"The road was built by Thomas R. Cornelius in the 19th century.^[9] "

March 24, 2020

After a little digging revealed a ton of interesting history with Logie Trail Road, I decided to take a look at Cornelius Pass Road, but nothing much came up on a quick glance. I do know of one or two things I might add to this page later, but they are away from the highway.

Roger Gregory, The Oregonian: Paths linking past and present

Cornell. Meek. Scholls Ferry. Washington County road names that pay tribute not just to homesteaders who tilled this land, but also to descendants who still live and work here... Many roads are named after families who settled here in the 1850s on donation land claims. Other names credit those who came later and made their mark.

Pioneers immediately recognized the need for better roads. An 1854 law required every man in the county, ages 21 to 50, to donate two days of labor a year to road work. No-shows were fined $2 a day.

...

Cornelius-Schefflin Road:

In 1905, Effingham Schieffelin donated 4.5 acres of his land claim to Pacific Railway and Navigation Co. so a railroad could be built between Hillsboro and Tillamook.

In return, the railroad depot was named after Schieffelin, with the name Anglicized as Schefflin. The crossroads community of Schefflin, which no longer exists, was located west of Northwest Glencoe Road at Kerkman Road. A general store and Zion Lutheran Church served the local farm community.

From Schefflin, the road led southwest to Cornelius and the wheat warehouse of Thomas Cornelius, who developed Cornelius Pass Road. Ben Holladay, famous for his lucrative Pony Express, established the town and attempted to have it named the county seat. The effort failed because a railroad depot soon sprang up in Hillsboro, establishing it as a shipping point for farm produce and lumber.

Lyn Topinka, Columbia River Images

Both Cornelius Pass and Logie Trail were used by Native Americans and then early explorers and trappers, before becoming improved for use by wagons and tradesmen.

In the 1800s pioneer and statesman Thomas R. Cornelius built Cornelius Pass. Thomas Cornelius arrived in Oregon with his family and settled in Washington County, Oregon, in 1845. He fought in both the Cayuse War and the 1855 Yakima Indian War.

In 1850/1851 Cornelius Pass was considered for a railroad passage from St. Helens, Oregon, across Cornelius Pass and heading south to the Willamette Valley.

"The first Oregon proposition for a railroad in Oregon was made by H.M. Knighton, the original owner of the townsite of St. Helens. Mr. Knighton proposed to make good the claim of his town to the seaport head of navigation on the Columbia river by building a railroad in 1851 from St. Helens through the Cornelius pass and across Washington county to the city of Lafayette, that town being at that time the big town of the Willamette valley."

"H.M. Knighton, owner of the original townsite at St. Helens, Oregon, proposed in 1850 to build a railroad from that town, then a serious competitor of Portland for supremacy as the metropolis at the head of river navigation, the route of which railroad was to follow through the Cornelius Pass and across Washington County to Lafayette."

Links

Columbia River Images: Tualatin Mountains, Oregon

Includes ... Tualatin Mountains ... Portland West Hills ... Council Crest ... Cornelius Pass ... Logie Trail ... Tualatin Basin ... Tualatin Plains ... Tualatin River ... Tualatin Valley ...

http://columbiariverimages.com/Regions/Places/tualatin_mountains.html

CLICK HERE to continue exploring the highway