Jacob Zimmerman House

{{short description|Historic house in Oregon, United States}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}

{{Infobox NRHP

| name = Jacob Zimmerman House

| nrhp_type =

| image = Jacobzimmermanhouse.jpg

| caption = The Zimmerman House in 2008

| alt = Photograph of a house

| location = 17111 NE Sandy Boulevard,
Gresham, Oregon

| coordinates = {{coord|45.548621|-122.487182|region:US-OR_type:landmark|format=dms|display=inline,title}}

| locmapin = Oregon#USA

| map_caption = Location in Oregon

| map_alt = Locator map

| area = {{convert|1.58|acre|m2}}{{cite web | title = More About The Zimmerman House Museum | publisher = Fairview-Rockwood-Wilkes Historical Society | date = 2005 | url = http://www.frwhs.org/zimmerman_house_two.html | accessdate = November 20, 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080514134242/http://www.frwhs.org/zimmerman_house_two.html | archive-date = May 14, 2008 | url-status = dead }}

| built = 1874

| architect =

| architecture = Queen Anne

| added = June 5, 1986{{cite web | title = Oregon Historic Sites Database | publisher = State of Oregon | url = http://heritagedata.prd.state.or.us/historic/index.cfm?do=v.dsp_siteSummary&resultDisplay=49433 | accessdate = November 20, 2008}}

| refnum = 86001226{{cite web | title = Oregon National Register List | publisher = Oregon Parks and Recreation Department | url = http://www.oregon.gov/OPRD/HCD/NATREG/docs/oregon_nr_list.pdf | date = October 19, 2009 | accessdate = November 14, 2009 | archive-date = June 9, 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110609105953/http://www.oregon.gov/OPRD/HCD/NATREG/docs/oregon_nr_list.pdf | url-status = dead }}

| mpsub =

}}

Jacob Zimmerman House was the home of Jacob and Lena Zimmerman, German American settlers who came west over the Oregon Trail in 1851 to what became Multnomah County in the U.S. state of Oregon. Built in 1874, the house was part of a {{convert|600|acre|ha|adj=on}} dairy farm. Members of the Zimmerman family lived on the farm from 1870 through 1992. The house and {{convert|1.58|acre|m2}} were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. In 1994, the city of Gresham began land acquisition and planning for a {{convert|5.98|acre|ha|adj=on}} public park, Zimmerman Heritage Farm, with the house as its centerpiece.{{cite web | title = Zimmerman House | publisher = Parks and Recreation Division, City of Gresham | date = 2008 | url = http://greshamoregon.gov/city/city-departments/environmental-services/parks-and-recreation/template.aspx?id=5830 | accessdate = November 21, 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090517090746/http://greshamoregon.gov/city/city-departments/environmental-services/parks-and-recreation/template.aspx?id=5830 | archive-date = May 17, 2009 | url-status = dead }}

The city, which owns the land, and the Fairview-Rockwood-Wilkes Historical Society (FRWHS), which owns the house, manage the Zimmerman Heritage Farm through a partnership. In 1992, the FRWHS acquired the house from Isobel Faith Zimmerman, the youngest granddaughter of the original owners. By late 2006, the society had spent an estimated $170,000 on rebuilding the foundation, upgrading the security system, fixing the porch, repairing the chimneys, replacing the roof and gutters, painting the exterior, and other work. The house is open for public tours on the third Saturday of each month from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.{{cite web | last = Nesbit | first = Sharon | title = Zimmerman House gets new coat for winter | work = The Gresham Outlook | publisher = Pamplin Media Group | date = October 31, 2006 | url = http://www.theoutlookonline.com/news/story.php?story_id=116236113723606000 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110717023309/http://www.theoutlookonline.com/news/story.php?story_id=116236113723606000 | url-status = dead | archive-date = July 17, 2011 | accessdate = November 23, 2008 }}

The Zimmermans were among the five founding families of Fairview. They arrived in the Willamette Valley in 1851 and settled on Hayden Island in the Columbia River. After floods destroyed their first crops, they re-located to a {{convert|320|acre|ha|adj=on}} donation land claim about {{convert|10|mi|km}} east of Portland. In late 1869, Jacob Zimmerman bought another donation land claim and moved into a log cabin on this site until building the original house in 1874. The Zimmermans' son, George, enlarged the farm to {{convert|660|acre|ha}} on which he ran a successful dairy business that continued under several relatives and lessees into the 20th century.{{cite web | title = The Zimmerman Family | publisher = Fairview-Rockwood-Wilkes Historical Society | date = 2005 | url = http://www.frwhs.org/zimmerman_family.html | accessdate = November 23, 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080514175510/http://www.frwhs.org/zimmerman_family.html | archive-date = May 14, 2008 | url-status = dead }}