Roy, Oregon

Roy is an unincorporated historical community^[1] in Washington County, Oregon, United States. It is located south of the Sunset Highway (U.S. 26) and southeast of the city of Banks.

Roy, Oregon
Unincorporated community
Former store in Roy
Roy, Oregon Location within the state of Oregon Show map of Oregon Roy, Oregon Roy, Oregon (the United States) Show map of the United States
Coordinates: 45°35′40″N 123°4′56″W
Country	United States
State	Oregon
County	Washington
Time zone	UTC-8 (Pacific (PST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-7 (PDT)
ZIP code	97106
Area code(s)	503 and 971
GNIS feature ID	1163236[1]

Circa 1905, representatives of the Pacific Railway and Navigation Company, interested in putting a rail line through from Hillsboro to Tillamook on the coast, began approaching farmers living northeast of Greenville. With the railroad coming through the Tualatin Valley a mile north of the Vandervelden farm, William Vandervelden and his sons, J.W. and Frank, decided to buy land around the intended railway went through Lewis Roy's place, thus the road crossing was called Roy. The railroad went through that region in 1907, and a new church was built north of the tracks in 1908.^[2] Roy post office was established in 1907 and named for the Roy family, who were local pioneers.^[3]

In 1908, a Catholic school called St. Ferdinand's opened in the local church.^[4] A standalone wood-framed school opened in September 1912, which was renamed as St. Francis of Assisi Catholic School in 1920.^[4] The railroad reached Roy in 1912.^[3] St. Francis moved into a new brick building in 1951.^[4] Roy post office closed in 1955.^[3] Locations in Roy currently have Banks mailing addresses.^[5] Different parts of the area are served by the Forest Grove Rural Fire Protection District, Banks Rural Fire Protection District, and Washington County Fire District 2.^[6]

References

1. "Roy (historical)". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. November 28, 1980. Retrieved December 20, 2009.
2. Verboort: A Priest and His People by Scott Vandehey, Wildwood Publishers, Forest Grove, Oregon, 2010.
3. McArthur, Lewis A.; Lewis L. McArthur (2003) [1928]. Oregon Geographic Names (Seventh ed.). Portland, Oregon: Oregon Historical Society Press. p. 829. ISBN 0-87595-277-1.
4. Fuller, Kathy (September 14, 2012). "St. Francis of Assisi Catholic School is going strong at 100; Roy celebrated school's centennial Sunday". The Hillsboro Argus. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
5. "St. Francis of Assisi School". Retrieved January 12, 2009.
6. "County Bridges & Fire District Boundaries" (PDF). Washington County. Retrieved June 23, 2014.

External links

• Media related to Roy, Oregon at Wikimedia Commons
• Historic photo of St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Roy from Salem Public Library