Interview by Lily Shaver.

On January 29, 2024, I talked with long-time Estacada resident Sally Gilmore about her experience living in the area. This Q&A has been edited for clarity.

1. What is your favorite thing about the Estacada Community?

Friendly people. Small town, I like that, I would not want to live in a big town, I hardly ever go to Portland. Never downtown. I came from the small town of Myrtle Creek. It was a logging town that had a mill right in town, same as Estacada did when I first moved here, and that was familiar to me. We moved to Ripplebrook first and it was 1968. Moved up there for about six years and then moved down to Estacada and bought a house.

2. When you lived in Estacada then, compared to how it is now, how is it different? 

The drugstore was in a different place, it was in the corner where the Chinese place is. There are a lot more people now, that’s for sure. They used to have a dime store, Five and Dime. The kids liked to go in there, and buy a candy bar. There was another grocery store that was down where the video store is. I used to go there and buy groceries.

3. What kind of groceries would you get from the store?

Well, in Estacada we grew our own garden, so we had our own vegetables, and we had some fruit trees. We also had chickens, grapes and berries. I’d get meat or cold cereal, the kids liked that. They had a meat market right there where you could tell them what you wanted and how you wanted stuff cut, it was right behind the counter. They’d give me dog bones, for free! And then I had to start buying them. But that was nice. You just got so you knew the family, and knew their kids, and they’d have their own grandkids in there. So it was real friendly.

4. What was it like living in Ripplebrook at Timber Lake?

There were no stores up in Ripplebrook, so you had to come all the way to Estacada, 26 miles, to get anything. And we did have a milkman, he would actually sometimes have ice cream. He must not have had a very big freezer. So if you were lucky you might get some ice cream. That was nice, because you can’t keep milk forever. 

We always lived at Timber Lake. He [my husband John] worked for the Forest Service and we lived with Job Corps people. We had to buy our own trailer there. Then we sold it to the kindergarten teacher when we moved.

My daughter Christine started third grade in Estacada. My husband hated the thought of our children in junior high, taking the bus. There were huge rocks that used to roll down, and he thought he could dodge them better than the school bus. So we started looking for a house to buy in Estacada. After living at Timber Lake for six years, we moved to Estacada. I’m still there! My son Daniel was a baby when we moved in, so I can remember how long we’ve lived there, because he just turned 50!

Up at Timber Lake, in the Winter my washer would freeze up, because it was in a shed outside the back door. And then John built a room as an extension to the house so we had a wood stove. But sometimes we had to go down to Estacada to wash clothes. We had a baby, and we didn’t have real diapers in the day, so we had a bucket of diapers in water. So that was more adventurous up there.

5. What is something that you’d want newcomers to know about Estacada? Do you have a favorite place?

We used to have a boat, and we used to go to the North Fork Reservoir. John used to pick up the grandkids sometimes after school, and then later, we would walk the dog down one side and back, because it was blocked off. To me that’s a really nice place, very quiet, beautiful, and free! The schools, I had a lot of grandkids that were involved in sports and music, and everything. I thought it was a good school. Estacada is a nice small town, and everybody’s always been friendly. Pretty mild weather, except for the last few weeks [there was an ice storm]. It’s pretty. I like trees. I go to a really nice little country church, like I said, for 50 years. And I’m still going there. I love the Garfield Church. It’s an old church. My husband, and several of the guys did a lot of work over the years. They did many things–they jacked the church up and put a foundation under it, and put in a heating system. Because it had a wood stove when we started, it was in the back, so somebody had to come up there and stoke that thing up early or it was kind of like sitting on an ice cube. So that’s one of the main things, that church. I would hate to ever have to go somewhere else. A lot of people would rather have a great big church, where I’m used to that little tiny one. A lot of times I’m just in my own yard doing stuff outside, I like it. 

Check out the church’s website here: Garfield Community Church

Find out more about the history of the church here: HISTORY — Garfield Community Church