instance. That a corporal's guard ever trudged over this steep, and In winter almost Impassable, route appears un likely. That this road may have been a vague link In the road authorized by the legislature of 1846 to extend from Port land to Marysville may be true. Doak's ferry, establish ed by Andrew J. Doak, was at the Valfontls crossing that be came Lincoln when the post-c-fflc changed its name In One leg of the Doak's ferry road merges with the more fa miliar highway that crosses Eola hills by way of Popcorn school. Popcorn school, says McArth ur, got its name in early days when rebellious pupils locked their teacher in the school house. He had both popcorn and plenty of time so he pro ceeded to pop. The youngsters, hopeful of sharing the popcorn, opened the door and let the teacher out A more convincing account is related in the Clara Pearce Smith memoir, a possession of C. A. Martin, 710 Thompson street Mrs. Smith was one of 11 children in the Thomas Pearce family that arrived in the Eola locality In 1853. The Pearce memoir mentions that Popcorn school district No. 36 was organized in 1867. Even before that date it Is probable that an earlier school stood on what is now the James Best place since Mrs. Smith and James Best have both observed the relics of this pioneer con struction. In 1867 volunteer la bor built Popcorn school for district No. 36 and the struc ture stood until the present school was built in 1912. First teacher at Popcorn school in the Smith memoir was Napoleon Franklin Nelson, fa miliar In the neighborhood as Policy." Polley was a man of small stature in a rural school i EOLA HILLS, RICH IN GEOLOGY, RICH IN HISTORY - - Z -is.Y:- -.!!- ' 'm ' sky .V ffe 4I a! ' . '- r .' ... "' i .ninii " t . f P j II l u MM II 111 HI I 111 IW jl - -M '-' "J'-" ilf-S r I.L.W.... Left: So-called military road from Doak's ferry to Cor vallis becomes impassible in winter as it wanders steeply from Holman state park upwards to intersect with Eola drive; segment of a pioneer Polk county road shown on a government survey for 1851. Top right: Summit Methodist church, erected by Rev. JL C. Blackwell, was dedicated September 27, 1903. Fifty years ago the membership was 28, now 34: Lower right: Sign at the intersection of Eola drive with the old "military" road from Doaks ferry to Corvallis. History does not reveal that this pioneer road built by federal aid ever had any military significance. that contained many pupils larger if not older than he. At the end of the first term the pupils demanded that Pol ley treat the school. Polley refused and was promptly seized by his insist ent pupils who proceeded to hustle him along to a nearby brook. There they dunked' Pol ley and dunked him again until he did promise to treat On his return to the school house, Polley brought a flour sack filled with popcorn. Thas was his treat to pupils whom he may have considered as knuckle - headed extortionists. Hence the name, Popcorn school. Later teachers at Popcorn school were Miss Sally Cavitt, Viola Ruble, Mrs. Thomas Gardner, Ellen Sykes, Thomas Starbuck, Miss Sears and Dan Finley. Summit church near Pop corn school has an authentic THINK OF FUTURE TRADE-IN IWJ YOU TRY OUT A OAR ! Reports Prove Mercury's Trade-in Value Tops Them All in Its Price Class! 1351 Smart shoppers know the actual cost of a new car isn't found on the price tag. When you buy a car you're making an investment When you sell or trade in that car, one, two, or more years later you get back part of your original purchase price. With some cars, this resale value is disappoint ingly small. But with Mercury according to four independent; impartial surveys you get the highest resale value in the en tire Mercury price class. The reason? Mercury's consistent years ahead styling, for one thing. Clean, long, low lines that set tho style and stay in style. Colorful interiors that keep their smartness for years. 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A diary kept by Mrs. Guy McDowell reveals that Sum mit Methodist church was built by Rev. R. C. Blackwell, an itinerant minister who lived in South Salem, in 1903 He did much of the carpenter work, the community contri buted labor and funds. The church was dedicated Septem ber 27, 1903 and Rev. John Coleman, D.D., presideqt of Willamette university was speaker for tnat occasion, nev D. H. Leach was first pastor though Rev. Sweeney preach' there and at Oak Grove on occasion. HuS icn9- ' Mrs. McDowell recalls that membership on the occasion of dedication was 28. Rev. F. H. Femberton, 2055 Virginia street, Salem, is now entering the third year of his pastorate at Summit church. Lately the edifice has been re finished on the inside and i pipj organ installed. Soon the exterior will be repainted and the church steeple reconstruct ed. Present membership in the church is 54. Dr. Condon would have ap predated a visitation to the fossil bed in the Eola hiUs in dicated on the government map for 1851. Those who set tled there 100 years ago knew little about the geology of prim itive gastropods discovered in these fossil beds. Rather, they busied themselves , in agricul tural pursuits to accomplish the promise made in the Spec tator: "A back country for Eola as rich and flourishing as any In the Willamette valley." PARTING GIFT Newport, N.H. (U.RX Mrs. H. H. Tennyson reports a hen that lived to be 15 years old and laid an egg the day she died. Offer Eyes to Save Child Tacoma U.R) A man and wife offered an eye apiece for sale today in a hopeless ef fort to preclude what is con sidered inevitable death to their four-year-old son Randy. Mr. and Mrs. Dean Booth said they want to know If there is such a thing as an "eye bank," someplace wher they can sell their eyes. "We need money to buy more medicine for Randy," Booth said. Randy has acute lymphatic leukemia. 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