Day 03 - Hometown location and facts

Well, I will share 5 about the area where I technically grew up and 5 about the place that I claim I'm from (because Oak Grove is not an actual town and Milwaukie is).


OAK GROVE

1.  Oak Grove is an unincorporated community in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States.  So it's not my hometown but my home community.  
2.  Oak Grove was named at the suggestion of Edward W. Cornell, a member of the surveying party that platted the townsite in the 1890s. The company that was developing the property had not been able to come up with a good name for the place and Cornell suggested Oak Grove after a crew ate lunch in a stand of oak trees in the northwestern part of the tract.
3.  This community began to grow in the early 1900's.  A trolley was built through the area and took people to downtown Portland.  We used to play on the trolley tracks where they were still visible.  I think they've been paved over or taken out in many places.  There are some amazing victorian/farmhouses in the area.
4.  The community grew again in the 1950's and 1960's and many more houses were built in this era.  My home is one of them.
5.  I moved one time that I can remember.  We moved less than a mile away from our old home, we were still in Oak Grove but I had to go to Riverside Elementary instead of Oak Grove Elementary; Rowe Jr. High instead of Milwaukie Jr. High.




Milwaukie

1.  Founded in 1848 on the banks of the Willamette River, the city was incorporated in 1903.  The city is now a suburb of Portland and also adjoins the unincorporated areas of Clackamas and Oak Grove.


2.  The Bing cherry, among other varieties, was developed in Milwaukie by another pioneer orchardist, Seth Lewelling, who settled in the area with his brother Henderson Luelling.  Milwaukie is noted as the birthplace of the Bing cherry.


3.  Milwaukie was founded in 1848 as a rival to the upriver Oregon City by Lot Whitcomb, who named it for Milwaukee, Wisconsin. At the time, the Wisconsin city was also frequently spelled "Milwaukie" before the current spelling was adopted.  Some accounts also state that the Oregon town elected to use an alternate spelling to prevent confusion at the post office.


4.  Bob's Red Mill is a modern-day gristmill and natural foods company based in Milwaukie.


5.  Milwaukie is the home of Dark Horse Comics. Dark Horse is known for publishing works including Sin City and the original graphic novel 300, adapted into a motion picture by the same title released March 9, 2007. The total office space of Dark Horse Comics occupies three of the city blocks in downtown Milwaukie, sporting numerous display windows visible to transit riders.


BONUS FACT:  Tonya Harding (the ice skater who hurt Nancy Carrigan) grew up about 1-2 miles from me.  She went to my Elementary, Jr. High and High School.    I used to think it was funny when my middle school teachers would tell us what she was like.


Thanks Wikipedia for the facts!