History of the people of Beaverton, Oregon – Otto Erickson and Guy Carr: Car Dealerships

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In 1915, Otto Erickson opened Beaverton Garage, the first automobile garage in town, with a capital investment of $3,500. Later that year he became Beaverton’s Ford Agent. In 1917 he added Hillsboro to his territory and by 1918, he was the Ford agent for Washington County. By 1920, that $3,500 investment had grown to over $96,000. Otto was president of the company and owned 80 percent of the stock. The other 20 percent was shared by his employees as a reward for faithful service.

Guy Carr arrived in Beaverton, in 1919, just after World War I. His step-father, Otto Erickson, was mayor at the time, in addition to owning the Ford dealership. Carr went to work for Erickson, demonstrating the Fordson Tractor (“A tractor was new, unheard of,” remembered Carr) and later assembling the Fords that were shipped in parts to the Beaverton Garage where he worked. In 1923, Carr bought out his step-father’s Ford dealership at the Farmington location, and sold Fords until the building burned in 1930. Twenty years and several dealerships later in locations around Beaverton, Carr moved to the present-day location on Southwest Canyon Road. In 1987, Guy Carr retired after 68 years in the automobile business in Beaverton.

Guy Carr served on the Beaverton City Council for several years. When the city went broke during the Depression, Bull Run water was cut off because the city couldn’t pay the $75,000 water bill. Carr and the other councilmen signed a $2,500 note, and proceeded to drill their own well with the help of friends.

The Airport and Motion Picture Studios of Beaverton, Oregon

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The glamorous and exciting world of motion pictures changed the face of Beaverton in 1920, when Premium Picture Productions built a movie studio near Erickson Street. Local residents frequently worked as extras or had small walk-on parts. The film company made about 15 motion pictures before it went bankrupt late in 1925.

When Premium Picture Productions closed down in 1925, the 32-acre studio site was turned into an aircraft hangar-factory. The financier behind the film venture in Beaverton was also an aviation enthusiast. Dr. G. E. Watts built Watts Airport. The hanger was on the west side of Erickson, along what is now Sixth Street. Before long, airplanes were being built and tested in Beaverton and many more pilots were using the Watts airstrip. Having outgrown the site, Charles Bernard was approached. Bernard built more wood frame hangars parallel to the what is now Cedar Hills Blvd. and the home-built airplane industry in Beaverton thrived. Bernard Airport was once known as the oldest continuously-operated airport in Oregon. On September 11, 1938 the Oregonian reported that Bernard Airport was “perhaps the busiest noncommercial airport in the United States – Beaverton – where exists the added distinction that most of the planes are amateur built.”

Women’s Suffrage in Beaverton, Oregon

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In 1912, the ladies of the Beaverton Grange cooked up a plan to help pass the Oregon vote for Woman’s Suffrage. All the men were summoned to the Grange Hall to vote on the issue, some traveling a long distance by horse and buggy. The ladies had a sumptuous potluck dinner waiting, and while the men enjoyed the meal, the women pleasantly suggested that the men vote in favor of the female gender. One German man shouted “I vote for the Vimen!” and the others followed suit.