Oregon Historical Society Research Library
Three Lynx records and memorabilia
Portland General Electric Company
Coll 1089
1.1 cubic feet
2 legal document cases; 1 oversize folder (24x36); 1 oversize folder (30x42)
34.8 gigabytes
6 audio files; 5 video files; 5 image files
1930-2023
Records and memorabilia of the town Three Lynx (also called Three Lynx Village), a small company town in Clackamas County, Oregon. Materials include photographs, slides, historical research and documentation, correspondence, clippings, event programs, and recordings of oral histories with former residents. Three Lynx was established in the 1920s and 1930s by Portland Railway Light and Power (later PEPCO, now Portland General Electric) to support operation of the Oak Grove Powerhouse. The town's population decreased after the powerhouse was modernized, and the remaining buildings were demolished in 2022.
English
Collection is open for research.
Papers gift of Portland General Electric, Pat Reneau, and Janice Mottau, September 2024 (RL2024-065, RL2024-067, RL2024-068). Oral history interviews gift of Portland General Electric, April 2025 (RL2025-036).
Three Lynx (also known as Three Lynx Village, and at times referred to as Three Links) was a company town located about 20 miles east of Estacada, Oregon, along the Oak Fork of the Clackamas River. The town was established in the 1920s and 1930s by Portland Railway Light and Power (later PEPCO, now Portland General Electric) to house workers at the Oak Grove Powerhouse and their families. The town, which included a school that served students through the eighth grade, was a gathering point for isolated utility and U.S. Forest Service workers and their families who lived in the Upper Clackamas River area. In the 1950s, residents received permission to build a swimming pool.
The town's population never exceeded 50, and it decreased following the modernization of the powerhouse. The school closed in 1988, and its building was demolished in 2014. By 2018, only a handful of houses were occupied, and Portland General Electric decided to end its use of the town. On September 8, 2020, the Riverside Fire destroyed all but five of the town's houses. In 2022, the remaining buildings were demolished, and the land reverted to the U.S. Forest Service.
Source: "Three Lynx Village," by George Kramer, Oregon Encyclopedia, https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/three-lynx-oregon/
Access to oral history audio and video recordings in the collection is provided only by advance request, and is limited to listening or watching in the library. Contact library staff for assistance.
Three Lynx records and memorabilia, Coll 1089, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
Other materials at the Oregon Historical Society Research Library relating to Three Lynx are in Box 49, Folder 3 of the Portland General Electric Collection, Coll 415.
Footage from the oral history interviews in this collection was used in a short documentary film that Portland General Electric produced about Three Lynx, titled "Three Lynx Village: From camp to community." The film was released in January 2025 and is viewable online at https://vimeo.com/1051677332.
The collection consists of records and memorabilia of or relating to the town of Three Lynx, Oregon. These materials were produced or compiled by Portland General Electric, which operated the town; and by former residents Pat Reneau and Janice Mottau. A substantial amount of the materials, and most of what was compiled by Reneau, relates to the town's school. This includes color slides and photographs of students and activities; a 1960s permit for the school; event programs; and correspondence and newspaper clippings relating to the school's final years of operation and its closure in 1988.
Other materials in the collection include a memoir by Mottau about growing up in Three Lynx; photocopies of Mottau's family photographs; a reproduction of a 1930 photograph of Three Lynx; state-level historic documentation about the town; printouts, photocopies, and clippings of newspaper articles or newsletter items about the town; and records relating to the town's water system, home heating systems, and pool, including architectural drawings. Also included are oral histories with five former residents, which were used in a short film, "Three Lynx Village: From camp to community," that Portland General Electric produced about the town. The oral histories are in the form of digital audio recordings, digital video recordings, and printed transcripts.
Artifacts were separated to Museum Collections, Oregon Historical Society, and are viewable in the OHS Museum Collections online portal, https://museumcollection.ohs.org/
Portland General Electric retains copyright for oral history interviews in this collection. Copyright to the remaining materials has not been determined. Use may require seeking authorization from copyright holders.
Three Lynx School District #123 (Or.)--Records and correspondence
Three Lynx (Or.)--Records and correspondence
Portland General Electric Company--Records and correspondence
Reneau, Pat
Mottau, Janice Haneberg, 1949-
Three Lynx (Or.)
