The History of Silver Falls State Park
The land on which Silver Falls State Park rests has an incredible history that dates back many thousands of years. From the area's earliest inhabitants to the drive to preserve the park's natural wonder, here's a bit of the fascinating story behind Silver Falls—long with a bit about its famous waterfalls.
Earliest Inhabitants Around Silver Falls
Ancestors of the Kalapuya and Molalla people arrived in the Willamette Valley about 14,000 years ago—and generations of Indigenous inhabitants went on to hunt and embark upon spirit quests in the area.
Local Indigenous populations reached about 15,000 before the first European-Americans settled and began logging in the Willamette Valley in the 1800s, and all native people in western Oregon—including those remaining in the Silver Falls area — were forced by the U.S. government onto a nearby reservation in 1854. Today, the Kalapuya and Molalla people are part of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde.
Silver Falls as a Logging Hub
European-American emigrants formed nearby Silverton in the 1850s, quickly establishing the community as a nascent timber town. Lumber mills gradually replaced flour and gristmills in the decades that followed, but the local economy cratered with the Great Depression in 1929.
Sensing an opportunity to preserve the idyllic attraction, local photographer June Drake and Samuel Boardman, Oregon's first park superintendent, led the charge in 1931 to purchase land around the waterfalls for future use as a park; two years later, in 1933, Silver Falls State Park was officially dedicated as a state park.
Civilian Conservation Corps Work
When Silver Falls State Park was created in 1933, the heavily logged canyon bore little resemblance to the lush playground you enjoy today.
In the years that followed the park's creation, members of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)—a federal program that sought to jump-start the U.S. economy after the Great Depression—worked to repair and beautify the forest, which had been damaged in recent decades by relentless logging.
In its time at Silver Falls, the CCC built park structures (including the South Falls Lodge), created trails to the park's waterfalls, installed bridges, replanted trees, and more.
Sideshow Attractions at Silver Falls State Park
In the late 1920s, before Silver Falls State Park was established, the owner of South Falls made money by charging visitors to watch him shove junk cars from the top of the 177-foot waterfall.
In 1928, a former logger named "Daredevil Al" Faussett plunged from the top of the waterfalls in a boat; naturally, he sustained serious injuries in the death-defying feet—and while recuperating in the hospital, legend has it that his unnamed partner left town with the $2,500 they'd earned from the stunt.
If you'd like to learn more, check out the Oregon Encyclopedia's history page on Silver Falls State Park.
