Dorena Historical Society

Another Rujada photo.

Lane Co. Rujada 1912 Water Tank

We just received a copy of this old photo of Rujada.  Back in the old days, the railroad tracks ended there. Rujada survives today as a beautiful park with campsites and some nice hiking trails up the creek and through the woods.

 

Tags:
posted by Dorena Historical Society in Uncategorized and have No Comments

Rujada

 

logging rujada

 

According to McArthur’s Oregon Geographic Names Rujada started out as a lumber camp at the eastern end of the Oregon, Pacific and Eastern Railway out of Cottage Grove.  The name sounds Spanish, but it is not.  It comes from the first initials of Reserve and United States, followed by the initials of the first names of some of the founders (Jack and Dave?) It is correctly pronounced Roo-jay-duh. A train full of logs from Rujada.

 

Screen shot 2015-04-03 at 8.35.51 AM

Here is a family group on the porch of a lumber camp cabin at Rujada.  Love the hammock! 

An article in the Oregon Daily Journal in 1922 had a story about an excellent mountain guide up at the Rujada camp. According to the article this guide, Ruggles, “did not waste one’s breath with conversation, walked as slowly or as fast as one wanted, obeyed all commands and piloted folks to and from the logging camp.”  Ruggles was, of course, a dog.  He would meet the train and lead the passengers to the camp and back.

 

 

LOS901_Rujada_Hill_1934

There was a fire look-out for a time at Rujada, as well as a Civilian Conservation Corps camp.

 

 

rujada campout 1964

  Here is a group of campers in 1964.

Starting in the 1930’s Rujada became a popular place to camp.

 

1247247683_Photo1_swordferntrail005w

The Swordfern Trail

Rujada is still a wonderful place to camp and hike. The Swordfern Trail follows the creek for a while and then heads up to an old logging road that loops back to the campground.

posted by Dorena Historical Society in Uncategorized and have No Comments

Old Row River Valley Post Offices

At one time there were numerous small Post Offices in the Row River Valley, but now only the Dorena Post Office remains. The first Post Office in the valley was Star.  It opened in 1891 and closed in 1923.  It was located near Sallee Road about a mile up river from Dorena School.

Bohemia Post Office

From 1896 until about 1922 there were numerous small Post Offices in the Bohemia Mining District.  Among these were Bohemia, Champion, Mineral and Orseco.

This Disston Post Office was established in 1906 and was open until the 1970s. The Row River Post Office was established in 1911 and closed in 1914. The Rujada Post Office was opened in 1916 and closed in 1918.  Rujada County Park is located in the vicinity of this long forgotten little office. The Wildwood Post Office opened in 1888 and closed in 1914.  It was located on a ranch adjacent to Wildwood Falls. There was a Post Office called Bluff from 1892 until 1899.  The exact location of this office is unknown.

The Culp Creek Post office was established in 1925 and was closed in 2007. It was located in a private home until the early 1980s. It was certainly one of the last offices in the state to be located in someones living room. The history of the Dorena Post Office was detailed on the first post on this blog back in December of 2009.

posted by Dorena Historical Society in Uncategorized and have No Comments