Mountaindale is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in Washington County,

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

, United States, about four miles northwest of North Plains. 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 Washington County Fire District 2 (WCFD2) was a special-purpose district, special-purpose government fire fighting and emergency services district in Washington County, Oregon, Washington County on the west side of the Portland metropolitan area o ...

History

The

Atfalati The Atfalati , also known as the Tualatin or Wapato Lake IndiansRobert H. Ruby, John A. Brown & Cary C. Collins, Atfalati, in ''A Guide to the Indian Tribes of the Pacific Northwest'' (3d ed. 2010, University of Oklahoma Press) are a tribe of the ...

tribe of Native Americans had a seasonal campsite in the area prior to the arrival of

European-American European Americans are Americans of European ancestry. This term includes both people who descend from the first European settlers in the area of the present-day United States and people who descend from more recent European arrivals. Since th ...

s in the 1830s.Buan, Carolyn M. ''This Far-Off Sunset Land: A Pictorial History of Washington County, Oregon''. Donning Company Publishers, 1999. p. 18, 38. The first Euro-American settlers in the Mountaindale area were Samuel B. and Mary Raffety, who in 1852 traveled the

Oregon Trail The Oregon Trail was a east–west, large-wheeled wagon route and Westward Expansion Trails, emigrant trail in North America that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon Territory. The eastern part of the Oregon Trail crossed what ...

to the

Oregon Territory The Territory of Oregon was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 14, 1848, until February 14, 1859, when the southwestern portion of the territory was admitted to the United States, Union as the Oreg ...

and 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-Pree ...

in northern Washington County in the foothills of the

Oregon Coast Range The Oregon Coast Range, often called simply the Coast Range and sometimes the Pacific Coast Range, is a mountain range, in the Pacific Coast Ranges Physiographic regions of the world, physiographic region, in the United States, U.S. state of Or ...

. Originally from Kentucky, they raised eight children on their farm. One child, Charles H. Raffety, later served as mayor of East Portland before its annexation into

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

. 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. The school was built at that time and was located on the Dobbins land claim. The store was later built in front of the school. The post office was established in 1873 as "Mountain Dale" and the name was changed to "Mountaindale" in 1895. The name combining "

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

" 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 The Tualatin Valley is a farming and suburban region southwest of Portland, Oregon. The valley is formed by the meandering Tualatin River, a tributary of the Willamette River at the northwest corner of the Willamette Valley, east of the Northe ...

. In 1885, a new schoolhouse was built for $200. It was long, wide, and tall. The new school was originally known as the Raffety School as it was built on land donated by Samuel Raffety. Charles Reynolds opened the first store in the community in 1896. In 1904, a new Mountaindale Store was built across the street from the original. Reynolds also operated a freight line and a blacksmith shop. In 1915, Mountaindale had two

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

s, and much of the area surrounding area was logged. The Mountaindale post office closed in 1935. 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 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 ...

in 1996. The Mountaindale school remained in use until 1954 or 1955, and by 1976 was owned by the Stohr family. In 1990, the only public buildings remaining in the community were the store and the closed schoolhouse. The store is also now closed. The Mountaindale Airport is a mile southwest of the community.

References

External links

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Historic image of general store in Mountaindale
from Salem Public Library {{authority control Unincorporated communities in Washington County, Oregon 1868 establishments in Oregon Populated places established in 1868 Unincorporated communities in Oregon