Amity, Oregon

By Brian Engstrom

Amity, Oregon – October 7, 2024

Amity is small-town farmland, not much different from the many Yamhill County cities that surround it. Similar to McMinnville, another city located here in Yamhill County, groups of people that included whole families started settling in an area that was called Amity in the early 1840s. In the late 1840s, settlers had decided to build a schoolhouse, which was built in 1849.

The Amity School-House was named by one of the founding men of Amity, Ahio Watt, who was to become one of the first teachers in the school. Then, in the 1850s, the Amity Post Office was built near the school. The post office is a small brick building built in 1852, and to this day, the post office is still housed in the same building. Next, in 1859, the Methodist church opened its doors for the time. This church is beautiful with multiple windows that are stained glass. In the 1910s, Amity was growing much larger, so Trade St. became part of Hwy. 99W, and by the 1920s, Amity had paved roads! Nearly 100 years later, (1950s) Amity already had a population of 600 people. Almost 200 years later, you can go visit Amity and have the small-town feel, with what I hear is a great community atmosphere.

More info: https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/amity/

More info: http://ncbible.org/nwh/orhistbb.html