Maud Williamson State Recreation Site is a state park in

Yamhill County, Oregon Yamhill County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 107,722. The county seat is McMinnville. Yamhill County was named after the Yamhelas, members of the Kalapuya Tribe. Yamhill Cou ...

, United States, administered by the

Oregon Parks and Recreation Department The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD), officially known (in state law) as the State Parks and Recreation Department, is the government agency of the U.S. state of Oregon which operates its system of state parks. In addition, it has pro ...

. The park is located at the intersection of

Oregon Route 221 Oregon Route 221 is an Oregon state highway which runs between the city of Salem, Oregon and the city of Dayton, Oregon, roughly along the western shore of the Willamette River. It is known as the Salem-Dayton Highway No. 150 (see Oregon highway ...

and Oregon Route 153 near Wheatland. The park entrance is across from Wheatland Road, which leads to the Wheatland Ferry. The site includes of a stand of second-growth

Douglas-fir The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Oregon pine, and Columbian pine. There are three va ...

and a historic farmhouse. In the early spring

trillium ''Trillium'' (trillium, wakerobin, toadshade, tri flower, birthroot, birthwort, and sometimes "wood lily") is a genus of about fifty flowering plant species in the family Melanthiaceae. ''Trillium'' species are native to temperate regions of No ...

s are abundant. The park formerly offered overnight camping, but now is day-use only. Amenities include picnic tables, restrooms, a covered picnic shelter, volleyball courts and horseshoe pits. Admission is free, but there is a fee to reserve the picnic shelter.

History

Maud Williamson was a teacher at the school in Wheatland for many years. In about 1930, a new Wheatland School was built across the

Dayton Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Da ...

- Salem highway from the park, which then was a farm owned by Williamson. Maud Williamson died in about 1933, and willed her timberland and house to the

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

in memory of her mother, Ruby T. Williamson. Part of the park is situated on the original Donation Land Claim of Adam Matheny, one of the sons of Daniel Matheny, who established the ferry in Wheatland. The adjoining Charles S. Williamson House is a Queen Anne-style house built in 1890 by Maud Williamson's father, who was postmaster of Wheatland for 12 years. Maud Williamson once lived there with her brother. The house is not open to the public. A bronze plaque commemorating the donation of the site was placed in the park in 1934.

References

State parks of Oregon Parks in Yamhill County, Oregon 1934 establishments in Oregon {{YamhillCountyOR-geo-stub

History

See also

References