Holbrook, Oregon

"...Holbrook used to have a post office. The site of the town and the school (also on left) were situated on the site of pioneer Philo Holbrook's farm."

Wikipedia: Holbrook, Oregon

Holbrook is an unincorporated community in Multnomah County, Oregon, United States.^[1] It is located on U.S. Route 30 about 15 miles northwest of Portland between the Tualatin Mountains and the Multnomah Channel south of Sauvie Island.^[2] Holbrook's elevation is 135 feet above sea level ^[1]

The community was named for pioneer Philo Holbrook, who owned a farm nearby.^[3] Holbrook post office ran from 1887 to 1933.^[3]

July 9, 1908; Oregonian, p 13

"Death Summons Philo Holbrook"

Philo Holbrook, former Commissioner of Multnomah County and a respected pioneer resident of this city and county, died at his home, 211 Fourteenth street, in Portland, at 12:30 o'clock yesterday afternoon, aged 68 years. Private funeral services will be held at the family home at 10:30 o'clock tomorrow morning, conducted by Rev. Mr. Wilson of the Calvary Presbyterian Church. Interment will take place in the Greenwood Cemetery. The family requests that no flowers be sent.

While Mr. Holbrook had been suffering from sclerosis of the arteries for three years, his condition did not become serious until Tuesday. He had been downtown and transacted some business only the day before.

Mr. Holbrook was born at Seymour, New Haven County, Conn., in July, 1840. His parents were Captain Philo and Emily (Tomlinson) Holbrook, natives of Connecticut and Vermont, respectively, and were descended from Puritan ancestors. Denied the opportunity and advantages of an early education, having been forced to make his own way after reaching the age of 12, Mr. Holbrook served a full apprenticeship in the school of experience, which contributed largely to his successful career. His first labors consisted of working on the farm, devoting only three months of the year to attending school.

In 1858, at the age of 18 years, Mr. Holbrook went to sea and followed the coasting trade on the Atlantic Coast. The following year he started for California, via the Panama route, reaching San Francisco in September of that year and continuing thence to Portland where he arrived in December of the same year, friendless and without funds.

Mr. Holbrook was employed in various capacities until 1861, when, at the outbreak of the mining excitement in Idaho, he started for the new Eldorado, walking the entire distance and carrying his effects in a pack on his back. He worked for a year in the mines and then entered the employ of the Oregon Steamship & Navigation Company, and for 10 years was employed in different capacities on the steamboats plying on the Upper Columbia and Snake Rivers. Returning to Portland in 1872, in September of that year he married Hannah Wilson, daughter of Samuel Wilson, pioneer of 1850, who, with three sons and two daughters, survives him. The children are: County Surveyor Philo Holbrook, Jr.; Millard C. Holbrook, Emily H. Holbrook, Samuel Holbrook and Helen Holbrook, all of this county. Miss Emily H. Holbrook is touring Europe.

After returning to Oregon in 1872, Mr. Holbrook, with his accumulated savings, purchased a tract of agricultural land on the Willamette Slough. He increased his possessions until he had acquired several hundred acres of land, when he engaged extensively in farming and stockraising. He followed this business successfully until 1881, when he removed with his family to this city, where he has since resided and engaged in the real estate business.

Although in no sense an office-seeking politician, Mr. Holbrook always took an active interest in public affairs and was regarded as one of the prominent and influential members of his party. In 1878 he was elected County Commissioner, serving two years. In June, 1892, he was elected to the same office and served a four-year term.

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