Sarah Helmick State Recreation Site
{{Short description|State park located in Oregon, U.S.}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox park
| name = Sarah Helmick State Recreation Site
| photo = Sarah Helmick State Recreation Site.JPG
| photo_width = 220
| photo_caption = Picnic area
| map = Oregon#USA
| map_width = 220
| type = Public, state
| location = Polk, County, Oregon
| nearest_city = Monmouth
| coords = {{coord|44.7817863|N|123.2378769|W|region:US-OR_source:gnis|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| coords_ref = {{cite gnis |id=1163040 |name=Sarah Helmick State Park |accessdate=2011-07-01}}
| area =
| created =
| operator = Oregon Parks and Recreation Department
| visitation_num =
| status =
| open =
}}
Sarah Helmick State Recreation Site, also known as Helmick Park, is a state park located south of Monmouth, in Polk County, Oregon, United States. It is located on the floodplain of the Luckiamute River and is forested by Bigleaf Maple, Douglas-fir, and Black Cottonwood trees, among other varieties. The park is named for Sarah Helmick, a pioneer to Oregon in 1845 who donated the original land. Sarah Helmick State Recreation Site is the first state park established in Oregon.{{Cite web|title=Sarah Helmick State Recreation Site - Oregon State Parks|url=https://stateparks.oregon.gov/index.cfm?do=park.profile&parkId=98|access-date=2022-01-17|website=stateparks.oregon.gov|language=en}} It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2022.{{NRHPweekly}}
History
=Establishment=
The land for the park was the first land acquired by what was then the State Highway Commission for use as a park when Sarah Helmick donated {{convert|5.16|acre}} and James and Amanda Helmick donated {{convert|0.3|acre}} on February 15, 1922.Chester H. Armstrong, Oregon State Parks: History, 1917-1963. Salem, OR: Oregon State Highway Department, 1965; pg. 185.
The park's namesake, Sarah Helmick (1823-1924), was an Oregon pioneer who settled a donation land claim which included the park land with her husband during the second half of the 1840s.[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4637851/mrs_s_helmick_dies_in_albany/ "Mrs. S. Helmick Dies in Albany,"] Corvallis Gazette-Times, vol. 16, no. 202 (Dec. 24, 1924), pg. 1. The resident of Albany, Oregon gifted the original parcel of land for use as an "automobile campground."
=Expansion=
In 1948, {{convert|23.65|acre|m2}} were purchased and added to the park, followed by a gift of {{convert|1.7|acre}} later that same year. Currently a day-use only park, the park used to have overnight camping facilities.
See also
Footnotes
{{reflist|2}}
External links
- {{cite web |url=http://www.oregonstateparks.org/park_138.php |title=Sarah Helmick State Recreation Site |publisher=Oregon Parks and Recreation Department |access-date=2011-07-01}}
- {{commons category-inline}}
- {{wikisource inline|Oregon Historical Quarterly/Volume 26/Sarah Helmick and Helmick Park}}
{{Protected Areas of Oregon}}
{{authority control}}
Category:State parks of Oregon
Category:Parks in Polk County, Oregon
Category:1922 establishments in Oregon
Category:National Register of Historic Places in Polk County, Oregon