Twenty million years ago, lava flows from eastern Oregon snaked down the Columbia River and deposited a bed of basalt lava in the area known today as Washington County. During the last ice age, the region was engulfed repeatedly by the raging Missoula Floods, which deposited rich silt and topsoil.

A few thousand years later, the Donation Land Claim Act of 1850, enacted by congress to encourage settlement in Oregon Territory, prompted a surge of immigration to the new Territory via the Oregon Trail. (This law is the precursor to the Homestead Act.) Before the Act expired in 1855, a total of 7,437 patents were issued, one of them to a Peter Kindt. Mr. Kindt’s Donation Land claim lay near the banks of the Tualatin River, and the town of Kinton was named after this early pioneer.

Kinton was fortunate to be situated near the Ferry that Peter Scholl built around 1848 across the Tualatin River. Mr. Scholl operated the ferry for many years, later establishing a toll bridge. (That covered bridge existed at least until the 1920’s, but is now gone.) The road that runs through Kinton, down to the community of Scholls, is still called Scholl’s Ferry Road.

Kinton had a post office from 1894 to 1903. Aside from an old a schoolhouse, the administrative buildings and stores seem to be gone. However, it may be that such buildings reside hidden on private property, out of sight from the road. Today Scholl’s Ferry Road (HW 210) and SW River Road are important highways, very scenic and pleasant to drive. Historic houses and barns may be seen from the road. Be sure to visit Scholls, a semi-ghost town just a few miles SW. Follow Highway 210.
Submitted by: Kathryn Davidson