Hayesville, OR  

HAYESVILLE


 

     The community of Hayesville grew up to the north of Salem at about the same time Livesley/Roberts began.  It was officially founded by Adam Stephens, a pioneer who made the trek from Missouri in 1849.  His daughter, Lucinda Berrilla Halbert, kept a journal to chronicle the history of her family.
     The area was settled by people who, like Stephens, were devout Christians, mainly Baptist.  Not all of them were farmers.  Stephens himself was a carpenter and cabinetmaker who, at first, co-owned a store in Salem proper.
     Eventually, he moved the short distance north and joined the community there.
     This community had no name until 1876.  Halbert tells the story of how the settlement got its name:  "About the time (Republican Rutherford B.) Hayes was elected (President of the United States) a man was passing our house.  He said "What do you call this place?"  Pa said, "It has not been named yet."  He said call it Hayesville.  About a week after that, at a singing at the house of A.J. Pruitt, it was suggested that a vote be taken on what this place should be called as it had been known as Stephensville.  Some one suggested that it go by that name (Hayesville).  All present were Republicans except one young man, and just to tease him we all voted for Hayesville."
     Stephens donated the land to build a Hayesville church, and it orginally was named for his daughter:  Halbert Baptist Church (it also was known for some time as Hayesville Baptist Church).
     The congeration first formed in 1888, but the building was erected in 1890 just in front of the Hayesville Cemetery (begun in 1858 as the resting-place for a Stephens infant who did not survive birth:  Stepehns himself joined the infant in 1891).
     The church site survives and is now called North Salem Baptist Church.  The church and cemetery are at 4290 Portland Road NE, a Salem address.
     The present church replaced the one Stephens and his group built.
     The name Hayesville survives now only on maps, as the name of a school (on Ward Drive NE), and as the name of a street,  Hayesville Drive, which runs for 1.7 miles from Portland Road on the west to Cordon Road on the east.

Courtesy of the Statesman Journal, January 7, 1999