Cedar Mill is a suburb in the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area of the United States; it is a census-designated place and an unincorporated community in Washington County, north of U.S. Route 26 and west of the Willamette Stone. It received its name from a sawmill on Cedar Mill Creek, which cut Western Redcedars that were once the dominant tree in the area. The mill's pond was near the intersection of 119th and Cornell Road, and could still be seen into the 1960s, although the mill itself had ceased operating in 1891. The name was established in 1874 with the opening of a U.S. post office named Cedar Mill. As of the 2020 census, the community population was 17,259.

History

Early history

150px|thumb|The Atfalati were the original inhabitants of the area.

Before white settlement, the land was inhabited by the Atfalati, a subgroup of the Kalapuya, called the "Tualatin" or "Wapato Lake Indians" by settlers. Nearby Beaverton was known by the Natives as "Cha Kepi", meaning "Place of the Beaver". While in 1782 the native population exceeded several thousand, due to diseases brought by the settlers sixty years later, in 1842, the population was merely six hundred. By 1890, the members of the tribe had been reduced to 28 and the last known speaker of the Tualatin language, Louis Kenoyer, died in 1936. Early settlers in the area would recall Native Americans passing through the area, visiting their former lands. William Cornell, namesake of Cornell Road, settled near what is now the easternmost part of Cedar Mill with his wife Emily in 1852. The area became a school district in 1856.

The sawmill was established in 1859 by John Halsey Jones and his father, Justus, and was the "first organized business" The Jones Sawmill was sold in December 1869 to John Quincy Adams Young and William Everson, becoming the Young–Everson Mill. It was renamed the Young Brothers Sawmill after J.Q.A. Young's sons Linc and Jasper acquired it. It ceased operation in 1891 and was abandoned in 1892. Owen and Mary Murray, the namesake of Murray Road, moved to Oregon in the early 1880s and established a 120-acre farm. Their son Joseph Murray sold the farm due to debts brought on by the Great Depression in 1936.

Mill and post office

thumb|left|Historic John and Elizabeth Young House in Cedar Mill, 2015

According to Oregon Geographic Names, a "Cedar Mill" post office was established in 1874, in the John Quincy Adams Young House, built in 1869, which still stands on Cornell Road and is owned by the Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation District. The name was chosen by Young, who had "been commissioned to establish a post office in the area" and been named the first postmaster. The Young–Everson sawmill, specializing in cedar products, was still the only business operating in the area at the time and was also located directly adjacent to the post office, making "Cedar Mill" a logical choice for the name of the new postal station. Along with the post office, Young also operated a small store on the ground floor of his former house. In 1976, the Russell family of Cedar Mill had owned the house since 1914.

John Q. A. Young served as Cedar Mill postmaster until December 1881. His successor, George Reeves, moved the post office in 1882 to a new general store that Reeves opened in that year, located just northwest of the intersection of Barnes and Cornell Roads. The Cedar Mill post office, always located within a store, was moved two more times before closing on July 3, 1904. The final stamp cancelled at the post office was owned in 1976 by Bernard P. Young, a descendant of John and Elizabeth Young. The first Flea Market was held in June 2010.

Public transit service to Cedar Mill was operated in the 1940s by Tualatin Valley Stages, which after 1953 became Tualatin Valley Buses, Inc.–part of a consortium of privately owned companies known as the "Blue Bus" lines. It continued to serve the area through the 1960s, until TriMet took over the Blue Bus lines in 1970.

A Cedar Mill Heritage Quilt was created in the summer of 1976 by 15 local women. It detailed various aspects of Cedar Mill history. Former U.S. Senator Maurine Neuberger declared the winner of the quilting competition in September 1976.

Geography

thumb|Cedar Mill Falls

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of , all land.

The appropriately named Cedar Mill Creek flows through the area. The creek begins its course in the Forest Heights neighborhood in northwest Multnomah County, then passes through Cedar Mill before flowing into Beaverton Creek in Tualatin Hills Nature Park. North Johnson Creek, another waterway in the area, begins south of Cedar Mill Creek and joins the main stream at the Nike World Campus. Cedar Mill Falls is the area's only waterfall, flowing near the Cedar Mill Greenway and JQA Young House. The waterfall, formerly used to provide power for the mill, is a 32-foot high basaltic rock formation. The Sue Conger Memorial Boardwalk, opened in June 2013, allows visitors of all abilities to view the falls. The only lake in the area is Hartung Lake, in the Hartung Farms neighborhood. Johnson Creek also flows through the area.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Cedar Mill had a population of 17,259. The median age was 39.7 years. 26.2% of residents were under the age of 18 and 13.4% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 98.5 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 96.1 males age 18 and over.

100.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.0% lived in rural areas.

There were 6,178 households in Cedar Mill, of which 40.3% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 64.3% were married-couple households, 12.3% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 18.2% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 16.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. Cedar Mill is served by the Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation District (THPRD), which maintains several parks and a few nature trails in the area, as well as the Sunset Swim Center (public swimming pool adjacent to and used by Sunset High School). Among parks is Cedar Mill Park.

Like all areas in the Portland metro area, Cedar Mill residents receive The Oregonian. Virginia Bruce operates the Cedar Mill News, a monthly newsletter running since January 2003. The Cedar Mill News was known as The Milltowner in its first edition, but by February 2003 had been changed to its present form, the Cedar Mill News. A local business association known as the Cedar Mill Business Association is involved in the area. Following expansions in 1978, 1988 and 2001, the Cedar Mill Community Library now occupies of space. The current site is in a former Rodgers store, which closed in 1988 and was remodeled for the library, which previously had been located in much smaller space in another building in the same shopping center. The Library Association operates both the Cedar Mill and Bethany libraries.

Public schools which have attendance boundaries covering the Cedar Mill CDP (as of 2020) include the following schools. Elementary schools include Bonny Slope (in the CDP), Cedar Mill (in the CDP), Findley, and Terra Linda (in the CDP). Middle schools with sections of Cedar Mill in their boundaries include Tumwater and Cedar Park, both in Beaverton. Sunset High School is the public high school with Cedar Mill in its attendance boundary.

In the 1990 U.S. census, the land containing Sunset HS was in the Cedar Mill CDP. In 1999, the area with the school was annexed by the City of Beaverton.

Private schools include Catlin Gabel School, Prince of Peace Lutheran School, and St. Pius X Catholic School (of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon).

School history

The first school district serving Cedar Mill, along with nearby Bethany, the Union School District (District 6), was established in 1856. The first school, serving grades 1 through 8, was built on land donated by pioneer Samuel Walters. The one-room Union School building, built in 1884 and located on what is now N.W. 143rd Avenue adjacent to the Union Cemetery, was replaced by a new two-room building on the same site in 1901, and the school remained in operation until 1948. District 6 was divided twice in the 1880s, with the eastern portion becoming the new Cedar Mill School District in 1883 and the northwestern portion becoming the Bethany School District in 1887 (serving the Bethany and Rock Creek areas, not Cedar Mill). The Union and Bethany districts consolidated in 1948, renamed as Sunset Valley School District. In 1960, the Cedar Mill and Sunset Valley Districts were absorbed by a greatly expanded Beaverton School District (District 48). (whose main campus was located nearby) and used as ESI's administrative headquarters until the mid-1990s, when it was razed and replaced by a Home Depot store.

  • Luis Palau, evangelist
  • Mike Remmers, NFL Player
  • Katee Sackhoff, Actress

See also

  • Cedar Hills, Oregon – nearby area with a similar name

References

Works cited

  • Cedar Mill community website
  • Cedar Mill Library website
  • Cedar Mill News