The Shipley-Cook Farmstead is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is an Oregon Century Farm; a property that has been owned and farmed by one family for at least 100 years.
Adam Shipley moved to Oregon from Ohio 1n 1852. After tragically losing his wife and daughter in 1853, he remarried and settled in Portland with his wife, Celinda. He served for many years as the postmaster for Portland.
The family moved to the area then known as “Oswego” between 1861-63 and purchased their 100-acre farmstead for $330. Over the years, the family acquired more land and expanded their ownership to over 1000 acres. Their farm was one of the first in the Willamette Valley to grow wine grapes, and grapes are still grown on the property today.
Over the years, Adam passed management of the farm to his son Randolph, who sold off much of the acreage. Adam Shipley died in 1894 and the remaining 131 acres of the farm was sold in 1900 to James and Susie P Cook. The family raised cattle, pigs and sheep. Over the years, the Cook family sold off much of the land, reducing the farmstead to its current size of 6.1 acres. The farm is still owned by the Cook family.
The barn was built in 1862 from hand-hewn beams with mortise-and-tenon joinery and was principally used for storing hay. The Shipley children used the barn as a skating ring when it was empty of hay. A lean-to was added to the barn in 1934. Restore Oregon listed the barn as “endangered” in 2014 for the threat of urban expansion as well as its deteriorating structure, which Rick Cook, the current owner, was trying to repair. In 2015, projects to stabilize and restore the barn were completed.
A viewpoint with interpretive signage is located on Atherton Drive west of Stafford Rd. in Lake Oswego.
Resources
Clackamas County Historical Resources form (links to National Register nomination)