Oldtown Apartments for Rent

In 1847 Albert Alonzo Durham arrived in the Pacific Northwest. A native of New York, he saw the perfect place to build a sawmill on what was then called Sucker Creek. Naming the town Oswego, after his birthplace, Durham used that sawmill to create its first industry. Less than two decades later, iron ore was discovered in nearby Tualatin Valley and the Oregon Iron Company was formed. Remnants of the iron company, and the people who lived and worked there, are found throughout Oldtown, the epicenter of this affluent suburb of nearby Portland.

George Rogers Park, a 26-acre community recreation area on the shores of the Willamette River, sits on the site of the old Oregon Iron Company. The furnace, dating back to 1866, has been restored and is a tourist attraction. In the town itself, some of the iron workers’ cottages still stand. One, at 40 Wilbur Street, dates back to the 1880s and is undergoing restoration to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

While many of these small, one-story cottages have been torn down, some still stand, and serve as part of the housing pool in Oldtown. Over the decades decadent Victorian and Edwardian homes, craftsmen’s cottages, condos and apartments have been added to the eclectic housing mix. Some properties front the river and offer expansive decks and glass walls to take advantage of the view.

In many ways the three-block wide, six-block long neighborhood is a town within a town. Shops, restaurants, pubs, and hiking trails are within walking distance. A few private schools are along South State Street, as is the almost three-block long shopping district. The Oswego Lakehouse, a local restaurant and pub, offers meals with a view. Churches are all outside the neighborhood, in the modern Lake Oswego, to the north.