Norris Young Machine Shop

Built at the turn of the 20th century, the Norris Young Machine Shop served the farming community. Norris Young, an accomplished machinist and inventor, repaired farm machinery and logging equipment. He was also an enterprising businessman who, with his brother, started the Young Electric Co. in 1915, making Wilsonville one of the first communities to have its own power system. In 1917, they added a 2300 volt generator on Coffee Creek, transmitting enough electricity to light single bulbs in 12 different homes. Young was also a hobbyist and railroad buff who built a miniature railroad at his farm home just west of the railroad tracks. His Great Western Pacific Railway, built to the scale of one inch to the foot, ran along a thousand-foot-long railroad through flower gardens and over a long, high trestle, delighting Wilsonville children who rode the miniature flat cars.

Wilsonville, Oregon · United States