I’m very happy with the way my life has turned out,” says Dr. Vernon D. Casterline. And should be. His life story reads like a Horatio Alger tale, but it is true. Keizer’s first doctor was born on his father’s homestead at Vida, Montana, in 1917. Widowed early, his grandmother Casterline had taken her six [...]

The first Hugh McNary to live m America was born in Ulster, Ireland. After coming to this country, he married Janet Logan in Trenton, New Jersey, in 1751. Then the family moved to North Carolina where their son, Hugh, served in the militia when he was only 15. Seeking new land after the Revolutionary War, [...]

“Back in 1947,” reminisces Rusty Teets, “if you had a fire, you had to run into Salem, with $45, hand it to the fire department and they would send out a fire truck. Of course, your house would be burned down by that time.” Rusty Teets, Walt Robinson, owner of the lumber yard; Olin Brown [...]

What with Claggett Park, Claggett Creek, Claggett Street and Claggett Cemetery, the name “Claggett” is almost synonymous with Keizer. The Claggetts were among Keizer’s pioneers, arriving in Oregon in 1852. Charles and Mary Irvine Claggett were natives of Kentucky who migrated to Missouri where their son William was born in 1840. The family left for [...]

Bounded on the west by the Willamette River, on the east by the Burlington Northern Railroad tracks, on the north by Clear Lake and Buena Crest, and on the south by the City of Salem is the community of Keizer where about 20,000 people make their home. In the early 1850′s only 18 families laid [...]

The northwest quarter of Keizer was settled by the Alexander Spongs, Aaron Purdys, Alvis Smiths, James Smarts, and the Nimrod and John Fords. Alexander Spong came from Ross County, Ohio in 1851, with his wife, Margaret Ann, and settled his donation land claim of 307 acres on the east bank of the Willamette River in [...]

The first schoolhouse in the Keizer-Clear Lake area was a small log cabin at the intersection of the present North River and Wheatland Roads, about where the Bonny Dell apartments are located. No one knows when it was built but the remains were still on the site in the early 1900′s. In 1866 Hugh McNary [...]

Keizer’s first known white settlers began to anive in the 1840′s. By the mid-1850′s 18 families had laid claim to 7,655 acres. Members of two families, the Keizurs and Pughs, had the largest total holdings: 2,415 and 1,912 acres respectively. The community took the name of Thomas Dove Keizur, patriarch of the family which came [...]

Find out more about the fun things happening in Keizer

Local clubs meet on the following days each month in the Keizer area, unless rescheduled due to holidays or special activities.