Gladstone, Oregon
Encyclopedia
Gladstone is a city located in Clackamas County, Oregon
, United States
. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 11,438. The 2007 estimate is 12,200 residents. Gladstone is a four-square-mile (10 km²) suburban community twelve miles (19 km) south of Portland
at the confluence
of the Clackamas
and Willamette
rivers. To the south, across the Clackamas River, is Oregon City
, across the Willamette is West Linn
, to the north is Milwaukie
.
did not visit the Gladstone-Oregon City region, but did have it described to them by the native people. Later explorers and traders brought diseases and epidemics that took a very heavy toll on the native population and the tribes dwindled to near extinction.
When Oregon City
was founded and people began moving to the area, they petitioned their governments to remove the local aboriginals from the land, so that European settlers could have land to farm and live on. The government responded by rounding up the Indians and forcing them to leave their lands for a reservation. With the natives removed from the scene, the Gladstone area was ripe for settling. Today the only visible remains of the native presence is a large maple tree called "The Pow Wow Tree," which is listed as an Oregon Heritage Tree.
. The Casons and the Rinearsons were the first settlers to receive their donation land claims in Gladstone. Peter M. Rinearson and his family owned the land between Jennings Lodge
and the Clackamas River
, and between the Willamette River
and Portland Avenue. Fendal Cason, who came to Oregon in 1843, owned an area equal in size east of Portland Avenue. Cason went on to serve in the Oregon Territorial Legislature
.
The Pow-Wow Tree marked the place where the different Indian
tribes, mainly Clackamas and Multnomahs
, met to make trading agreements, settle community affairs, and conduct wedding ceremonies. The tree still stands on Clackamas Boulevard. Adjacent to the Pow-Wow Tree was an Indian racetrack that Peter Rinearson later used as an exercise and training ground for the racehorses he bred. In 1861, it was used as a parade ring for the first State Fair
held on the Rinearson property, with the Pow-Wow Tree marking the entrance.
Linn City
was settled in the 1840s by Robert Moore
who built four flour and lumber mills along the banks of the Willamette. Warehouses, homes, and mills were added until 1857, when a fire destroyed several of the buildings. Efforts at rebuilding the small town ceased when a flood came later that year and wiped out the rest of the buildings.
, a plumbing service, occupies the space.
There is also a small park named after Cross, located at the same place one of the Indian tribes made its camp.
Cross chose the name "Gladstone" because he admired Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone
of England.
persuaded Judge Cross that bringing the Chautauqua
movement to the area would be of great benefit to the community and surrounding area. So Judge Cross granted a fifty-year lease of his land, named Gladstone Park, to the newly formed Willamette Valley Chautauqua Association for an annual summer assembly that offered lectures, concerts and theatrical performances. Gladstone's first outdoor Chautauqua was held on July 24–26, 1894. Gladstone's Chautauqua Park grew to be the third-largest permanent Chautauqua assembly park in the United States.
As time passed, however, better transportation, traveling vaudeville
acts appearing in Portland, and the advent of radio meant that the Chautauqua's attendance began to dwindle. In 1927, the Willamette Valley Chautauqua Association was bankrupt. Judge Cross died on August 7, 1927, and shortly thereafter, Gladstone Park, including its buildings and Chautauqua Lake, were sold to the Western Oregon Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists
. Since that time, the Seventh-day Adventists have held an annual camp-meeting on the site in July, with up to 20,000 attending on weekends. The Oregon Conference of Seventh-day Adventists headquarters was moved to the site in 2008.
, the city has a total area of 2.5 square miles (6.5 km²), of which, 2.5 square miles (6.5 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square mile (0.258998811 km²) of it (1.98%) is water.
Being bordered by rivers on two sides, there are only two primary thoroughfares to and from the city. Interstate 205
runs north-south along the eastern edge of the city. McLoughlin Boulevard runs north-south through the western side of the city.
for colleges, while east-west streets are arranged in alphabetical order and have the same names as the north-south streets in Boston
's Back Bay: Arlington, Berkeley, Clarendon, Dartmouth, Exeter, Fairfield, Gloucester, and Hereford. The alphabetical progression continues with Ipswich, Jersey and Kenmore, continuing the allusion to Boston's street names from its Fenway-Kenmore
neighborhood adjacent to Back Bay. (See Kenmore Square
.)
of 2000, there were 11,438 people, 4,246 households, and 3,014 families residing in the city. The population density
was 4,619.0 people per square mile (1,780.7/km²). There were 4,419 housing units at an average density of 1,784.5 per square mile (688.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 90.42% White, 0.72% Black or African American
, 0.61% Native American, 2.11% Asian, 0.29% Pacific Islander, 3.04% from other races
, and 2.82% from two or more races. 6.12% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 4,246 households out of which 36.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.6% were married couples
living together, 13.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.0% were non-families. 21.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.66 and the average family size was 3.11.