Three Lynx (Or.)--Photographs
Three Lynx (Or.)--History
Company towns--Oregon--Clackamas County
Schools--Oregon--Three Lynx
City and Town Life
Oregon
Elementary and Secondary Education
Photographs
Oral Histories
color slides
photographs
clippings (information artifacts)
oral histories (literary genre)
WAVE (format)
MPEG-4
architectural drawings (visual works)
memorabilia
Printouts of articles and newsletter items about Three Lynx
1953-1986
1
1
Portland General Electric Bullseye article about Three Lynx (photocopy)
1966 August
1
2
History of Three Lynx by student Scott List (original and later typescript copy with update notes)
1971 June 7
undated
1
3
Newspaper article about Three Lynx
2016 July 3
1
4
Oregon state-level historic documentation about Three Lynx (2 copies)
2021
1
5
Materials relating to history of Three Lynx
undated
1
6
Photograph of Three Lynx (reproduction)
1930 April 30
1
7
Records relating to Three Lynx home heating systems
1960-circa 1990
1
8
Three Lynx water system records
1965-2016
1
9-10
Architectural drawings of Three Lynx water systems
1957-1979
Oversize 1
Architectural drawing of Three Lynx water and sewer lines
1961 September 12
Oversize 2
Three Lynx swimming pool records
1961-1984
1
11
Architectural drawings of Three Lynx swimming pool
1961 May-June
Oversize 2
Guidebook for pool care
1975
1
12
Three Lynx School District records
1964-1988
1
13
Compiled Three Lynx School District records with photocopy of Portland General Electric Bullseye article about Three Lynx
1965-1987
1966 August
1
14
Three Lynx School correspondence and student list
1986-1988
1
15
Three Lynx School permit
1965
1
16
Three Lynx School newsletters
1980 February
1988 June 15
1
17
Three Lynx School event programs; Three Lynx Christmas card (photocopy)
circa 1951-1961
1956
1
18
Three Lynx School event flyers and programs
circa 1978-1988
1
19
Color slides of Three Lynx School
1979-1984
2
1
Color slides, primarily relating to Three Lynx School
1979-circa 1984
2
2
Three Lynx School class photographs
1986-1987
2
3
Photographs of Three Lynx School
1988
2
4
Photographs of Three Lynx, including school
1987-2000
2
5
1988 calendar for Three Lynx School
circa 1987
2
6
Design for Three Lynx School Wildcats logo
circa 1985
2
7
Issue of Portland General Electric Bullseye featuring photo of Three Lynx school students on cover
1957 March
2
8
Newspaper article about Three Lynx School
1977 October 26
2
9
Newspaper clippings and articles about Three Lynx School
1986-1989
2
10
Oral history interview with Sheila Buxton
176.27 megabytes
1 audio file (15 min., 40 sec.)
WAV
6.42 gigabytes
1 video file (15 min., 55 sec.)
MP4
2023 October 27
Portrait of Sheila Buxton (digital image)
2023 October 27
Oral history interview with Dennis Blaine Moody
138.22 megabytes
1 audio file (12 min., 17 sec.)
WAV
2023 October 27
Portrait of Dennis Blaine Moody (digital image)
2023 October 27
Oral history interview with Janice Haneberg Mottau
267.15 megabytes
1 audio file (23 min., 44 sec.)
WAV
10.09 gigabytes
1 video file (25 min., 3 sec.)
MP4
2023 October 27
Portrait of Janice Haneberg Mottau (digital image)
2023 October 27
Oral history interview with Pat Reneau
138.74 megabytes
1 audio file (12 min., 18 sec.)
WAV
5.14 gigabytes
1 video file (12 min., 41 sec.)
MP4
2023 October 27
Portrait of Pat Reneau (digital image)
2023 October 27
Oral history interview with Randy Wallaert
188.51 megabytes
1 audio file (16 min., 45 sec.)
WAV
7.32 gigabytes
1 video file (18 min., 12 sec.)
MP4
2023 October 27
Portrait of Randy Wallaert (digital image)
2023 October 27
Group oral history interview with Sheila Buxton, Dennis Blaine Moody, Janice Haneberg Mottau, and Pat Reneau
597.75 megabytes
1 audio file (53 min., 7 sec.)
WAV
6.03 gigabytes
1 video file (53 min., 3 sec.)
MP4
2023 October 27
Transcripts of oral history interviews
2023 October 27
2
11
Memoir by Janice Haneberg Mottau, "Memories of My Childhood at Three Lynx" (2 copies)
circa 2023
2
12
Janice Haneberg Mottau family photographs (photocopies)
1947-1961
2
13
Photographs of Three Lynx Creek and waterfall
2002 September
2
14
Memorandum of agreement between the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Oregon State Historic Preservation Office regarding the removal of remaining structures in Three Lynx
2021
2
15