History :

The Cabin and site was accepted to the National Registry of Historic Places in 1976. The site has two historic structures -- the 1856 Baker Cabin sitting on it's original site, and the 1895 Pioneer Church, moved to the site in 1967 from Upper Logan (Springwater). Horace and Jane Baker traveled west from Illinois in the second wagon train from Independence Missouri in 1846. This was the first wagon train to cross the new Barlow Road from The Dalles to Oregon City. The Barlow Trail bypassed the treacherous ride on rafts down the Columbia River. The Bakers chose the area, now known as Carver, for their 640-acre Donation Land Claim due to a basalt rock formation to the west of the cabin. Horace Baker was a stone mason by trade and being a very enterprising man he could envision this area as one of great promise. (The basalt rock is very high grade and 3 - 8 million years old). Soon Horace Baker was very busy quarrying rock from this area. The quarry became a thriving business. At that time the area was known as "Baker's Quarry" and held that name for many years. Horace also ran a slack-line ferry across the Clackamas River where the bridge is now located. This ferry allowed the areas of Springwater, Logan, and Upper Logan to develop. In the area which is now the Carver Boat Ramp the quarried rock was loaded onto barges and during the spring floods was floated six miles down the Clackamas River to Oregon City and distributed from there. Rock from the quarry provided the materials to build the Oregon City Locks, the Tillamook Light House, Portland's Pioneer Post Office, the Portland Hotel (since torn down), and numerous rock walls throughout the Oregon City area. Horace and Jane BakerThe Bakers lived at the site for ten years prior to building the cabin. Since Horace was occupied with business the story is that neighbors took pity on Jane Hattan and constructed the Cabin out of squared timbers originally destined for the California Gold Mines. The timbers were hand hewn from Douglas Fir logs harvested from the property. There are no records of the temporary dwelling that they used prior to the Cabin's construction. (It was fall of 1846 when they arrived in Oregon, and as most pioneers did, they lived out of their wagon the first year.) No pegs or nails fasten the lap-jointed logs. The cantilevered design is common to the East Coast but seldom seen on the West Coast.