Oregon School District history

In 1843, Foster, along with Doctor John McLoughlin and their associates, formed the Willamette Cattle Company with Philip Foster as agent.

In 1844, Philip Foster built a log house and moved his family from Oregon City to 800 acres of property in what is now the Eagle Creek area.

Within the immediate Estacada area, the first community that was established was Zion, in 1845.

The original school was named West Chehalem School and was built in 1846.

The Estacada area began to be settled in the 1850’s, mainly by emigrants of English, German, and Italian descent.

The school in Zion was first established in 1851.

The Pierce family, who traveled the Oregon Trail from Illinois in 1852, settled on a donation land claim containing 322.24 acres that was later to become the town of Estacada.

The formation of Multnomah County, from existing Clackamas and Washington Counties in December 1854 by the Territorial Legislature, reduced the boundaries of the district and changed the name of it to School District #17.

The first community in the foothills of the Cascades in our area would become known as George (it was also known as Eagle Park). Descendants of German emigrants settled it in 1871.

In 1873, the second school in the Eagle Creek area was built near the site of our current Eagle Creek Elementary School.

In 1884, the name was changed to Currinsville, named after the claimants George and Hugh Currin.

In 1885 Columbia School District was formed east of Redding.

Ellwood, originally known as Kickapoo and later as Mountain Home, was established in 1892.

Estacada Grade School #108 was formed in 1904 with a small 20 foot by 30 foot building on the west side of Main Street, built close to Second Street.

The town of Estacada was incorporated in 1905.

In 1913, the population of Estacada was recorded at 400.

Named to honor his influences on the establishment of Astoria, Astor Elementary, built in 1925 is a beautiful building that has been featured in several movies.

Sherman Hays, tore down the old Columbia School on Old Alturas in 1928 and used the materials to build a "teacherage" by the "new" Columbia School.

In 1929, as a result of the loss of the Garfield School that burned during the LaDee Flats Forest Fire, a series of consolidations with School District #108 began.

In 1931, the Estacada Union High School District #6 was formed to serve the Estacada area schools, with the exception of the Barton and Eagle Creek areas.

A new 60,000 square foot Clackamas River Elementary School to replace the Estacada Grade School, built in about 1932.

A new Union High School was eventually constructed in 1936, as a Public Works Administration project (project number Oreg.

In 1941 the school joined the Newberg School District and was renamed Ewing Young.

A citizens committee studied alternatives, and in 1955 the trustees bought 12 acres on Old Oregon Trail from Mr.

The first wing of the present Columbia School was completed in 1956.

The District also found it necessary in 1960 to build a primary school, locating it nearby on Denney Road.

Eagle Creek School District #17 consolidated with District #108 in 1966.

In 1975, an administrative district was formed comprising Three Lynx Elementary School District #123, Estacada Elementary School District #108, and Estacada Union High School District #6.

The Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978: A Diplomatic Solution to an Adoption Crisis

Also in 1979, district patrons passed a $6.5 million bond issue.

Projects funded by that bond were completed by the 1981-82 school year and included:

In 1995, a five-year $1.582 million bond issue was approved.

In November 2000, school district voters overwhelmingly passed the largest general obligation bond in district history - $25.4 million.

The Grade School was demolished in 2002 to make way for the new Clackamas River Elementary School.

Returning Oregon History Day participants, Alan Zhou and Kyler Wang, took some time to talk with Dear Oregon editors about their 2019 documentary project Echo of Falling Water: The Destruction of Celilo Falls.

In this blog post, Education Manager Kristen Pilgrim highlights a few of this year’s stand-out Oregon History Day projects, sharing the many ways that Oregon students interpreted the 2021 theme, “Communication in History: The Key to Understanding.”