The oldest building in Shelburn is the blacksmith shop and it dates from the 1890s. It was one of the busiest shops in town because Shelburn was in the logging and sawmill business. The last names of two leading citizens in the community before it had a name were Shelton and Washburn. By having parts of their names joined together, the town was named Shelburn. Even though the post office was not established until 1890, the cemetery on the hill as markers dating back to the 1850s and 60s. When the surrounding timber was cut out, the mills began to close down. Today, the town is deserted but some buildings remain, probably not for long given the heavy rains in the Willamette Valley. SUBMITTED BY: Henry Chenoweth

We have lived here in Shelburn since June of 1974 and believe me when I say that it is nothing like being described on that web page. To wit:

There are 12 families that now live in what would be the Platted site of Shelburn and it's additions. [Bridges Addition is one. In which seven lots and two paper roads are where we live.] 8^P

The really only building that is still standing and that could be considered as a remnant of the original town site. That would be the old church building and it has been modified so one would not know of it's beginnings. A second floor has been installed and the bell tower is no longer present. The old Black Smith shop has been long gone but it did once upon a time sit on a portion of the property that our family now owns.

The old Hotel is no more, the Dance Hall is no more, in fact there is little to show just where these buildings once stood.

The RR Depot/Freight Station is gone as is the original wooden water tower, The metal replacement is still standing but is now on private property.

With the advent of the automobile the town begin to die as the residents no longer had to rely on the two railroads that crossed here in mid town. That in turn caused the abandonment and realignment of these rail lines. The one to the southwest toward Albany was completely abandoned as was the northwest part of the other line. Then the realignment came where they merged the southeast part of the one with the northeast part of the other. The present owners, Willamette & Pacific, still run one train on a round trip daily picking timber products from up the canyon.

The school house is gone. The telephone service that was later in the building that was the Smithy's place of business moved into Scio as did the Post Office. [Scio is located 3.3 mile, approximately, to the southeast of Shelburn.

The Miller Cemetery on Miller Cemetery Road, is located on a hill top just to the east of the town. It is still in use and in excellent condition. Some of the old stones have deteriorated to the point of being unreadable or are missing altogether.

This was a really thriving community in it's 'Hey Day' but with the timber that was within easy hauling distance was gone, then so went the saw mill and so went the job opportunities. The younger generations no longer wanted to follow in their relatives footsteps and again the automobile allowed them to seek employment and eventual resettlement to a new location.

Our home and several others are probable the oldest remaining homes in Shelburn as newer ones or mobile & manufactured homes have fill in the vacant areas that once were pasture or older home sites.

The General Store went out of business in the early 60s. As did the Prune Drying facility, the Creamery and the Turkey Farm. Shelburn would now be considered a "bedroom community" or more precisely a spot on the map. Once a place has made it 'map wise' it usually remains there forever.

As a much used county road [CR 5] AKA Shelburn Drive passes through here we do experience a lot of traffic, especially in the summertime. The old RR bridge was taken out a few years after we came here and the County has installed a makeshift boat dock into the Santiam River, at that point, which is to our northwest about a mile or so.

So, you see when "tourist" come to Shelburn it usually means that got lost on one of these skewed up roads and in the summer when doing yard work several vehicles will stop and ask direction on how to get to where they were going to or coming from. 8^)

I know that you cannot incorporate all of this information into what you have now listed for Shelburn but I think that you should revise it to the point where the mention of the "still remaining" Black Smith" shop would be deleted and maybe mention instead that the rail line exists and a short train still travels through the "town." 8^(

Donald L. LADD