History

St. Paul is located north of Salem, Oregon. It is one mile northwest of the Willamette River and about one and a half miles north-northwest of the spot where the Yamhill River empties into the Willamette. Nearby communities are Dayton, about four miles northwest, and St. Louis, about six miles to the southeast.

In 1813, the Northwest Fur Company established the Willamette Trading Post about three miles north of present-day St. Paul. In 1821, the Northwest Fur company became part of the larger Hudson's Bay Company (HBC).

In 1826, the HBC established a ferry crossing the Willamette River. It ran from a point about two miles northwest of present-day St. Paul to a point directly across the river and about a mile below where the Yamhill River empties into the Willamette. The Indians had used the crossing point because the river was narrow during the summertime, and there was a wide gravel bench.

In 1829, some of the retired French Canadian employees of the HBC asked to settle their families in the present-day St. Paul area. The HBC policy was that their employees were to go back to the place where they were hired; they were not to put down roots. Dr. John McLoughlin, HBC Chief Factor, negotiated to have this rule set aside, and settlement began on the prairie.