Downtown Historical Walking Tour

Historic Sandy Downtown Tour

Building this pioneer town took grit…

Take this historic walking tour to see how Sandy, Oregon began. There is a fascinating cast of characters and a rich history to look back on. Follow the history of Sandy from its beginnings as a stop on the Barlow Road, to the logging town of recent memory and into the active community it is today. Stop by city hall to peer into the future plans for this historic city.

When it all began…

In the fall of 1845, Sam Barlow and his wagon train arrived in The Dalles, Oregon from Missouri. There he faced the treacherous Columbia River and Gorge! The dangers of rafting, the struggles of portaging and the expense were too much. Barlow hoped to find an old Indian Trail around the south of Mount Hood, and he did. This 80 to 90 miles of difficult terrain became known as the Barlow Road. Others began using it early in 1846.

The first to settle this area were Francis and Lydia Revenue in 1853. The Revenues found mild climate, rivers teeming with fish, plenty of deer and elk, and an abundance of berries and roots. They secured a 320 acre DLC about two miles north of the present town of Sandy, built a home, a trading post and the first bridge across the Sandy River. On this property Francis built the first school in the area. Twenty years later the Revenues built the first hotel in what is now Sandy and a store right next to it.

It’s estimated that 50,000 pioneers traveled the Barlow Road to settle in Oregon and they all came right by the location of the Sandy Historical Museum. Railroads were completed to California in the 1870s and to Oregon in the 1880s and pretty much eliminated use of the Barlow Road.In the words of Justice Matthew P. Deady of the

Oregon Territorial Supreme Court - “The construction of the Barlow Road contributed more toward the prosperity of the Willamette Valley and the State of Oregon than any other achievement prior to the building of the railways.”

The following tour is an abbreviated look at Sandy’s historical and colorful past. The Sandy Historical Society’s Museum has an impressive collection of the history of Sandy and the surrounding areas. You can get more in depth information there.