Heritage Trail: Exploring Community Connections

Exploring Community Connections 

In 2017, the Heritage and Landmark Committee created the "Exploring Community Connections" Heritage Trail. The trail explores ten downtown sites which added to Canby's unique history. 

The heritage trail offers connections among and between people, places, and events shape the development of a community. The sites on this trail provide insight into the connections
embedded in the history of Canby as it evolved from a mid-nineteenth century pioneer farming community into a mid-twentieth century town on the urban rural fringe.

That evolution was marked by milestone events that reset the course of the community’s development. The arrival of the railroad and the platting of the original 24-block town site in 1870 laid the foundation for the emergence of a commercial and transportation hub that served the surrounding farms.

The resultant business opportunities, coupled with the incorporation of the city in 1893, prompted local entrepreneurs to establish retail, service, and financial businesses at the turn of century. In the 1930s, New Deal programs, the federal response to the Great Depression,
provided Canby’s civic leaders with opportunities to expand and modernize the townscape. Post-World War II growth spurred an expansion of the commercial footprint in the original town site.

On this trail, you will meet the people and see the places that defined Canby during each of these eras.