The Augustus Fanno Farmhouse was the home of Augustus Fanno, one of the first

European American European Americans (also referred to as Euro-Americans) are Americans of European ancestry. This term includes people who are descended from the first European settlers in the United States as well as people who are descended from more recent Eu ...

settlers in what became Washington County in the U.S. state of

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. Born in

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

in 1804, Fanno lived in

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

as a young adult and in 1846 moved to Oregon with his first wife, Martha, and son. After Martha died in childbirth in

Linn City Linn City was a community in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States, that existed from 1843-1861 and was destroyed in the Great Flood of 1862. The former site of Linn City was incorporated into the city of West Linn. History Robert Moore founded ...

in the

Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley ( ) is a long valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the east, ...

, Fanno and his son settled a

donation land claim The Donation Land Claim Act of 1850, sometimes known as the Donation Land Act, was a statute enacted by the United States Congress in late 1850, intended to promote homestead settlements in the Oregon Territory. It followed the Distribution-Preem ...

to the northwest on a small tributary of the

Tualatin River The Tualatin River is a tributary of the Willamette River in Oregon in the United States. The river is about long, and it drains a fertile farming region called the Tualatin Valley southwest and west of Portland, Oregon, Portland at the northwes ...

. It was the first such claim to be filed in the county. In 1851, Fanno married Rebecca Denney, and the first of their six children was born later that year. In 1859, he designed and built a rural home in the modified New England revival style popular in Oregon at the time. The family pioneered the cultivation of

onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus ''Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion ...

s in Oregon, and by the 1890s these became regionally recognized for their high quality. Fanno descendants produced onions on the farm until onion maggots drove them out of business in the 1940s. Members of the family occupied the farmhouse until 1974, and in March 1982 they donated the house and adjacent land to the

Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation District Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation District (THPRD) is a special parks district located in the eastern part of Washington County in the U.S. state of Oregon. Created in 1955, the district covers all of the city of Beaverton and many of those commu ...

(THPRD). Fanno Farmhouse remains on its original site along

Fanno Creek Fanno Creek is a tributary of the Tualatin River in the U.S. state of Oregon. Part of the drainage basin of the Columbia River, its watershed covers about in Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas counties, including about within the Portla ...

in the

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, suburb of Beaverton. Restored by THPRD, the house is on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

, was honored as a significant historical site by Tualatin Valley Heritage, has been named a

Century Farm A Century Farm or Centennial Farm is a farm or ranching, ranch in the United States or Canada that has been officially recognized by a regional program documenting the farm has been continuously owned by a single family for 100 years or more. Some ...

, and was nominated for the 1985 Griffin Cabin Award by the Washington County Historical Society.

References

External links

Augustus Fanno Farmhouse
i
Building Oregon: Architecture of Oregon & the Pacific Northwest
(University of Oregon) {{DEFAULTSORT:Fanno, Augustus, Farmhouse Farmhouses in the United States Houses in Beaverton, Oregon Houses completed in 1859 Farms on the National Register of Historic Places in Oregon Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Oregon National Register of Historic Places in Washington County, Oregon 1859 establishments in Oregon Wooden houses in the United States Century farms