Celebrating Jefferson’s farming heritage
In 1957, members of the Jefferson Lions Club organized a Mint Festival to raise money for local charities and honor what was then the region’s staple crop. The first Mint Festival was a modest success, but the organizers felt something was missing, so they decided to add a frog jumping competition to the festival, rebranding it as the Jefferson Mint Festival and Frog Jump. Over 60 years later, very few local farmers still grow mint, but the festival remains one of the region’s most famous small-town events. Competitors spend months training their frogs to leap, eventually gathering on the third weekend each July on Main Street for food, live music and fun. “We’re a quiet farming town, and that’s what most people here like about it,” says Tawana Bedortha, who has been bartending at Tommy’s Welcome Inn on Jefferson’s Main Street for over 20 years. “The Mint Festival and Frog Jump is our chance to all come together each summer.”
Craftsman homes near Main Street
Most of Jefferson’s 3,000 residents live within a few blocks of Main Street, a small commercial and dining district running along the Santiam River on the western edge of town. The wide streets fanning out from Main Street are lined with small trees and well-maintained sidewalks, allowing unencumbered views of the big western sky and the pine-forested hills surrounding the community. The housing market consists of ranch and Craftsman-style homes, most of which feature outdoor living space and large garages for the drift boats, kayaks and camping trailers common among Oregon’s rural residents. Prices in Jefferson range from $250,000 for a 2-bedroom ranch to $450,000 for a 2,000-square-foot Craftsman home.
Making the grade in Jefferson
Students in Jefferson are served by the three schools within the Jefferson School District, beginning with Jefferson Elementary, a C-rated school on Niche with a student-teacher ratio of 16-to-1. From there, students move on to Jefferson Middle School — which receives a C-minus grade from Niche — and Jefferson High School, a B-minus-rated school with an average SAT score of 1050. Graduates of Jefferson High School regularly attend prestigious local universities like Oregon State and the University of Portland.
Outdoor adventures on the Santiam River
The Jefferson community comes together at Jefferson Park, a neighborhood park featuring picnic areas, playgrounds, sports fields and an outdoor pool. When the pool gets crowded during the summer, residents bring their inner tubes and kayaks down to the Santiam River to float the calm stretch of river between the Jefferson Bridge Boat Launch and the Jacob Conser Bridge, careful to avoid the anglers fly fishing for native trout. “We have hundreds of floaters come into the bar every weekend after getting off the Santiam River,” says Bedortha. For nature lovers, the Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge provides miles of nature trails for hiking and bird watching, and the Pacific beaches in Lincoln City are a popular day trip and extended weekend destination.
Supporting Jefferson’s Local Businesses
Jefferson locals enjoy access to centrally located shops like Riverside Grocery, a friendly small-town market with a great selection and an in-store deli. For the freshest produce in town, residents can visit Greens Bridge Gardens, a local “U-Pic” farmers market where shoppers can select produce, vegetables, herbs and berries straight from the source. La Espiga Taqueria & Bakery serves authentic Mexican cuisine in its cozy and colorful dining room on Main Street, only a few blocks from the pool tables and jukebox at Tommy’s Welcome Inn, Jefferson’s favorite local bar. For retail shopping, locals must drive to Albany, where they will find familiar national retailers like Costco, Walmart and Kohl’s.
Getting around in rural Oregon
Situated on the western half of Oregon between Eugene and Portland, Jefferson is located 3 miles east of Interstate 5 on the banks of the Santiam River. Residents can drive 9 miles south to Albany or 17 miles north to Salem via Highway 164, and the sandy beaches of Oregon’s Pacific Coast are only 70 miles to the west. Portland is home to the nearest international airport, drivable from Jefferson in less than one hour.
