Heart of Hillsboro Neighborhood

HOHNA Newsletter, Fall 2001

Nov 26, 2001

Hello,

Just a reminder that the Hillsboro Historical Society will meet Tuesday, November 27, at 7:00 P.M. The program will be a presentation on the
"Care and Feeding" of your older home's plumbing system by Jan Frutiger of A-Ball Plumbing. The meeting will be held at Chrissie Manion's home, 549 NE 2nd Avenue (corner of 2nd and Grant) in downtown Hillsboro. We hope you'll be there!


Here is the text of our Fall 2001 Newsletter. Pictures have been omitted to keep the file size small.

INSPIRATIONAL CITIZENS
DALE SCHELLER
By Wyatt Newman

Dale Scheller and his wife, Ellen, have lived in the Hillsboro area since 1947. Scheller bought farm land on Hornecker Road, called Liseyville
then,from the RJ Reynolds company, and started a dairy herd. A daughter and son-in-law still farm the property.

Dale and Ellen bought and lived in the stately home that once housed the Washington County Historical Society on Main Street, and since have
built a home next door, replacing the dilapidated yellow house that once was there.
Scheller built the new home firmly keeping in mind he wanted a house that reflected the historical look of the East Main or "Gateway" district. Historical preservation and reservation of the homey feel of Hillsboro is very important to Scheller.

Scheller, born in Portland in 1924, moved to Washington County in Aloha in 1939. He attended high school in Beaverton. He was a founder of the
Hillsboro Kiwanis Club in 1954, has long been a member of the Hillsboro Chamber of Commerce and the Masons. Standing at 6 feet 5 and a half
inches, he is easily spotted moving about town.

Scheller remembers when Hillsboro had two theatres, the Hill and Venetian,which still stand, two bakeries: The Hillsboro, known for its bread and the Schoen, famous for pastries. The main groceries were the Piggly Wiggly on Second and Main and Smith's in what is now the 1890 Building. Bristol Hardware, with kerosene lamps hanging from the ceiling, was located in the
Sturgis Building on North Second. When asked what he remembered the most about old Hillsboro, without hesitation he said, "The wonderful old
post office. I bid on it but lost to the bank." The sturdy brick post office was on the southwest corner of 4th and Main.

Dale said one of the biggest change in downtown has been the growth of the County Courthouse. He remembers when there was only one circuit judge
there in the late 1940's, Judge Heber. Ellen was the court reporter for him.

The Kiwanis Club, under his leadership, sponsored every summer a strawberry festival, giving away free strawberries and cream. This is the
beginning of what became Western Days in downtown Hillsboro, which has also disappeared.
Scheller is very tied to the interests of farmers. He feels Washington County is ideal farmland, but water has become a problem with all the growth, and pesticide regulations have also made it more difficult. "A healthy community is where farmers prospered," he said.

Hillsboro has had "honest, wonderful people with goals and dedication," he
said. He feels the city has excellent officials and a staff that any citizen can easily work with on concerns. His concern for the future is concentrated growth in his neighborhood. Due to new zoning regulations, he feels he has lost his privacy. He is also concerned that our rapid
growth is causing us to lose our closeness as a community. Scheller believes it is very important to keep our livability, especially in the downtown area.
"High density planning makes Hillsboro like old Chicago, " he said. "Max has invaded our privacy."
Scheller spoke warmly of how he felt the strawberry festival created a
stimulus for what is now the popular farmer's market on Saturdays. He feels this allows people to meet and get to know the value of farmers and
what good people they are. "People have a good time and get a quality product."

Dale Scheller is the perfect Jeffersonian example of the importance of people being close to the land. He believes it and lives it.



Weil Family Provides Four Generations of Service to Hillsboro Community
by Wyatt Newman

From the period 1913-1966, Hillsboro was more than the center of Washington County. It also was home to the biggest Department store between
Portland and the Coast, the Weil Department Store.
It provided "Everything to wear for men, women and children," the store slogan, according to Forrest Weil, grandson of founder Rueben Weil. The
store originally was located at the corner of Main and Third in Hillsboro,most previously the location of the pet store. In 1917, Rueben moved
the store to its present location, in the center of the block on the north side of Main between Second and Third, the area known to most Hillsboro folks as the "Weil Arcade." It was a typical "old fashioned department store,"
said Forrest. "It had oiled wooden floors and 10,000 square feet of floor space.One wall, twenty feet high, was stacked with shoes and boots." There were apartments on the second floor. Business transactions were shipped up
to a balcony via a vacuum tube, so there was no mere dealing between the clerk and customer in the exchange of cash. "Hillsboro was primarily a
farming and logging community," said Weil. "So we sold the logger black jeans and 'cork' boots and work clothes for the farmers. Name brand merchandise was sold, such as Pendleton, Jantzen, White Stag and Hart, Schaffner and Marx."
The store served people from the West Hills on the east to the communities of Astoria and Tillamook to the west and as far south as McMinnville and Newberg. Forrest worked in the store as a boy, doing every type of odd job,
from stocking merchandise to clerking. "We knew everyone by name in those days," he said. There were no credit cards, but customers could buy on
credit. In the period the store operated, people were very responsibly honest. When the store closed in 1966, all accounts were paid except
for less than one percent. "We knew all the families in the area then," Weil said. There were only three to five thousand people in Hillsboro during that period. "We built our store's business on our reputation. This is
unlike the strip malls and discount store way of shopping today," he said.
"We knew the families so well they would send their children in to be clothed for school and we would handle it all." During the Depression,
people had to cut back. The county paid its workers in scrip, which included teachers in those days. The store accepted scrip with the
understanding they could turn them in to the county based on future revenue.
Weil still has an original sign that read "We accept scrip" that has several pieces of scrip pasted on it. Farmers could take their produce to the Ray-Mailing cannery, located where the old Birdseye cannery was on Washington Street where the present jail is located. The farmers were
offered stock in the cannery as fair payment for their produce. Weil remembers the war years well. He graduated from Hillsboro High School
in 1943, "So you know what happened to me," he said. Forrest served in the Navy in the Aleutian Islands. "Everyone in town supported the war
effort. There was rationing of gas, rubber, all kinds of things. They even had rationing of shoes. Why I don't know, because we had plenty of shoes. The government in its wisdom, I guess." "There were bond drives, parades, lots
of speeches. Everything was very intense." Weil said many people, including himself spotted for Japanese planes from a tower built at the
athletic field of what is now Boscow-Barnes Elementary. "I wasn't sure exactly what I was looking for," he said. But like all patriots, he did his part. The Weil family was very involved in Hillsboro's economic development. Rueben started Haley Foods. Forrest's Uncle was on the
Board of the Ray Mailing Cannery and active in the Hillsboro Industrial Development Commission (HIDC). Forrest's father, Jacob, brought Noblecraft to town. His son, Jay, is the current owner and manager of Weil Operations.
In August, 1966, the store held a huge going-out of business sale.
"People came from all around and were lined up on the street before the store opened." There was some sadness to the end of the department store
era. But, even though the store may be gone, the Weil name is still very
prominent in Hillsboro.