Explore the History of Aloha-Reedville in New Book

MT. PLEASANT, S.C. - May 24, 2013 - PRLog -- The newest addition to Arcadia Publishing’s popular Images of America series is Aloha-Reedville by Janel Josephson. The book boasts more than 200 vintage images and memories of days gone by in this Oregon community.

What we think of today as Aloha or Aloha-Reedville in Washington County, Oregon, was once a collection of small villages that developed near rivers and established overland routes.

Bridgeport, later Farmington on the Tualatin River, was settled in 1845. Nearby, homesteads emerged along the lower slope of Cooper Mountain and the Plains-Falls Road, an official route of the territorial government of Oregon. The 1850s donation land claim era brought additional settlement and increased agricultural production. Throughout the 1860s, farmers and entrepreneurs scrambled for an effective means of transporting surplus products for export from the prolific Tualatin Valley to Portland, San Francisco and beyond. A railroad line, completed in 1872, established Reedville as a commercial center and by the early 1900s, passenger depots were built at Huber, Tobias and Aloha on the interurban Red Electric railway.

Today, the suburban community of Aloha, once part of Oregon's oldest agricultural centers, maintains a significant role in the development of the Portland metropolitan region.

Highlights of Aloha-Reedville include:
•   Rarely before seen images that depict early Washington County farm and family life, particularly the development of livestock and dairy industries.
•   The history behind “Harvey the Rabbit,” a Reedville landmark with a cult following.
•   Includes information and an 1850’s era map that shows the donation land claims in the Aloha-Reedville area.

Available at area bookstores, independent retailers, and online retailers, or through Arcadia Publishing at (888)-313-2665 or online.  

Arcadia Publishing is the leading publisher of local and regional history in the United States.  Our mission is to make history accessible and meaningful through the publication of books on the heritage of America’s people and places.  Have we done a book on your town?  Visit www.arcadiapublishing.com/.