Oak Grove
The Oak Grove town site was first platted in 1890 by Edward W. Cornell, as trustee for the Oak Grove Land & Improvement Co., from the original Creighton and Crow donation land claims (DLCs) of the 1840s and 1850s. After ownership being transferred to the Sellwood Land & Improvement Co., subsequent additions and subdivisions of the Oak Grove plat show clear evidence that the area was marked for investment and growth as a result of the trolley line’s introduction early in 1893. This, coupled with the popularity of the Oak Grove Beach and Park from the early 1900’s to the 1920’s, spurred the residential development of the surrounding area, and of the Oak Grove business center. The advent of affordable automobiles, and the construction of the Super Highway in the 1930’s began a gradual decline of the business center, as businesses were increasingly attracted to the highway. Today Oak Grove is primarily a residential community, with McLoughlin Blvd. being the center of most commercial activity. With Cranston Machinery as its anchor, having had offices in Oak Grove’s business center since 1938, an effort to revive the business center is underway.
Place Name
The author of Oregon Geographic Names, Lewis A. McArthur, credits a member of the survey team for suggesting the name Oak Grove, based on an area they came upon for lunch — “a fine grove of oak trees in the northwest part of the tract.”
Post Office
The town site’s post office was opened in 1904. First called the ‘Creighton Station’ due to duplicate use of the name elsewhere on the trolley line, the postal station name was changed permanently to ‘Oak Grove’ when the confusion was sorted out and corrected in 1907.
