Sarah Helmick State Recreation Site is a state park

State park

State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the federated state level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, or recreational...

 located south of Monmouth

Monmouth, Oregon

- History :Monmouth was settled in 1853 by a group of pioneers who made a point of allocating to build both a city and a "college under the auspices of the Christian Church" and proceeds from the sale of these lands were used to found Monmouth University. By the early 1880s the college fell on...

, in Polk County, Oregon

Polk County, Oregon

Polk County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oregon. The county is named for James Knox Polk, the 11th president of the United States. In 2010, its population was 75,403. The seat of the county is Dallas....

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It is located on the floodplain

Floodplain

A floodplain, or flood plain, is a flat or nearly flat land adjacent a stream or river that stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls and experiences flooding during periods of high discharge...

 of the Luckiamute River

Luckiamute River

The Luckiamute River is a tributary of the Willamette River, about long, in western Oregon in the United States. It drains an area of Central Oregon Coast Range and the western Willamette Valley northwest of Corvallis....

 and is forested by Bigleaf Maple, Douglas-fir

Douglas-fir

Douglas-fir is one of the English common names for evergreen coniferous trees of the genus Pseudotsuga in the family Pinaceae. Other common names include Douglas tree, and Oregon pine. There are five species, two in western North America, one in Mexico, and two in eastern Asia...

, and Black Cottonwood

Populus trichocarpa

Populus trichocarpa is a deciduous broadleaf tree species native to western North America. It is used for timber, and is notable as a model organism in plant biology. Its full genome sequence was published in 2006...

trees, among other varieties. The park is named for Sarah Helmick, a pioneer to Oregon in 1845 who donated the original land.

History

The land for the park was the first land acquired by what was then the State Highway Commission for use as a park when Sarah Helmick donated 5.16 acres (2.1 ha) and James and Amanda Helmick donated 0.3 acre (0.1214058 ha) on February 15, 1922. In 1948, 23.65 acres (95,708.2 m²) were purchased and added to the park followed by a gift of 1.7 acre (0.6879662 ha) later that same year. Currently a day-use only park, the park used to have overnight camping facilities.