Sarah_Helmick_State_Recreation_Site

Sarah Helmick State Recreation Site

Sarah Helmick State Recreation Site

State park located in Oregon, U.S.

Sarah Helmick State Recreation Site, also known as Helmick Park, is a state park located south of Monmouth, in Polk County, Oregon, United States. It is located on the floodplain of the Luckiamute River and is forested by Bigleaf Maple, Douglas-fir, and Black Cottonwood trees, among other varieties. The park is named for Sarah Helmick, a pioneer to Oregon in 1845 who donated the original land. Sarah Helmick State Recreation Site is the first state park established in Oregon.[2] It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2022.[3]

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History

Establishment

The land for the park was the first land acquired by what was then the State Highway Commission for use as a park when Sarah Helmick donated 5.16 acres (2.09 ha) and James and Amanda Helmick donated 0.3 acres (0.12 ha) on February 15, 1922.[4]

The park's namesake, Sarah Helmick (1823-1924), was an Oregon pioneer who settled a donation land claim which included the park land with her husband during the second half of the 1840s.[5] The resident of Albany, Oregon gifted the original parcel of land for use as an "automobile campground."[5]

Expansion

In 1948, 23.65 acres (95,700 m2) were purchased and added to the park, followed by a gift of 1.7 acres (0.69 ha) later that same year.[4] Currently a day-use only park, the park used to have overnight camping facilities.[4]

See also

Footnotes

  1. [1]
    "Sarah Helmick State Park". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved July 1, 2011.
  2. [2]
    "Sarah Helmick State Recreation Site - Oregon State Parks". stateparks.oregon.gov. Retrieved January 17, 2022.
  3. [3]
    "Weekly listing". National Park Service.
  4. [4]
    Chester H. Armstrong, Oregon State Parks: History, 1917-1963. Salem, OR: Oregon State Highway Department, 1965; pg. 185.
  5. [5]
    "Mrs. S. Helmick Dies in Albany," Corvallis Gazette-Times, vol. 16, no. 202 (Dec. 24, 1924), pg. 1.
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