S.E. McLoughlin Blvd.
Home Since 1918
As far back as we can determine, the land originally occupied by the Mill End Store was a fruit orchard at S.E McLoughlin Boulevard and Tacoma Street. The original apple and cherry trees were planted there in 1848 by Henderson Luelling and his son Alfred. The Luelling family arrived in February of that year from Iowa in an open wagon carrying some 700 grafted fruit trees and miscellaneous berries and shrubs. They were among the original founders of the Milwaukie Township. We can only assume that the Luellings prospered.
Ewing Young, a friend of Dr. John McLoughlin, brought the first sheep to Oregon from California. Later, the Conestoga wagon trains arrived from the east and midwest along the Oregon Trail with other Oregon settlers, some of whom also brought sheep into the Willamette Valley.
As early as the 1860's woolen mills began to appear. Often, they were originally established in California and then moved to Oregon. The good quality of the water and the similarities of climate to the English textile areas saw small mills open in Eugene, Brownsville, Salem, Oregon City, and Portland.
1920's Dye House
In the 1880's, the Southern Pacific main line came up the valley bringing with it a second wave of textile mills, and in 1902 a man named Willis bought the Luelling property and constructed the brick buildings that are there today. He established the Willis Mohair Mill; at that time, the only one of its kind west of the Atlantic seaboard. It suffered difficulties, however, and by 1917 could no longer function profitably.