Since arriving in Oregon about a week or two ago, we have had a lot of time on our hands, and trying to keep 3 kids busy in a new neighborhood where we have no friends, has been kind of rough, so, we planned some local little short sightseeing trips to keep busy and beat boredom. In this post, we are visiting Camp Adair, and the Soap Creek Schoolhouse. Here is some quick background information about Camp Adair, taken from EE Wilson Wildlife Area Website. Originally called Wells, the Southern Pacific Railroad changed the name to Wellsdale so it wouldn’t be confused with Wells, Nevada. Carter’s General Store was also the local post office. This picture was taken of the main street of Wells showing Carter’s General Store. John Carter was the town’s
postmaster for 47 years. Wellsdale had a church, blacksmith, grain warehouse and the Mayflower Club which served as the town’s social center. Wellsdale soon became a shipping center of NE Benton Co. Wells school was founded as Gingles School sometime before 1850. At one time,Wellsdale school district #1 had 100 students and a 2 year high school. For months 
before Pearl Harbor, Army Egineers had surveyed the area, then December 8,1941, the Army announced it would build a new camp to train 4 divisions of soldiers for overseas duty. Farmers, Wellsdale residents and the Wells School had beeen warned that the Army might be taking over their land, but nobody was quite ready for what happened. An Army officer came to school one morning and told the teachers to move out by that same afternoon. Students were quickly sent to near by districts as bulldozers tore up barns and fences for burning. In a matter of days, Wellsdale was only a memory. A single old oak tree just 
north of the showbirds display at E.E. Wilson Wildlife Area is the only memory remaining of Wellsdale.
Camp Adair, a World War II army cantonment, was located north of Corvallis on 50,000 acres in Benton and Polk Counties. The site was chosen by the United States War Department as a training site for Triangular Divisions. Each division consisted of 15,000 men assigned to infantry, artillery and engineering units with the necessary support personnel. However, the divisions at Camp Adair never reached their full complement of men. In order to 
construct this cantonment, which became the second largest city in Oregon, families were uprooted, cemeteries relocated, railroad tracks rerouted, and the small community of Wellsdale was erased. Today, only a few buildings and foundations remain to mark the main cantonment site of Camp Adair. A sign on US Highway 99W commemorates the divisions that trained there. Each Division also has a memorial located near the public viewing area 0.5 mile east of 99W on Camp Adair Road. The 50,000 acre 
site that made up the camp is owned by state and local governments and individuals. The Land is now known as EE Wilson Wildlife Refuge and Land Preserve. There is a trail and you can hike through the woods, they have a fairly large lake and bird refuge where you can fish and observe birds.
construct this cantonment, which became the second largest city in Oregon, families were uprooted, cemeteries relocated, railroad tracks rerouted, and the small community of Wellsdale was erased. Today, only a few buildings and foundations remain to mark the main cantonment site of Camp Adair. A sign on US Highway 99W commemorates the divisions that trained there. Each Division also has a memorial located near the public viewing area 0.5 mile east of 99W on Camp Adair Road. The 50,000 acre 
site that made up the camp is owned by state and local governments and individuals. The Land is now known as EE Wilson Wildlife Refuge and Land Preserve. There is a trail and you can hike through the woods, they have a fairly large lake and bird refuge where you can fish and observe birds.
After taking a hike on the nature trail, where we picked blackberries (Taylor was in Blackberry heaven…. they are one of his favorite fruits.) We took a drive accross hwy 99W just to see what was on the other side of the road, and we found the 
Soap Creek Schoolhouse…… a cute little old schoolhouse which has been maintained beautifully. This is a typical “one-room school house”, built in 1932 during the depression. Similar schoolhouses were built within 5 miles of each other but few remain. The spacing was determined by how far children could reasonably walk to get there. Often times without shoes, and with snow on the ground. (Apparently the stories our great-grandparents tell of this are true!) Many brought their lunches in biscuit tins and other containers. A wood-burning stove 
was used to heat the building and cook a simple soup from fresh vegetables the children brought from home. The lanterns were typically used to find their way through the woods in the dark. This is a picture of a framed photo hanging inside (which accounts for the reflective glare.) All ages were welcome, but most started attending at about 8 years old. Mothers were reluctant to send younger children, because often times the creek flooded and they feared their children would fall in and drown. Students were given 
a set of readers and when they finished the last one, they were through with school. Didn’t matter how old you were or what grade you were in, all that was required in those days was that you completed the reading curriculum to graduate. The “school year” back then was just three months long, from October to December. Children were needed at home and on the farm to help with the family needs during the rest of the year, which included growing, canning, harvesting food, and tending animals. 
These were the practical things they needed to do and learn, in order to survive. (Thanks to turkeyfeathers.typepad.com for the inside pictures and commentary about the soap creek school) Outside photos are taken by me. 
Soap Creek Schoolhouse…… a cute little old schoolhouse which has been maintained beautifully. This is a typical “one-room school house”, built in 1932 during the depression. Similar schoolhouses were built within 5 miles of each other but few remain. The spacing was determined by how far children could reasonably walk to get there. Often times without shoes, and with snow on the ground. (Apparently the stories our great-grandparents tell of this are true!) Many brought their lunches in biscuit tins and other containers. A wood-burning stove 
was used to heat the building and cook a simple soup from fresh vegetables the children brought from home. The lanterns were typically used to find their way through the woods in the dark. This is a picture of a framed photo hanging inside (which accounts for the reflective glare.) All ages were welcome, but most started attending at about 8 years old. Mothers were reluctant to send younger children, because often times the creek flooded and they feared their children would fall in and drown. Students were given 
a set of readers and when they finished the last one, they were through with school. Didn’t matter how old you were or what grade you were in, all that was required in those days was that you completed the reading curriculum to graduate. The “school year” back then was just three months long, from October to December. Children were needed at home and on the farm to help with the family needs during the rest of the year, which included growing, canning, harvesting food, and tending animals. 
These were the practical things they needed to do and learn, in order to survive. (Thanks to turkeyfeathers.typepad.com for the inside pictures and commentary about the soap creek school) Outside photos are taken by me. 
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