Milwaukie Historical Timeline

1805

Explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark estimate the population of the Clackamas people to be around 1,800.

1811

William Henry and Alfred Seton journey by boat up river to the Willamette Falls; they are likely the first white men seen in what would become Clackamas County.

1829

The ship Owyhee sails up the Willamette River, the first ocean-going ship to do so, bringing a malaria which quickly spread amongst the Clackamas people. In 1829 alone, nine out of ten of the Clackamas people would die from the fever.

1845

Andrew Fellows, the first to establish a permanent residence on the spot where Milwaukie is now, built a cabin near the intersection of today's McLoughlin Boulevard and Jefferson Street.

1847

Lot Whitcomb arrives at Milwaukie and initially lives in Andrew Fellows' abandoned cabin.

The Lewelling (or Luelling) family arrive in Oregon with a stock of seedling fruit trees.

1849

Lot Whitcomb, William Torrance, and Joseph Kellogg, lay out a street plat for Milwaukie.

On November 30, educator Hector Campbell opened Milwaukie's first school.

1850

With 500 inhabitants, a US post office opens with Lot Whitcomb as Postmaster.

Milwaukie Pioneer Cemetery was founded.

On November 30, Hector Campbell is elected to represent Clackamas County at the first session of the Oregon Territorial Legislature held at Oregon City.

The first steamship manufactured in Oregon was built at Milwaukie; the side-wheel steamer Lot Whitcomb was launched amid a huge celebration on Christmas Day, 1850. The festivities turned tragic when a cannon fired in celebration aboard another schooner exploded, killing that ship's captain.

On February 14, by Congressional Appointment, Milwaukie is designated a "Port of Delivery" which encourages the growth of the fledgling and short-lived shipbuilding industry on Milwaukie Bay.

Benjamin Brown built and began operating the Standard Flour Mill at the foot of Washington Street on Milwaukie Bay; the mill’s Red Cross brand would produce 100 barrels per day at it's peak.

The second steamship built in Milwaukie, the first stern-wheeler built in Oregon, the Jennie Clark, was launched on Milwaukie Bay.

By treaty, the 88 surviving members of the Clackamas tribe cede their lands (including Milwaukie) for an annual payment of $2,500 for ten years. Clackamas men who signed the treaty were allowed to occupy their traditional homes during their lifetimes but their children retained no land rights. The treaty was never ratified by Congress.

On March 31, Lot Whitcomb dies at Milwaukie.

A new steam-powered ferry is launched at the foot of Jefferson Street on Milwaukie Bay with service to the south end of Macadam Avenue in Portland.

A new cherry variety, the Bing, was developed at the Lewelling Farm. Its namesake was the six-foot-tall Chinese nursery foreman at the orchard named Bing Ah.

An orphaned Herbert Hoover moves to Oregon to live with relatives in Newberg;  the future president's uncle, Dr. Henry John Minthorn, owned farmland near Milwaukie where young Hoover often visited.

The Milwaukie city library was founded, probably by Alfred Lewelling as a circulating library.  It was initially housed in the law office of Thomas Lakin, Justice of the Peace, on the corner of Main and Washington Streets.  The office burned down a few months later.

Seth Lewelling and William S. U'Ren began their efforts to lead Oregon's populist movement which called for the public right to referendum and recall, a direct primary, a single tax, and the popular election of US Senators.

On February 16, the Interurban Line, an electric transport trolley, brought passengers to Portland, through Milwaukie, from Oregon City for the first time.

On July 8, the Standard Mill building on Milwaukie’s riverfront collapses.

On February 4, Milwaukie is incorporated by the Oregon State Legislative Assembly and elections for the first Mayor and City Council are held soon after.

On June 2, the Common (later City) Council convenes for the first time in rented space on the corner of Main Street and Jefferson Street.

On July 6, the Common Council adopts Ordinance 1 "Providing for the Regulation of the Storage of Gunpowder, Dynamite and all Other Explosives".

The City Council issues a franchise to build water storage tanks, lay water mains, and provide water for the city.

On February 11, the Oregon State Senate adopts Senate Bill 58 incorporating the Town of Milwaukie, two years after the State House of Representatives passed, and the Governor signed, an act of incorporation.

The Milwaukie Volunteer Fire Department was established.

The first street lights were installed, followed by sidewalks, paved streets, telephone service, natural gas and residential electricity.

The first City Hall is built on the southeast corner of Harrison Street and 21st Avenue; it later moved to the corner of 21st Avenue and Jackson Street.

Crystal Lake is developed into an amusement park that features a playground, bowling alley, ball field with grand stands, swimming complex and a dance hall.  At it's peak the park saw as many as 15,000 visitors on certain Sundays.

On January 12, the City Council adopts its first Resolution in "Appreciation of William Shindler, the First Mayor of Milwaukie".

On November 13, the City Council adopts Ordinance 81 establishing the first speed limit at 15 miles per hour for all "vehicle, automobile, automobile truck or other motor vehicle."

On February 26, the City Council adopted Ordinance 125 making it illegal to "expectorate or spit on the floor of any public hall, building, or office, or upon the sidewalk" with a maximum fine of $20 or ten days imprisonment.  Ordinance 125 was repealed in 1964.

The present-day Milwaukie Elementary School is built.

The Milwaukie Police Department is formed as a municipal department replacing the elected Town Marshal's office.

On April 5, in response to concern about the impact of public dances on the public health, the City Council adopts Ordinance 161 "regulating public dance halls and dances" and setting out in detail how to become licensed and operate any type of public dance.  Ordinance 161 would be amended in the following decades before being repealed in 1965.

Ardenwald Elementary School opens on 36th Avenue.

Edith Hazen is the first woman elected to the City Council.

