John Jacob “Hans” Naef (pronounced ‘Neff”) was born in Zurich, Switzerland in 1837. He and his wife were farmers in that area. Their son, Otto Naef (Sr) was born in Zurich June 9, 1859. While still in Switzerland Otto married Mary Susanna Wyder in 1881. John Jacob Naef’s wife died in Switzerland prior to 1887.
In early 1887 John Jacob Naef and Otto (Sr.) emigrated to the United States. They originally intended on settling at Helvetia in Washington County, but they instead chose to settle in the Oak Grove area. Leaving John J. Naef in Oregon Otto returned to Switzerland and brought back his wife Susanna and sons Otto (b.1882) & Ernest (b.1887), arriving in NY on Aug. 15, 1887 aboard the steamship Bretagne. Also on board the Bretagne was the Rudolph Staub family, also from Zurich. Traveling by train they reunited with John Jacob Naef in Oak Grove to begin farming.
On Sept. 19, 1887 Rudolph Staub, the Naef’s traveling companion, purchased 220 acres in the Oak Grove area from William A. & Eliza Starkweather which the Starkweathers had purchased in 1865. The following November, Nov.5,1887, the Staubs deeded 100 acres of the Starkweather property to John J. Naef. (On Aug. 1, 1889 the Staubs deeded their remaining 120 acres to John G. Roethe. Staub had been a pastor in Switzerland, and following his selling his property in Oak Grove Rev. Staub removed to Beaver Creek in Clackamas Co. to become the pastor of the Congregational Church there, and later to New Era). Both John J. and Otto Naef filed their Declaration of Intent (to become citizens) in Oregon City in 1888.
The Naef’s 100 acres stretched from the Willamette River east to today’s Harold Ave., and from just north of today’s Naef Rd. south halfway to today’s Roethe Rd. The family home was constructed a hundred yards west of today’s McLoughlin Blvd., on the north side of today’s Naef Rd. – adjacent to a spring fed creek that originated on the east side of today’s Harold Ave. This creek provided the necessary water for their homeplace and livestock. The family started a dairy, later called Oak Knoll Dairy, on the property east of River Rd. That part west of River Rd. was too steep and forested for farming.
John J. Naef granted Eastside Railway Co. a 40 ft. right-of-way across his farm in 1893, giving the family access north and south to Portland and Oregon City – and Naef Station was established.
In 1892 a dispute erupted between John J. Naef, and his neighbor to the south, John G. Roethe, over the ownership of a manure pile located on the shared property line. Both claimed ownership based on their perceptions of the location of the boundary line between them, and manure was important to their farming. A court case eventually ensued, and the line was ultimately agreed upon by an exchange of deeds between Otto Naef and John G. and Alweine Roethe on Oct. 17, 1907.
In 1896, at the age of 59, John J. Naef deeded his son Otto his entire farm, with the exception of the railway line, River Rd., and 5 acres sold to A. Franklin in 1893. Otto operated much of the farm as a dairy which went by the name “Oak Knoll Dairy”.
In Nov. 1910 Otto Naef sold the 17 acres west of River Rd. – of little use for farming – to a wealthy Portland business tycoon named Theodore Kruse. Two years later, in 1912, Kruse lost the property to his wife, Marie E. Daggett Kruse, in a divorce proceeding.
In 1918 John J. Naef died. Otto was by then a widower – his wife Susanna having died in Nov. 1910. Otto and his two sons, Otto H. Naef and Ernest, continued operating “Oak Knoll Dairy” until 1919. Citing increased development and higher taxes “O. Naef & Sons” auctioned off their cows and ceased operation of the dairy. In early 1923 Otto deeded his son Ernest and his wife Ruth a lot on River Rd. on the N.E. corner of River Rd. and Naef Rd., upon which they built their home. When Otto died in late 1924 the remaining farm was split in two – the north half on the north side of Naef Rd. to Ernest Naef, and the south half on the south side of Naef Rd. to Otto’s daughter-in-law Rosa (Rose) E. Naef who had been left a widow when Otto Sr.s other son, Otto Henry Naef, had died in 1920 from the flu epidemic. Rosa leased her half of the farm to dairy operators such as the Crystal Springs Dairy and Huddle & Stoll and their “Superior Dairy”, and lived in the house she and Otto H. Naef had built on the S.E. corner or River Rd. and Naef Rd.
Following the sale of the dairy cows and Otto’s death Ernest farmed his share of the farm. In 1925 Ernest and his wife Ruth sold the east half of their property, east of the railway, consisting of 29.81 acres to Eldon J. and May Steele who operated it as Steele’s Pansy Gardens into the mid-1940’s. The Steele’s eventually moved into the Naef’s original 1890’s family home and irrigated their pansy fields from the original Naef well. Steele’s pansies were world renowned and Ernest served as the superintendent of the Pansy Farm for many years. When the Super 99 highway was completed in 1936 it cut the property in two, creating hardships for the Steeles and the dairy operators.
As the years progressed the Naefs sold off much of their holdings. In 1946 Ernest & Ruth Naef, and the children of Rosa Naef, sold some acreage on the south side of Naef Rd. to Theodore & Mildred Stringfield – – – acreage that later became the Stringfield Family Park. Rosa’s share of the farm east of McLoughlin Blvd. eventually became the “Super 99 Drive In”. Her property west of McLoughlin but east of the railway was operated at one time as Crystal Springs Dairy, and was later leased to dairymen “Huddle & Stoll” (Kenneth Huddle & Ray Stoll) in 1940. Huddle & Stoll purchased Rosa’s property from the railway to McLoughlin Blvd. in 1947, and operated “Superior Dairy” until 1957. Rosa sold off her remaining lots in the 1950’s but continued living in her house on River Rd. until her death in 1962.
A few descendants of the Naef family still live in Oak Grove, and have kindly provided the community with the family history, and loaned many of their family photos to be shared.