The town of Boston was founded with the expectation that it would become very important in the region. Its beginning was fair, but with the coming of the railroad, which missed Boston by some one and one-half miles, business went to Shedd station, and from that time all Boston progress declined. Today Boston  is not much more than a memory.

 Various Linn County people who know the history of Boston intimately, depict the beginning, life and end of Boston. Cornelius Shedd states that (185):

"My father, Captain Frank Shedd, settled in the vicinity of Boston in 1864. During the first winter he operated a blacksmith shop. At that time there was a little store, the flouring mill, a carding mill, and, later, a post office. The mail was carried by a man on horseback from Peoria. Wm. Simmons ran the mill in 1863. My father received his title of Captain in the Civil War. In 1865 he moved to a farm west of Boston. When the railroad came in 1871 he donated the land for a town-site which was named Shedd in his honor. The ground where Boston stood was first taken up by Americus Savage, who sold land to R. Finley." 

  T. B. Springer says, among other things, that (186): "The Boston mill was built by 11. C. Finley, P. V. Crawford and Alex Brandon during 1856-58. Crawford and Brandon sold to Simmons; Finley and Simmons sold to Thompson, the present owner, in 1891. Americus Savage owned the donation land claim at Boston and deeded land to Finley for the mill. Between Saddle Butte and the Calapooia there is a smaller butte called Savage Butte, but more commonly known as Bunker Hill, because two early settlers fought there over the possession of land. This was called the “Battle of Bunker Hill”. It was at the foot of this hill that the old fairs were held."

Mr. Thompson, proprietor of the Old Boston Mill today, knows of interesting relics, including some of the old mill stones lying under water in the mill race. He declares that (187): "Boston was formerly an important stop on the old stage road up and down the Willamette Valley. Linn County court met at Boston for a time. The town lay principally west of the present mill. There were twelve blocks, divided north and south by Franklin, Main and Fulton streets, and divided east and west by Jackson and Washington streets. There were at least two stores in the place at one time."

B. D. Farwell, pioneer, has this information (188):  "One of the two Boston stores was run by ... A. Lewis, the other by a man named Thrasher. There was also a saloon run by a man named Fred Strater, a German. The post-office was at the mill. Mill ownership ran as follows — Finley, Crawford & Brandon; Finley and Wm. (Billy) Simmons; Simmons Brothers; Simmons and Knoll (or Knole); Simmons and Thompson; then Thompson, the present proprietor. Bill Arthurs was a one-time blacksmith. A man also kept a  harness shop in his woodshed for a year or two."

 Mrs. Mary Brook Arnold, step-daughter of Win. Simmons, recollects that (189):  "... Lewis, who ran one of the Boston stores was named Annani Lewis. The Lewis house was later moved to Shedd. It is occupied at present by Harold Shedd. The Boston blacksmith shop stood just where Mr. Thompson’s house now stands.

 Mrs. Eliza Finley Brandon, daughter of R. C. Finley who built the mill, and sister-in-law to the Brandon who was Finley’s partner (Wife of Thomas Brandon), says that (190):  “When the mill was built, Finley owned a one-half interest, Alex Brandon a one-fourth, and P. V. Crawford a one-fourth. A man named Vauter was one of the first millers. Americus Savage committed suicide in 1876 and lies buried in the extreme northwest corner of the cemetery on Bunker Hill.”

 The Boston post-office — Boston Mills — was established September 22, 1861 with William Simmon as first postmaster. The name was changed to Shedd on August 28, 1871, when the railroad was being built south from Albany. For a time the name was Shedds, but that form passed into oblivion (191).

Boston Quick Facts

Location:  Twp 13S, Rge 3W, Sect 8

Name Origin:  Presumably,  Boston, Mass.

Other Names:  Boston Mills, later Shedd or Shedds

Post Office Established:  22 Sept 1869

First (and only) Postmaster:  William Simmons 

PO Discontinued:  28 Aug 1871

Photos:  A. J. Olin, D.P. Porter, Wm. & D. Sherer

More Links:

Boston Mill Society

Boston Mill Living History Museum