John L. Smith and his extended family moved into the area around 1890. An ambitious man, he built the Smith Sawmill, also known as the Tualatin Mill Company, in the area that is now Tualatin Community Park. The Smith Sawmill was the largest sawmill on the river and the largest employer in Tualatin. Also an innovator, Smith was the first to use a donkey engine to haul logs out of the woods. His steamboat, the Tualatin, was a familiar sight chugging along the river, running up as far as Farmington to bring logs to his sawmill.
The Smith family empire included the company store, Robinson’s, run by his sister Lizzie and the Smith Brickyard, also known as the Tualatin Brick & Tile Company. Smith built a series of row houses for his extended family and a boarding house for his employees along what is now Tualatin Road. Smith met his untimely demise in 1910 when a log chain broke in mid air and hit him in the forehead. Without his skillful leadership, his empire slowly crumpled. The mill and brickyard eventually closed and the row of homes fell in disrepair. The only Smith house remaining is the Smith-Boone house.
Credit: Tualatin From the Beginning