In the city the population was spread out with 26.6% under the age of 18, 9.3% from 18 to 24, 29.2% from 25 to 44, 23.4% from 45 to 64, and 11.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 93.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.9 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $46,368, and the median income for a family was $52,500. Males had a median income of $38,619 versus $28,300 for females. The per capita income
for the city was $19,388. About 6.6% of families and 9.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.4% of those under age 18 and 5.9% of those age 65 or over.
, which includes John Wetten Elementary School, Kraxberger Middle School, and Gladstone High School
. In 2006, a bond was passed to allow approximately $40,000,000 worth of construction
on the three schools. The majority (aprox. 26 million) of the money will be going towards the high school.
The city operates a library that is part of the Library Information Network of Clackamas County
.
Clackamas County, Oregon
Clackamas County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oregon. The county was named after the Native Americans living in the area, the Clackamas Indians, who were part of the Chinookan people. As of 2010, the population was 375,992...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 11,438. The 2007 estimate is 12,200 residents. Gladstone is a four-square-mile (10 km²) suburban community twelve miles (19 km) south of Portland
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
at the confluence
Confluence
Confluence, in geography, describes the meeting of two or more bodies of water.Confluence may also refer to:* Confluence , a property of term rewriting systems...
of the Clackamas
Clackamas River
The Clackamas River is an approximately tributary of the Willamette River in northwestern Oregon, in the United States. As it drains an area of about , the Clackamas passes through mostly forested and rugged mountainous terrain in its upper reaches, and passes through agricultural and urban areas...
and Willamette
Willamette River
The Willamette River is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States...
rivers. To the south, across the Clackamas River, is Oregon City
Oregon City, Oregon
Oregon City was the first city in the United States west of the Rocky Mountains to be incorporated. It is the county seat of Clackamas County, Oregon...
, across the Willamette is West Linn
West Linn, Oregon
West Linn is a city in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States. Now a prosperous southern suburb of Portland, West Linn has a history of early development, prompted by the opportunity to harvest energy from nearby Willamette Falls. It was named after Senator Dr. Lewis Fields Linn of Ste...
, to the north is Milwaukie
Milwaukie, Oregon
Milwaukie is a city in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States. A very small portion of the city extends into Multnomah County. The population was 20,291 at the 2010 census. Founded in 1848 on the banks of the Willamette River, the city, known as the Dogwood City of the West, was incorporated in...
.
Clackamas Indians
There were several Indian groups living in the area that was to become Gladstone. Lewis and ClarkLewis and Clark Expedition
The Lewis and Clark Expedition, or ″Corps of Discovery Expedition" was the first transcontinental expedition to the Pacific Coast by the United States. Commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson and led by two Virginia-born veterans of Indian wars in the Ohio Valley, Meriwether Lewis and William...
did not visit the Gladstone-Oregon City region, but did have it described to them by the native people. Later explorers and traders brought diseases and epidemics that took a very heavy toll on the native population and the tribes dwindled to near extinction.
When Oregon City
Oregon City, Oregon
Oregon City was the first city in the United States west of the Rocky Mountains to be incorporated. It is the county seat of Clackamas County, Oregon...
was founded and people began moving to the area, they petitioned their governments to remove the local aboriginals from the land, so that European settlers could have land to farm and live on. The government responded by rounding up the Indians and forcing them to leave their lands for a reservation. With the natives removed from the scene, the Gladstone area was ripe for settling. Today the only visible remains of the native presence is a large maple tree called "The Pow Wow Tree," which is listed as an Oregon Heritage Tree.
Early homesteaders
The earliest homesteads in the area were donation land claimsDonation Land Claim Act
The Donation Land Claim Act of 1850 was a statute enacted by the United States Congress intended to promote homestead settlement in the Oregon Territory in the Pacific Northwest...
. The Casons and the Rinearsons were the first settlers to receive their donation land claims in Gladstone. Peter M. Rinearson and his family owned the land between Jennings Lodge
Jennings Lodge, Oregon
Jennings Lodge is an unincorporated community in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States, between Milwaukie, and Gladstone. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined Jennings Lodge as a census-designated place...
and the Clackamas River
Clackamas River
The Clackamas River is an approximately tributary of the Willamette River in northwestern Oregon, in the United States. As it drains an area of about , the Clackamas passes through mostly forested and rugged mountainous terrain in its upper reaches, and passes through agricultural and urban areas...
