| history -cherrygrove
Cherry Grove
compiled from Columbian archives
Located in the geographic center of Clark County a mile due west of Battle Ground, the Cherry Grove community is more than 100 years old.
Named for the time that wild
cherry trees grew in abundance, the community still boasts its share of
cherry trees, but most of them now are the domestic varieties. The twisted
trunks and gnarled limbs of some of these trees suggest they were planted
during the 1800s, at the time Cherry grove was thriving as a dairy and
farming center.
The name predominant in the
history of Cherry Grove is the same name linked so closely with the growth
of Vancouver; the Hidden
family. Lowell M. Hidden, patriarch of the family that left a heritage
of bricks and buildings, was a Cherry Grove pioneer.
According to old records, Hidden
came to Clark County in 1869 and obtained 400 acres in the Cherry Grove
area, just south of the present intersection of Northeast 239th street
and Northeast 92nd Avenue,. Here, Hidden operated a large potato farm.
The first school in the Cherry
Grove district is believed to have been started in a private home in 1879.
In 1893, Hidden donated land for a school at about Northeast 244th Street.
His son, W. Foster Hidden, was one of the first teachers in this school,
conducting classes there in 1896 and 1897.
Other pioneer families were
those of John Piper, George Dimmick, Tom Eves, thomas Whalen and Hollis
Taylor.
As the community grew, the
need for a church developed. In May 1910, a church was built with lumber
donated by Robert Watson Sr. Built by volunteer labor on the east side
of 92nd Avenue.
The church originally was United
Brethren. In 1944, the building was purchased by the Society of Friends,
and the name was changed to the Cherry Grove Friends Church.
In the 70's little remained
of the pioneer past of Cherry Grove, except for the old church building.
The original school had been remodeled into a home.
The Cherry Grove of the past
had a reputation as a fine dairying region.
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