The Lake Oswego Preservation Society’s mission is: To preserve, protect and advocate on behalf of Lake Oswego’s built heritage.
Advocacy
Advocacy is the most challenging aspect of the Lake Oswego Preservation Society’s mission. We firmly believe that if we don’t advocate on behalf of threatened landmark properties we are not doing our job as a non-profit with a mission of historic preservation.
We have received recognition, both locally and statewide, for our historic preservation advocacy on behalf of Lake Oswego landmarks.
Since our founding in 2011, we have testified at dozens of public hearings regarding proposed major alterations or delisting of properties on the City of Lake Oswego’s Landmark Designation List.
We also advocate for all threatened landmarks, not just homes. An example of our land use advocacy saved the 1908 Christie School on the Marylhurst Campus. This building was originally a Catholic orphanage for girls and it has national, state, and local significance. The Society successfully retained the building’s landmark designation which prevents it from being demolished.
We also believe that our actions speak louder than words. Additional advocacy work of the Society includes:
We serve as one of the City-offered resources for documenting historic buildings slated for demolition.
Education
We have built a foundation of knowledge based on information found in primary sources such as census records, first-hand newspaper accounts, and original photographs.
We are currently planning to open a small research library in the Iron Workers Museum. If you would like information on a specific Lake Oswego history topic, please contact us.
Material currently available to purchase include:
- The book Lake Oswego Vignettes: Illiterate Cows to College-Educated Cabbage consisting of fun and offbeat stories from our past
- We created a documentary entitled The Reel Lake Oswego from home movies and footage in the collection of the Oregon Historical Society.
Programs
- The Classic Houses & History Boat Tour on Oswego Lake. This unique tour features entertaining information on over 50 homes and historic sites
- Historic walking tours, including a unique look at our downtown commercial buildings
- Presentations on local history
- Exhibits in the Iron Workers Museum
