Cazadero, Oregon Explained

Cazadero
Settlement Type:Unincorporated community
Pushpin Map:USA Oregon#USA
Pushpin Map Caption:Location within the state of Oregon
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:United States
Subdivision Type1:State
Subdivision Name1:Oregon
Subdivision Type2:County
Subdivision Name2:Clackamas
Established Date:1903
Unit Pref:Imperial
Population As Of:2000
Population Density Km2:auto
Timezone:Pacific (PST)
Utc Offset:-8
Timezone Dst:PDT
Utc Offset Dst:-7
Coordinates:45.2664°N -122.3061°W
Postal Code Type:ZIP codes
Blank Name:FIPS code
Blank1 Name:GNIS feature ID
Blank1 Info:1163860[1]

Cazadero is an unincorporated historic locale in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States. Cazadero was a station on the Estacada interurban railway line of the Portland Railway, Light and Power Company (PRL&P) and later Portland Electric Power Company (PEPCO), near where the power plant of the PEPCO-owned Cazadero Dam was located on the Clackamas River.[2]

The station was named by the original promoters of the line, likely after Cazadero, California.[2] Cazadero is a Spanish word meaning "a place for the pursuit of game".[2] Cazadero post office operated from 1904–1918;[2] it was located southeast of Cazadero station, near what is now Oregon Route 224 at 45.2623°N -122.2962°W.[3]

Railway history

Service to Cazadero was routed via Lents and Gresham, along the Springwater Corridor, and the Gresham–Boring–Cazadero section was built in 1903–04, with electric interurban service reaching Boring in 1903[4] and Cazadero in 1904.[5] The line was built and operated by the Oregon Water Power and Railway Company (OWP), but by 1906 OWP had been taken over the PRL&P,<ref name="Thompson_WVR"/>[6] which in turn was reorganized as PEPCO in 1924.[7]

Cazadero station was located three stations beyond Estacada on the interurban line[6] and was the end of the line for many years, until PEPCO eventually developed the line farther up the river.[2] The interurban service was abandoned in 1933,[5] but the line remained intact and usable for freight service for many more years; for example, an excursion by railfans in an old interurban car covered the line in 1953.[8]

Notes and References

  1. 1163860. Cazadero (historical).
  2. Book: McArthur, Lewis A. . Lewis A. McArthur . Lewis L. McArthur . Lewis L. McArthur . . 1928 . 7th . 2003 . . . 0-87595-277-1 . 182.
  3. 1164258 . Cazadero Post Office (historical).
  4. Book: Labbe, John T. . Fares, Please: Those Portland Trolley Years . 1980 . . . 0-87004-287-4 . 108–9.
  5. Thompson, Richard (2008). Willamette Valley Railways, pp. 9, 11. Arcadia Publishing. .
  6. Labbe (1980), pp. 121–123.
  7. Labbe (1980), p. 141.
  8. "Railway Fans On Last Ride; Old No. 1101 In Final Battle" (June 23, 1953). The Oregonian, Section 3, p. 5.