HUBBARD, MARION COUNTY, OREGON

1847: Charles Hubbard Jr. and his family emigrated from Pleasant Hill, Illinois in 1847. After arriving at Oregon City in December 1847, they wintered over and in the spring of 1848 traveled up the valley to visit acquaintances Maryann and Thomas Hunt. During the visit, Thomas Hunt, who was anxious to seek his fortune in California, talked Charles into moving his family to the Hunt claim in order to maintain Hunt's squatters rights.

1848: Hunt was never heard from again. Upon the eventual marriage of Maryann Hunt, Charles purchased the claim. In addition, he bought 400 acres of nearby land from a Frenchman for three yoke of oxen and chains valued at $25 each.

Charles, a miller by trade, returned to Oregon City where he erected and operated a grist mill, leaving the improvements of the new claim in the hands of his son, William.

1857: School District #15 is established.

1859: William Hubbard is married to Helen M. Cooley. The brief courtship was described as follows: "...I told my parents of my intentions of getting married and went to a dance at Parkersville. The dance continued till daylight. Miss Helen M. Cooley and I went from that dance hall across the way to the Congretional parsonage where we were married very early in the morning of November 18, 1859."

1868: Charles Hubbard, hearing of plans for the development of the Oregon-California Railroad, offered the railroad 10 acres of land for a station site and right of way to every other block in a proposed town site of Hubbard. The offer was accepted and the towsite of "Hubbard" was platted and track laid.

1870: Hubbard's first store is erected.

1871: Original town plat is recorded and the first train stopped in Hubbard.

1873: A warehouse and saloon are built.

1874: Construction of a Methodist Church begins.

1875: Second store is built.

1876: 40,000 bushels of grain are shipped by railway from Hubbard. The Methodist Church is completed.

1881: Hubbard's first and only hotel is erected.

1882: Hubbard Brass Band is organized and bandstand is erected on the Commons across from the depot. The band played at all the community social events. It broke up just prior to WWI but was reogranized again about 1925.

1886: Dr. S.W. Weaver comes to Hubbard and starts practice.

1890: The drug store is founded by J.L. Calvert

1891: The City of Hubbard is granted a charter and the right to incorporate.

1892: A hall is built by the local stock company to provide a building in which the militia can drill. Cost: $2250 including fixtures. The Congregational Church is organized.

1893: Congregational Church is constructed.

1895: The drug store is built by Mr. James.

1896: A committee is appointed to find a location for a new city hall.

1898: Council procures ladders and buckets for city use in case of fire. City pays $16.40 to J. Naze for work on hose cart.

1900: The Catholic Church is built.

1902: Rural postal routes are laid out.

1904: First electric lights in homes, stores, and for street lamps.

1905: Water tanks, sink and watercloset are built into Armory.

1907: City Marshall is instructed to remove buggy from roof of city jail.

1908: The Beaver State News is published for the Hubbard community.

1909: Promotional brochure listing businesses in Hubbard show the following: 1 hotel, 1 jeweler, 2 saloons, 1 plumber, 1 drayman, 1 gristmill, 1 physician, 1 creamery, 5 churches, electric lights, 1 drug store, 1 undertaker, 1 blacksmith, 1 fish market, 1 junk dealer, 1 barbershop, 1 seed cleaner, 2 shoemakers, 2 public halls, 4 warehouses, 1 public school, 1 butcher shop, 1 paper hanger, 1 cabinet maker, 1 printing office, 1 seed merchant, 1 hardware store, 1 millinery store, Wells-Fargo express, 1 real estate agent, 1 veterinary surgeon, 1 photograph gallery, 3 telephone systems, Western Union telegraph, 1 commission merchant, 1 livery and feed stable, 2 general stores, 1 cider and fruit butter factory.

1910: Hubbard State Bank is organized. George Beck & Son establish a retail lumber yard.

1911: Hogs are barred from city limits.

1913: Hubbard Creamery is organized.

1914: Hubbard Enterprise Weekly Newspaper established.

1915: New brick Hubbard School is completed.

1916: Sewage system is installed.

1917: Water system is installed, first streets are paved. Ordinance #82 is passed limiting the speed of automobiles traveling through the city to 15 MPH

1921: A donation of $1000 is made by Mary Stauffer for a city library fund.

1924: Hubbard Fire Department is organized. Sales of Mother Hubbard Butter reaches $200,000.

1927: Garfield Voget is elected Mayor and holds the office for the next 20 years.

1928: Wolfer's Mineral Springs was a popular community gathering place. When the Mineral Springs road was put through the Wolfer farm to Boones Ferry Road it opened up public access to the Springs for the first time. A few years later, several Portland doctors purchased seven acres including the springs and built a spa-type sanitorium. By advertising hotel accomodations and mineral baths, the Sanatorium developed a good business from Portland and surrounding cities for over 40 years. During that time an Olympic size pool was built. Ownership of the property changed several times until it finally ended in bankruptcy.

1930: Population 330.

1931: The Great Depression. The Hubbard State Bank closed.

1940: Population 387.

1941: War situation serious. Guards placed on all bridges, etc. Blackout from 12:30a.m. to 9:30 a.m. During the war there was a great deal of animosity between the town people and the Mennonites who had settled at the east end of town. The Mennonites were consciencious objectors and the towns people resented sending their sons off to war while the others were free from doing so. Some of the controversy was reported in the Hubbard Enterprise.

1950: Population 493.

1960: Population 526.

1970: Population 975.

1974: First annual Hop Festival is celebrated. Hops, the flavor factor in beer was green gold for Hubbard area farmers. Rich valley soil yielded bountiful harvests. Nearly all the surrounding farms had at least 10 acres in hops. Harvesting became a community endeavor. Children helped. School classes didn't start in autumn until the harvest was complete. The hops are strung up wires in much the same way that pole beans are grown. The difference is that the wires were higher. During harvest the wires were lowered to allow easier picking. Many of the fields had Chinese workers and managers. Today most of the fields are picked by machine.

1987: Population 1760.

SOURCES: The Story of Hubbard, Oregon by Leslie Carol Ulven; printed 1991


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