Glencoe is a neighborhood and former community in

Washington County, Oregon Washington County is one of Oregon counties, 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon and part of the Portland metropolitan area. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded the population as 600,372, making it the second most populous c ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Founded in 1842, the town, which was north of Hillsboro, died off after 1910 when neighboring North Plains was created to the west. Most of Glencoe is now a part of North Plains. Glencoe gives its name to the road connecting Hillsboro to North Plains, as well as the name of the second high school built in Hillsboro, Glencoe High School.

History

Charles McKay Charles Leslie McKay (April 21, 1855 – April 19, 1883) was an American naturalist and explorer. McKay was born at Appleton, Wisconsin. He studied under David Starr Jordan at Appleton Collegiate Institute, Butler University and Indiana Univers ...

took up a land claim north of what became Hillsboro on the

Tualatin Plains The Tualatin Plains are a prairie area in central Washington County, Oregon, United States. Located around the Hillsboro and Forest Grove areas, the plains were first inhabited by the Atfalati band of the Kalapuya group of Native Americans. Euro ...

in 1842.Philpott, Betty. Glencoe community dates to 1842 Scottish settlement. ''

The Hillsboro Argus ''The Hillsboro Argus'' was a twice-weekly newspaper in the city of Hillsboro, Oregon, from 1894 to 2017, known as the ''Washington County Argus'' for its final year. The ''Argus'' was distributed in Washington County, Oregon, United States. First ...

'', October 19, 1976. He was a former employee of the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...

Buan, Carolyn M. (1999). ''This Far-Off Sunset Land: A Pictorial History of Washington County, Oregon''. Donning Company Publishers. Pp. 31-32, 61-62, 137. who voted at the

Champoeg Meetings The Champoeg Meetings were the first attempts at formal governance by European-American and French Canadian pioneers in the Oregon Country on the Pacific Northwest coast of North America. Between 1841 and 1843, a series of public councils was he ...

and fought in the

Cayuse War The Cayuse War (1847–1855) was an armed conflict between the Cayuse people of the Northwestern United States and settlers, backed by the U.S. government. The conflict was triggered by the Whitman massacre of 1847, where the Cayuse attacked a ...

.Corning, Howard M. (1989) ''Dictionary of Oregon History''. Binfords & Mort Publishing. p. 160. The Métis

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

immigrant settled there with his wife, Letitia Bird, who was also Métis and four children, naming it Glencoe after

Glen Coe Glen Coe ( ) is a glen of glacial origins, that cuts though volcanic rocks in the Scottish Highlands, Highlands of Scotland. It lies in the north of the shires of Scotland, county of Argyll, close to the border with the history of local governm ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

in honor of his fathers Scottish roots. McKay would build a

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that h ...

on McKay Creek and later a post office was added to the community. The Reverend Harvey Clark was also an early settler of the community before moving to Forest Grove where he helped to found

Pacific University Pacific University is a private university in Forest Grove, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1849 as the Tualatin Academy, the original Forest Grove campus is west of Portland. Affiliated with the United Church of Christ, the school mainta ...

William Silvers served as the first postmaster of Glencoe when the post office opened on January 9, 1871, in his store. Glencoe post office was discontinued in 1904. In 1880, during a large windstorm, the bridge over the creek was destroyed and many trees toppled. During the 1880s a Methodist church was built in the community along with a drug store and a lodge for the

Knights of Pythias The Knights of Pythias is a Fraternal and service organizations, fraternal organization and secret society founded in Washington, D.C., on . The Knights of Pythias was the first fraternal organization to receive a charter under an Act of Co ...

. Other business and buildings included a school, shoemaker, barbershop, and many homes. A

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

shop was also located in Glencoe, with Charles Walter as owner from 1890 until 1960. In 1910, a railroad line to

Tillamook, Oregon The city of Tillamook ( ) serves as the county seat of Tillamook County, Oregon, United States. The city is located on the southeast end of Tillamook Bay on the Pacific Ocean. The population was 5,231 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

, was built to the north of Glencoe with much of the community relocating one mile west to the new community of North Plains, and Glencoe slowly dying off. Whole buildings were moved to the new town, with the May Brothers mercantile also relocating to North Plains.

Currently

Glencoe Road is a continuation of

Oregon Route 219 Oregon Route 219 (also known as part of the Hillsboro-Silverton Highway No. 140 (see Oregon highways and routes)) is an Oregon state highway which runs between the cities of Hillsboro and Woodburn, Oregon, in the United States. The Hillsboro-S ...

and First Avenue in Hillsboro and runs north-south between Hillsboro and North Plains. The neighborhood lies along McKay Creek in the eastern edge of North Plains on Old West Union Road where it meets Glencoe Road north of Highway 26. North Plains is part of the

Hillsboro School District The Hillsboro School District 1J is a unified school district located in Hillsboro, Oregon, United States. The district operates 26 elementary schools, four middle schools, and four high schools. Founded in 1851, the school district covers Hi ...

, and Glencoe High School is part of the district, but about ten miles south along Glencoe Road.

References

External links

Glencoe High SchoolWashington County Museum: Charles McKay
{{Washington County, Oregon Neighborhoods in Oregon Unincorporated communities in Washington County, Oregon 1842 establishments in Oregon Country 1910 disestablishments in Oregon Populated places disestablished in 1910 Populated places established in 1842 Unincorporated communities in Oregon