Gervais, Oregon - People-Named Places on Waymarking.com

The Place: Gervais is a town of 2,464 people (2010 Census) in the mid-Willamette Valley, about 13 miles northeast of Salem, Oregon. The town was incorporated in 1874 and is named for Joseph Gervais, one of the first white settlers in the area.

In 1902, all but two of the town's businesses burned down as the town's fire department was unable to handle the blaze and by the time Salem and Portland fire fighters arrived, it was too late to prevent most of the damage, which ultimately was assessed at $100,000.

The Person: Joseph Gervais (1777-1861) was a Canadian-born trapper and pioneer of the Oregon Country. He was part of the Hunt Group of the Astor Expedition to the Pacific Northwest. Gervais scouted the Willamette Valley beginning in 1812, married a Native American woman in 1813 and spent several years as an independent trapper before joining the Hudson's Bay Company in 1824. In 1831, Gervais settled permanently on the French Prairie, building a cabin on what would later become the townsite of Gervais. In 1841 be was elected as a Justice of the Peace and was a member of the organizing committee of the Champoeg Meetings, where the Provisional Government of Oregon was formed.

Note: Click a photo to enlarge

City Hall & Police Dept.	Post Office
Sacred Heart Church	Gervais High School
Ed. Dupuis Building	Edmond Dupuis House

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