A Very Special Trip to the A.T. Smith House, WashCo's First Post Office

Cornelius, too

AT Smith House

The Alvin T Smith House is the second-oldest building in the county (after the Pacific University). I tried to visit once when I covered Carnation but it's on a private field.

Alvin T Smith lived south of (now) Forest Grove in the 1840s and 50s, representing the Valley at the Champoeg Meetings and becoming the first postmaster.

The Smiths built progressively better homes on their land, culminating in this Greek Revival in 1854. A log cabin, its predecessor was the actual first post office. Although not strictly a community, the land was a critical communal place in the pioneer era.

I had to see it. So in September, I learned about an open house special event hosted by the Friends of Historic Forest Grove and pedaled out from Hillsboro.

The house has been lovingly restored. I toured all four floors and learned quite a bit about the construction materials at the time. The experts at the Friends of Historic Forest Grove can tell you more.

From Hillsboro, I took Baseline/Hwy 8/Long Bridge for the most direct route to Forest Grove. With the heavy car traffic, some people may find that unnerving as a bike route. With a very wide and continuous shoulder engine noise is my only complaint.

Sure, if I have all the time in the world, I'd prefer to take the north route along Wren Road or swing south along the Tualatin Valley Scenic Bike route but Baseline is the fastest. Soon, I may have another option:

Rail and ties have been removed. All that's left is to pave and put in cross walks on this trail.

The TriMet MAX traces the Oregon Electric Railway right-of-way but ends in Hillsboro. The OER continued on to Forest Grove. That's miles of abandoned and unusable land straight through Hillsboro, Cornelius, and Forest Grove, ideal for a traversal path. Within a few years, this may be my preferred trail to get across the county.

In the meantime, I'm stuck on the busy highways, making stops along the way.

Cornelius

Why does Cornelius exist?

By the time it was founded in 1871, both Forest Grove and Hillsboro were burgeoning cities, established two decades prior. Centerville was thriving and just two miles north. Did the county really need yet another hub that split the difference?

Arguably, no. The railroad did. I posit that Cornelius is a spite city and the result of capitalist opportunism. Take a look at the old West Side Railroad that runs along the south side of Hillsboro and Forest Grove. Both cities refused to give the company an easement for the tracks.

The Westside rail headed south from Forest Grove to St. Joseph (east of McMinnville) through Gaston. Now it turns west at Seghers and ends at Stimson Mill (near Hagg Lake)

Notice how the rails bend around and avoid both downtown Forest Grove and Hillsboro? Both cities refused to give the company an easement for the tracks.

The railroad responded by building their depot between the two towns and poured money into developing a new city with long-term plans to usurp Hillsboro as county seat.

Old nut drying factory in Cornelius. The siding track was removed a few years ago, rendering the area useless as a train stop. The town is officially a railroad town no more.

Thomas Cornelius' land claim was west of Glencoe (it's the glider field on the North side of Hwy 26, today) but when he learned of the railroad depot, he bought up land nearby and built many of the early amenities to great personal profit.

Cornelius City Hall

Cornelius never surpassed Hillsboro nor Forest Grove but developed it's own character. It makes a great base with easy access to flat farm rides both north and south.

Baseline parallels the rail and remains the main artery and commercial district. It has over 16,000 residents today and is the only majority-Hispanic incorporated community in the county.

I return to Hillsboro along the same route, stopping at more parks in Cornelius along the way.

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