The present-day Milwaukie High School is dedicated on September 3.

The library moves to the Council Chambers in City Hall.  Dorothy M. Winters becomes the first librarian in 1935 and the first library board was appointed in 1936.

The Milwaukie Historical Society was founded.

Milwaukie Junior High School (now the Portland Waldorf School) is built by the Public Works Administration (PWA) and features a pool.

Crystal Lake Amusement Park closes permanently; today the Crystal Lake apartments stand on this site.

Milwaukie High School's original grandstand and athletic fields are built.

On July 7, Milwaukie City Hall is dedicated and initially houses the fire and police departments, municipal court, and library as well as the City Council and administration.

The Oregon State Highway Commission pays $468.50 for a right-of-way along Johnson Creek to build a "superhighway" known today as McLoughlin Boulevard.

The City, Clackamas County Housing Authority, and the US Housing Administration agree to construct low-cost housing north of downtown; later some of the original houses would be moved to 32nd Avenue.

Following the adoption of a new City Charter in 1944, which established the Council-Manager form of government, the first City Manager was hired.

On January 13, the City Council adopts Ordinance 492 "regulating the operation of what is known as history question games and other games of like nature" and providing a fine of $200 or 100 days in jail for failing to obtain a license.  In April the Ordinance would be amended to specify that the annual registration fee shall be $150.  The Ordinance would be repealed in 1965.

The 100th anniversary of the settling of Milwaukie is celebrated.

The Milwaukie Police Department purchases its first patrol car, a Chevy sedan.

On January 23, the City Council adopts Resolution 2-1950, officially naming the stretch of the "Portland-Oregon City East Side Highway" that runs through downtown as McLoughlin Boulevard.

Milwaukie's population hits 5,253.

On June 11, on the recommendation of the Milwaukie Sportsman's Club and the Oregon State Police, the City Council adopts Resolution 5-1951, setting aside parts of Johnson Creek as a "fish preserve during the summer months of 1951" for "juveniles under the age of fourteen years only".

On April 28, the City Council adopts Resolution 6-1952, that "in the event the City of Portland adopts Daylight Saving Time" the Mayor of Milwaukie is authorized "to make Daylight Saving Time the official time of the City of Milwaukie."

The Friends of the Milwaukie Library is founded.

On April 13, the City Council adopts Ordinance 579 "requiring a license from all persons engaged in the business of revealing or attempting to reveal the future events in another's life" and setting a maximum fine of $500 or 30 days in prison for failure to obtain a license.

On December 31, Milwaukie Police Sgt. James Worrell is overcome by carbon monoxide gas and passes away while sitting in his police cruiser in front of City Hall.

In June, former President Harry Truman visits the North Clackamas area.

In February, Assistant Fire Chief Warren Nott drowns while saving a father and son who had fallen through the ice on Kellogg Lake.

Hector Campbell Elementary School opens on 47th Avenue.

The Interurban Line, known as the trolley, made it's final run after 65 years of carrying riders through Milwaukie.

U.S. Senator and presidential candidate John F Kennedy visits Milwaukie's State Senator Monroe Sweetland at the offices of the Milwaukie Review.

On January 21, Florence Ledding, widow of former City Councilor Herman Ledding and step-daughter of town founder Seth Lewelling, passes away and bequeaths her home and property at 21st Avenue and Harrison Street to the City for use as a library. Today, the site is home to Milwaukie's Ledding Library.

The original St. John Episcopal Church building is floated down the Willamette River from Milwaukie to its present home near Oaks Park in Portland.

On July 9, noting that Milwaukie was home to the "oldest and largest Dogwood Tree in the world", the City Council officially designated the Dogwood as the city flower and "Dogwood City of the West" as the city pseudonym (nickname).

Seth Lewelling Elementary School opens on Logus Road.

Wilbur D. Rowe Middle School opens on Lake Road.

The City Council debates the Milwaukie Expressway (Highway 224) and approves the first million dollar City budget which is referred to the voters and rejected twice before winning final approval.

US Senator and presidential candidate Bobby Kennedy visits Milwaukie on a whistle stop tour.

Dwyer Memorial Hospital opens on 32nd Avenue; in 1986 it would become Providence Milwaukie Hospital.

Linwood Elementary School opens on Linwood Avenue.

The police department, having outgrown it's office at City Hall, moves to a converted house that had been willed to the City; 20 years late the department would move to the Public Safety Building.

McLoughlin Boulevard is decommissioned as US 99 and becomes Oregon 99E.

On January 22, the City Council adopts Resolution 2-1973, "Requiring Men to Grow Beards and Women to Wear Pantaloons or Long Skirts" for Festival Daze.

In June, the George Wise farmhouse, formerly located on Lake Road, is relocated to Adams Street and opens to the public as the Milwaukie Museum.

‘Cityhood’ – the unification of most North Clackamas County communities into what would have been one of Oregon’s largest cities – is publicly debated, but despite initial petitioner success the effort fails.

Joy Burgess is elected the first woman Mayor of Milwaukie.

The North Clackamas Parks and Recreation District is created; the City of Milwaukie signs an inter-governmental agreement transferring its parks staff to the new agency which is charged with maintaining the city-owned parks.

The Public Safety Building is built and houses the police and fire departments.

The City's Fire Department is consolidated into Clackamas County Fire District #1.

Milwaukie Middle School (formerly Milwaukie Junior High School) is closed and the property is sold to the Portland Waldorf School.

Construction begins on the Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail project.

On September 6, a Diamond Jubilee celebration is held in honor of City Hall's 75 year of service to the City.

On May 1, the City celebrates the completion of Riverfront Park Phase II.

On September 12, the Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Line (the Orange Line) opens to the public, restoring commuter rail service between Milwaukie and Portland.