Each year, Leadership Redmond, a leadership development program put on annually by the Redmond Chamber of Commerce, selects group service projects to benefit the Redmond community.  This year, one of those service projects included the Tetherow Homestead, the oldest structure in Deschutes County (built 1878).

On the last Saturday in April, volunteers converged on Tetherow Crossing Park (5810 NW Tetherow Rd.) for a cleanup day.  Lowe’s donated 27 bags of mulch to surround the trees around the house, which had been recommended by an arborist last summer, to care for the historic grove.  High Country Disposal donated a dumpster that volunteers filled with debris from the house and yard.  Summit Cleaning & Restoration evaluated the property in the days before and provided not only their cleaning and safety expertise, but staff and equipment as well.  They outfitted the project with masks, a shopvac, work lamp, air scrubber, and a generator to power everything.  Three of their employees joined the workforce and took on much of the heavy lifting with regard to the dirtiest portions of the homestead.

The difference before and after the cleanup day is remarkable.  Floorboards and a striking gem-toned strip of linoleum emerged from beneath the dust and broken glass and debris from thirty years of critters and squatters. 

Cobwebs were swept aside and surfaces wiped down to reveal a shock of yellow linoleum in the kitchen. 

Once the stiffened carpet and cracking blue shower curtains were shuffled outside...

...a tiny seahorse skeleton suspended from a string as bathroom decoration was suddenly and puzzlingly visible! 

Outside, dead branches and leaves were trimmed and raked away, a large slash pile was removed, and native lava rock was arranged to hem in a neat diameter of brown mulch around the tree trunks and along the west side of the house.

Jess Tetherow's grandson, Dave, even came out to help!

Over the course of the day, neighborhood residents driving by on their weekend errands would brake suddenly as they noticed the door to the homestead ajar and the buzz of activity around the site.  Many stopped to sneak a peak inside, compare the present day view with historic photos from the early 1900s, and get caught up on our plans to preserve the homestead – now in the architectural planning phase.  Over and over we heard “give me a call next time!”  The homestead, which has long stood vacant, is obviously still valued and remembered fondly in this part of town.

We are grateful to Leadership Redmond, Summit Cleaning & Restoration, and Lowe’s for making our Tetherow cleanup a success!

We look forward to welcoming kids and families to the property for our Tetherow Pioneer Day on May 26th to celebrate Historic Preservation Month.  We’ll have a pioneer general store and penny candy shop for kids, pioneer era games and an introduction to the early Native American game of stickball, the ancestor of modern lacrosse.  We will be doing site tours with historic photos and the Deschutes Public Library will present an information booth with genealogy research assistance and listening stations with digital recordings of oral histories of life in early Central Oregon.

To inquire about a private site tour for your family or group, feel free to email margaret.maffai@raprd.org