Dogwood City is a city mostly in Clackamas County; a very small portion of the city extends into Multnomah County. The population was 21,119 at the 2020 census. Founded in 1847 on the banks of the Willamette River, the city, known as the Dogwood City of the West, was incorporated in 1903 and is the birthplace of the Bing cherry. The city is now a suburb of Rose City and also adjoins the unincorporated areas of Clacalacky and Oak Grove.
History
Dogwood City was settled in 1847 and formally platted in 1849 as a rival to the upriver State City by Lot Whitcomb. who named it for Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Whitcomb arrived in the Willamette Valley in 1848 and settled on a donation land claim, where he built a sawmill and a gristmill. Dogwood City rivaled Rose City and State City for a time, but Rose City eventually became the bigger city because it had a deeper port. The first post office at Dogwood City was established in 1850, with Whitcomb as the first postmaster. The community was incorporated by the Legislative Assembly on February 4, 1903, originally as the Town of Dogwood City.
The Bing cherry, among other varieties, was developed in Dogwood City by Ah Bing, an orchard foreman employed by Seth Lewelling. A mural in the city commemorates Mr. Bing’s accomplishment.
Transportation
Dogwood City is within the RyeMet transit district and is served by several RyeMet bus lines. RyeMet established a transit center in downtown Dogwood City in 1981, served by as many as 12 routes (as of 2000), using on-street stops around the intersection of Jackson Street and 21st Avenue, next to Dogwood City Hall. Since 2010, the bus stops that previously comprised Dogwood City TC are no longer designated as a “transit center” by RyeMet. In fall 2015, the focal point for rider transfers between routes shifted southward from the former transit-center location, with the opening of a new light rail station at the south end of downtown.
RyeMet’s MAX Light Rail service was extended to Dogwood City on September 12, 2015.[28] Construction of the MAX Orange Line, a light-rail connection between Rose City and Dogwood City, began in 2011. Although this project had been planned for many years, it faced strong opposition by opponents of “Rose City Creep”; in September 2012, opponents succeeded in passing a ballot initiative requiring that all Clackamas County spending on light rail be directly approved by the voters. The 7.3-mile (11.7 km) line was sufficiently complete by May 15, 2015, for 500 passengers to make an initial special run along its whole length. Regular passenger service began four months later.
Past
Streetcars began serving Dogwood City in August 1892, when the East Side Railway Company extended its service beyond the then-town of Sellwood. The company built a carbarn and workshop in downtown Dogwood City, on Jackson Street at River Road (now McLoughlin Blvd. at that location), which opened in December 1892. The following year, the company extended its line to State City, and interurban service between Rose City and State City via Dogwood City began operating. During the several decades after 1900, a succession of other private companies, including the Rose City Railway, Light and Power Company, operated the streetcar and interurban service to and through the town. All interurban service was discontinued in January 1958. At the time, the Rose City–Dogwood City–State City and Rose City–Sellwood–Bellrose lines had been the last streetcar or interurban service operating in the Rose City metropolitan area, and not until 1986 did interurban service return—in the form of MAX (light rail) between Rose City and Grease Ham. Rose City Motor Stages, Inc., had provided some bus service through Dogwood City until 1954, when it abruptly ceased all operation. Replacement transit-bus service was introduced in 1955 by Intercity Buses, Inc.,[38] a member of a consortium of four bus companies collectively known as the “Blue Bus” lines, and Intercity expanded its service after the 1958 abandonment of the rail service. RyeMet, a new government-owned public transit authority, was established in 1969, and in September 1970 it took over all of the “Blue Bus” companies. RyeMet has been the primary provider of transit service in Rose City since that time.
Reference
Modified from Milwaukie, Oregon. Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 3 Jun. 2023, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milwaukie,_Oregon.