, and between the Willamette River
Willamette River
The Willamette River is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States...
and Portland Avenue. Fendal Cason, who came to Oregon in 1843, owned an area equal in size east of Portland Avenue. Cason went on to serve in the Oregon Territorial Legislature
Oregon Territorial Legislature
Oregon’s Territorial Legislature was a bicameral legislative body created by the United States Congress in 1848 as the legislative branch of the government of the Oregon Territory...
.
The Pow-Wow Tree marked the place where the different Indian
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
tribes, mainly Clackamas and Multnomahs
Multnomah (tribe)
The Multnomah were a tribe of Chinookan people who lived in the area of Portland, Oregon, more specifically Sauvie Island, in the United States through the early 19th century. Multnomah villages were located throughout the Portland basin and on both sides of the Columbia River...
, met to make trading agreements, settle community affairs, and conduct wedding ceremonies. The tree still stands on Clackamas Boulevard. Adjacent to the Pow-Wow Tree was an Indian racetrack that Peter Rinearson later used as an exercise and training ground for the racehorses he bred. In 1861, it was used as a parade ring for the first State Fair
Oregon State Fair
-National Register of Historic Places:The state fairground is the site of two historic buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Oregon State Fair Stadium and Poultry Building Ensemble. The 1919 horse stadium and the 1921 poultry building were added to the register in 2002...
held on the Rinearson property, with the Pow-Wow Tree marking the entrance.
Failed starts
Several small towns were established in this period, but only a few remained to become the cities of today, because of floods and fires.Linn City
Linn City, Oregon
Linn City was a community in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States, that existed from 1843-1861. The former site of Linn City was incorporated into the city of West Linn.-History:...
was settled in the 1840s by Robert Moore
Robert Moore (Oregon pioneer)
Robert Moore was an American politician and pioneer in the Oregon Country. A Pennsylvania native and veteran of the War of 1812, he also participated in the early movements to form a government in Oregon Country and founded Linn City, Oregon...
who built four flour and lumber mills along the banks of the Willamette. Warehouses, homes, and mills were added until 1857, when a fire destroyed several of the buildings. Efforts at rebuilding the small town ceased when a flood came later that year and wiped out the rest of the buildings.
Founding of the city
Gladstone was founded by Judge Harvey Cross in the late 19th century, and formally incorporated on January 10, 1911. He laid out the city's first streets. Cross' home was built in the late 1840s by Fendal Cason, and Cross purchased it in 1862. The Cason-Cross House later became Cochran Mortuary, and as of 2008, Mr. RooterMr. Rooter
Established in 1970, Mr. Rooter is the largest all-franchised, full-service plumbing and drain cleaning company in the world with approximately 300 franchises worldwide. Recognized by Entrepreneur magazine among its “Franchise 500” and Franchise Times Top 200, Mr. Rooter franchisees provide...
, a plumbing service, occupies the space.
There is also a small park named after Cross, located at the same place one of the Indian tribes made its camp.
Cross chose the name "Gladstone" because he admired Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS was a British Liberal statesman. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four separate times , more than any other person. Gladstone was also Britain's oldest Prime Minister, 84 years old when he resigned for the last time...
of England.
The first church
The Gladstone Church of Christ was established and organized in 1908 by Aaron Hayes Mulkey, with 55 members. Initially, it was of rough lumber construction with no floor or windows, with backless benches. The following year saw the erection of a new church on land donated by Harvey Cross.Chautauqua
In 1894, Oregon City author Eva Emery DyeEva Emery Dye
Eva Emery Dye was an American writer, historian, and prominent member of the Women's Suffrage movement. As the author of several historical novels, fictional yet thoroughly researched, she is credited with "romanticizing the historic West, turning it into a poetic epic of expanding civilization."...
persuaded Judge Cross that bringing the Chautauqua
Chautauqua
Chautauqua was an adult education movement in the United States, highly popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Chautauqua assemblies expanded and spread throughout rural America until the mid-1920s. The Chautauqua brought entertainment and culture for the whole community, with...
movement to the area would be of great benefit to the community and surrounding area. So Judge Cross granted a fifty-year lease of his land, named Gladstone Park, to the newly formed Willamette Valley Chautauqua Association for an annual summer assembly that offered lectures, concerts and theatrical performances. Gladstone's first outdoor Chautauqua was held on July 24–26, 1894. Gladstone's Chautauqua Park grew to be the third-largest permanent Chautauqua assembly park in the United States.
