southtillamookcounty.com
History
"Short History of the Little Nestucca River Valley and Its Early Pioneers" written about South Tillamook County, Oregon
The page below was written by Mrs. Hardy Rock (Alexandria LEY Rock) and published in 1949. NVMS students have retyped her history so that many may read it. Although some punctuation errors have been corrected the text remains as written by Mrs. Rock.
Note that Alexandria LEY Rock's "Short History of the Little Nestucca River Valley and Its Early Pioneers" has been republished in book form as of January 2007 and is now being offered for sale by the Tillamook County Historical Society!
(This page was typed by Dean Bones.)
The Oretown Grange was organized with 5 charter members, October, 1905. The first meeting was in the school house which stood a little west of the large barn belonging to W. D. Rock (son of John Rock) after which the old cheese factory (a little north of the present one) was used until the grange hall was erected in 1907. The first worthy master was A. M. Commons, who had purchased the present Vogel farm in 1890. The first Chaplain was Wm. Redberg, who became owner of the J. B. Upton farm in 1894 and who became Postmaster of Oretown in 1903, which office he held until 1920, when ill health forced him to retire.
The Grange Hall has been the scene of many socials, lectures, and dances. Here the Red Cross during World War I had its headquarters. Several Silver Weddings were celebrated in it and the Golden Wedding of Alex Imlah and wife of Cloverdale. The present Worthy Master is Walter Affolter; the Chaplain is Mrs. Retta Booth Ray, mother of Oral Ray. The Grange, the Church and Ladies Clubs have become worthy and influential in the lives of the people of the entire community.
Chris Christensen, who discovered gold in the black sand on the beach, patented a machine to extract this gold and operated it for awhile until he realized there was not sufficient gold to pay. He exhibited this machine at the World's Fair in Portland, Oregon. Before he died in 1919, he invented a concentrator which is still used in some mining camps in the west.
Continue to page 30 of "Short History of the Little Nestucca River Valley and Its Early Pioneers!"