Laurel and Midway

Situated at the crossroad of The official story as that Midway was thus named because it's halfway between Hillsboro and Sherwood and...huh.

It's not, for one. It's closer to Sherwood. It splits the difference between Hillsboro and Newberg quite well and Newberg was a more prominent city, historically. It's also along the major highway connecting Hillsboro to Newberg.

The community was never that large but it did have a schoolhouse (named Midway School). The school shuttered when all the rural districts were consolidated into Groners but the building was converted into a private residence and still stands:

The pizza place above is the only restaurant in town but it was closed when I passed through on a Monday.

I keep heading west.

Laurel

The road to Laurel is quieter now that I'm off the highway. From here, I can really tell that I live in a valley: flat farms surrounded by low hills in all directs:

Laurel post office opened in 1879 and remained active for over half a century. The "downtown" location has moved a little bit over the years but right now is at the crossroads of Laurel and Campbell Roads. The laurel trees the town is named after may have been madrones (not laurels) and they are all gone now, although there is a sizeable walnut farm:

Laurel Foods, nearby produces their own nuts. The Willamette Valley grows practically all the Hazelnuts (or Filberts) in the U.S. but most nuts you find in stores are grown overseas (mostly Turkey, often Italy). Laurel Foods isn't the only place to buy locally-sourced hazelnuts but does have a nice website for ordering. Unfortunately, there's no factory store so I couldn't pick anything up.

The dance hall is still standing (see photo above). As far as I could tell, it's never been formally associated with the Grange. The old general store has shuttered but is getting converted into a restaurant called The Porch. For now, they operate a food truck from the parking lot.