Macleay is an unincorporated community

Unincorporated area

In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

 in Marion County

Marion County, Oregon

Marion County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oregon. It was originally named the Champooick District, after Champoeg, a meeting place on the Willamette River. On September 3, 1849, the territorial legislature renamed it in honor of Francis Marion, a Continental Army general of the...

, Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, about nine miles east of downtown Salem

Salem, Oregon

Salem is the capital of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, which runs north through the city. The river forms the boundary between Marion and Polk counties, and the city neighborhood...

 in the Waldo Hills near the Little Pudding River.

This locale was originally named "Stipp" for local settler John L. Stipp, whose land claim

Donation Land Claim Act

The Donation Land Claim Act of 1850 was a statute enacted by the United States Congress intended to promote homestead settlement in the Oregon Territory in the Pacific Northwest...

 was just west of present-day Macleay. Stipp donated the land for what is now known as the Stipp Memorial Cemetery. Stipp post office was established in 1880, and the name changed to "Macleay" in 1882. Donald Macleay

Donald Macleay

Donald Macleay was a prominent 19th century merchant and banker in Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon. A native of Scotland, he emigrated at the age of 16 with his parents to the Canadian province of Quebec before relocating as an adult to California and, later, Oregon...

 was a prominent merchant of Portland

Portland, Oregon

Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...

, and along with fellow Scot

Scottish people

The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...

 William Reid

William Reid (Scottish businessman)

William Reid was a Scottish businessman who emigrated to the U.S. state of Oregon in 1874 to establish the Oregonian Railway. He made several extensions to the railroad in the western Willamette Valley. The city of Dundee, Oregon was named after Dundee, where Reid had previously lived.- References :...

, was one of the investors in the narrow-gauge Oregonian Railway Company, which was built through the area. Macleay gave money to build a schoolhouse in the Stipp area, near the new railroad station, so the post office was renamed in his honor. Macleay was plat

Plat

A plat in the U.S. is a map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. Other English-speaking countries generally call such documents a cadastral map or plan....

ted in 1884. Macleay post office ran until 1939.

Ownership of the railroad line passed on to Southern Pacific and today it is owned by Union Pacific. The Macleay Country Store has been in operation since 1916. The community also has an active Grange hall, a fire station, and the former school currently serves as a church.

See also

For more on Donald Macleay:

• Balch Creek
  Balch Creek
  Balch Creek is a tributary of the Willamette River in the U.S. state of Oregon. Beginning at the crest of the Tualatin Mountains , the creek flows generally east down a canyon along Northwest Cornell Road in unincorporated Multnomah County and through the Macleay Park section of Forest Park, a...
  
  
• Forest Park

External links

• Historic images of Macleay from Salem Public Library

44.9078988°N 122.8873142°W