Mountaindale, Oregon | |
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Coordinates: 45°37′29″N 123°02′20″W / 45.62472°N 123.03889°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Oregon |
County | Washington |
Elevation | 194 ft (59 m) |
Time zone | UTC-8 ( Pacific (PST)) |
• Summer ( DST) | UTC-7 (PDT) |
ZIP codes | 97133 |
Area code(s) | 503 and 971 |
GNIS feature ID | 1163167 [1] |
Mountaindale is an unincorporated community in Washington County, Oregon, United States, about four miles northwest of North Plains. [2] Settled in the 1850s, the small community was the longtime home of the Mountaindale Store. The area is part of Washington County Fire District 2. [3]
The Atfalati tribe of Native Americans had a seasonal campsite in the area prior to the arrival of European-Americans in the 1830s. [4] The first Euro-American settlers in the Mountaindale area were Samuel B. and Mary Raffety, who in 1852 traveled the Oregon Trail to the Oregon Territory and settled a donation land claim in northern Washington County in the foothills of the Oregon Coast Range. [5] Originally from Kentucky, they raised eight children on their 320-acre (130 ha) farm. [5] One child, Charles H. Raffety, later served as mayor of East Portland before its annexation into Portland. [5] Mountaindale School District 41 was formed on December 5, 1868, with Alzada Cornelius as the first teacher and W. D. Pittenger as the first superintendent. [5] The school was built at that time and was located on the Dobbins land claim. [6] The store was later built in front of the school. [6] The post office was established in 1873 as "Mountain Dale" and the name was changed to "Mountaindale" in 1895. [7] [8] The name combining " mountain" and " dale" is descriptive, as the community is where East Fork Dairy Creek emerges from the foothills at the north edge of the Tualatin Valley. [7]
In 1885, [9] a new schoolhouse was built for $200. [5] It was 30 feet (9.1 m) long, 13 feet (4.0 m) wide, and 12 feet (3.7 m) tall. [5] The new school was originally known as the Raffety School as it was built on land donated by Samuel Raffety. [6] Charles Reynolds opened the first store in the community in 1896. [5] In 1904, a new Mountaindale Store was built across the street from the original. [5] Reynolds also operated a freight line and a blacksmith shop. [5] In 1915, Mountaindale had two sawmills, [9] and much of the area surrounding area was logged. [4]
The Mountaindale post office closed in 1935. [7] In February 1953, the school district was merged into the North Plains School District (originally known as the Glencoe district), which merged into the Hillsboro School District in 1996. [6] [10] The Mountaindale school remained in use until 1954 or 1955, and by 1976 was owned by the Stohr family. [6] [9]
In 1990, the only public buildings remaining in the community were the store and the closed schoolhouse. [9] The store is also now closed.
The Mountaindale Airport is a mile southwest of the community.