Vernonia eagle., July 28, 1966, Page 44, Image 44

36
Vernonia Eagle, July 28, 1966
Building First
Of Sawed Boards
year
1861,
ry.”
torn
term occurred in December,
in the 4th Minnesota infant­
(At this point the paper was
off.)
One thing that is recalled by
some of those who were the “small
fry” when he was alive, was that
he was a great teller of tales about
his war experiences and trip ac­
ross the plains. Just how much was
fantasy and how much was truth
was sometimes questionable.
THIS HOUSE, which stands on North street, is believ-
ed to be the oldest house in Vernonia and was built
about 1890 by Joseph Van Blaricom. It may have been
the first house of sawed boards, also.
1890 House Still Stands
What may well be the oldest
building in Vernonia is the old,
well weathered dwelling on North
street which now stands vacant
and forlorn, hiding within its walls
the stories of events over better
then 70 years. It, also, may well
lay claim to the title of being the
first house in Vernonia built from
sawed boards.
The house in question stands
next to the home of Mrs. Ethel
Ray. To many people it is known
as the McDonald house, since that
family lived there from about 1920
until a few years ago when Mrs.
Kate McDonald passed away.
Originally, the house was the
Joe Van Blaricom house. Joe had
come here in 1874 with the Van
Blaricom families who were the
second settlers in the valley, being
preceded only by the Clark Park­
ers. The clan came west from
Minnesota in 1872 and was headed
by John Van Blaricom Sr. who
was about 69 years old at the time
he came to the valley. His wife
had died near Walla Walla on the
trek west.
Coming to the area with him
were several of his children and
their families and others followed.
They were Joseph, who home­
steaded what is now the main part
of Vernonia; Mr. and Mrs. Henry
Van Blaricom and their children
who settled on the place now own­
ed by Guy Thomas; Mr. and Mrs.
Phillip Van Blaricom who home­
steaded on the Nehalem river
about six or seven miles south of
Vernonia (Anna Christensen was
their daughter and her death in
1962 took from this earth the last
of the original group to come to
the valley at that time. She was
five years old when the family set­
tled here.); Hiram, just a boy and
unmarried, who homesteaded on
Rock Creek and John Jr., also
unmarried, who later married Jul­
ia Parker, daughter of the first
settlers, Mr. and Mrs. Clark Park­
er.
There also were two Van Blari­
com daughters and husbands who
came here soon after that. They
were Drusilla and Frank Baker
whose homestead took in the area
where the high school now stands,
and Sarah Ann and Saul Sheeley
whose place is now owned by the
Jack Justice family.
When Joe Van Blaricom home­
steaded here, like everyone else,
he first built a log cabin. As near
as can be determined from the
few remaining persons who can
recall events of that time, he built
the house in question about 1890
and used boards that had been
sawed at the mill at Pittsburg.
A Nehalem Journal of 1890 has
this to say about him; “Vernonia’s
Founder. One of the quietest and
most unassuming men found on
the streets of Vernonia today is
Joseph Van Blaricom, the founder
and former owner of this city. The
history of the town is so closely
woven into that of its founder that
the following facts about his career
will be of interest to those in any
way interested in the town’s pros­
pects and history.
Joseph Van Blaricom was born
in Shelby county, Ohio in 1833. As
the name would indicate, the fam­
ily is of Dutch extraction, although
several generations have been
born in this country. At the age of
ten he moved to Indiana where the
family stayed for 10 years, then
moved to Minnesota.
The great rebellion found young
Van Blaricom ready to report for
duty, and his enlistment for a
As was mentioned above, the
Parker family came here early in
1874 and the Van Blaricom fami­
lies soon thereafter. With the m ar­
riage of Julia Parker and John
Van Blaricom, the two families
were inter-related. A teacher of
some years ago recalls being told
when she came here that she
should never talk about anyone be­
cause everyone was related. Such
was pretty much the fact until in
the 1920s when the mill brought an
influx of new families to the area.
So — the house now stands as
an evidence of an earlier day and
holds within it the secrets of much
of the early history of the area. No
doubt, ere long, it will be erased
from the scene and yield to the
progress which must ever move
forward in a thriving, growing
community such as this.
Saluting Vernonia's First
75 Years and Building
Toward Its Future . . .
This Year is the 26th since the first cooperative
power was delivered under the REA Act. The
first REA financed co-op. in Oregon was the
Nehalem Valley Cooperative at Jewell. It serv­
ed the area from near Vesper to Elsie in the
Nehalem Valley and to Olney. Its lines began
delivering electricity to members June 15, 1937.
In 1945 the Nehalem Valley Cooperative be­
came a part of the newly organized West Ore­
gon Electric Cooperative which included the
Oregon Gas and Electric Co. at Vernonia, Tim­
ber Light and Power Co. at Timber and the
proposed Tualatin Valley Cooperative. Since
then lines have been extended to everyone de­
siring service in the area served by West Ore­
gon Electric Co-op., Inc.
WEST OREGON ELECTRIC
CO-OP., INC.
VERNONIA, OREGON
A Self-Liquidating. Self-Managed. Tax-Paving Cooperative Enterprise