As time passed, however, better transportation, traveling vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
acts appearing in Portland, and the advent of radio meant that the Chautauqua's attendance began to dwindle. In 1927, the Willamette Valley Chautauqua Association was bankrupt. Judge Cross died on August 7, 1927, and shortly thereafter, Gladstone Park, including its buildings and Chautauqua Lake, were sold to the Western Oregon Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists
Seventh-day Adventist Church
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the original seventh day of the Judeo-Christian week, as the Sabbath, and by its emphasis on the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ...
. Since that time, the Seventh-day Adventists have held an annual camp-meeting on the site in July, with up to 20,000 attending on weekends. The Oregon Conference of Seventh-day Adventists headquarters was moved to the site in 2008.
Geography
According to the United States Census BureauUnited States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the city has a total area of 2.5 square miles (6.5 km²), of which, 2.5 square miles (6.5 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square mile (0.258998811 km²) of it (1.98%) is water.
Being bordered by rivers on two sides, there are only two primary thoroughfares to and from the city. Interstate 205
Interstate 205
Interstate 205 is the designation for two Interstate Highways in the United States, both of which are related to Interstate 5:*Interstate 205 , a connector in the San Francisco Bay Area...
runs north-south along the eastern edge of the city. McLoughlin Boulevard runs north-south through the western side of the city.
Old Gladstone
The old section of Gladstone is laid out on a grid of streets running north/south and east/west. North-south streets are namedStreet name
A street name or odonym is an identifying name given to a street. The street name usually forms part of the address...
for colleges, while east-west streets are arranged in alphabetical order and have the same names as the north-south streets in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
's Back Bay: Arlington, Berkeley, Clarendon, Dartmouth, Exeter, Fairfield, Gloucester, and Hereford. The alphabetical progression continues with Ipswich, Jersey and Kenmore, continuing the allusion to Boston's street names from its Fenway-Kenmore
Fenway-Kenmore
Fenway–Kenmore is an official neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. While it is considered one neighborhood for administrative purposes, it is composed of numerous distinct sections and in casual conversation are almost always referred to as "Fenway," "Kenmore Square," or "Kenmore."...
neighborhood adjacent to Back Bay. (See Kenmore Square
Kenmore Square
Kenmore Square is a square in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, consisting of the intersection of several main avenues as well as several other cross streets, and Kenmore Station, an MBTA subway stop. Kenmore Square is close to or abuts Boston University, Fenway Park, and Lansdowne Street, a...
.)
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 11,438 people, 4,246 households, and 3,014 families residing in the city. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 4,619.0 people per square mile (1,780.7/km²). There were 4,419 housing units at an average density of 1,784.5 per square mile (688.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 90.42% White, 0.72% Black or African American
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 0.61% Native American, 2.11% Asian, 0.29% Pacific Islander, 3.04% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 2.82% from two or more races. 6.12% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 4,246 households out of which 36.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.6% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 13.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.0% were non-families. 21.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.66 and the average family size was 3.11.
In the city the population was spread out with 26.6% under the age of 18, 9.3% from 18 to 24, 29.2% from 25 to 44, 23.4% from 45 to 64, and 11.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 93.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.9 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $46,368, and the median income for a family was $52,500. Males had a median income of $38,619 versus $28,300 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the city was $19,388. About 6.6% of families and 9.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.4% of those under age 18 and 5.9% of those age 65 or over.
Arts and culture
The annual Chautauqua Festival in August commemorates Gladstone's former status as a popular Chautauqua destination. The festival is held in Max Patterson Memorial City Park.Education
Gladstone is served by the Gladstone School DistrictGladstone School District
Gladstone School District is a three-school public school district serving Gladstone, Oregon, United States. The superintendent is Bob Stewart.-Demographics:...
, which includes John Wetten Elementary School, Kraxberger Middle School, and Gladstone High School
Gladstone High School (Oregon)
Gladstone High School is a public high school in Gladstone, Oregon, United States.-Construction renovations:A bond was passed for the Gladstone School District in the November 2006 general election. The cost of the construction at GHS is estimated at $26,901,487...
. In 2006, a bond was passed to allow approximately $40,000,000 worth of construction
Construction
In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking...
on the three schools. The majority (aprox. 26 million) of the money will be going towards the high school.
The city operates a library that is part of the Library Information Network of Clackamas County
Library Information Network of Clackamas County
Libraries in Clackamas County is a consortium of the public libraries of Clackamas County, Oregon. It was established in 1977 when the first county-wide funding levy was approved by county voters...
.
External links
- Gladstone Historical Society
- Entry for Gladstone in the Oregon Blue BookOregon Blue BookThe Oregon Blue Book is the official directory and fact book for the U.S. state of Oregon copyrighted by the Oregon Secretary of State and published by the Office of the Secretary's Archives Division. As Governor Ted Kulongoski notes in his introduction for the 2005–2006 edition, it "provides...