The City of Sandy has a population of around 7,000, and
is the commercial center of a rural area with a population
of approximately 20,000. It is east of Portland and west
of Mount Hood on the Barlow Road segment of the Oregon
Trail (now US Highway 26). Sandy has a thriving business
base, including many stores and services for visitors to
the Mt. Hood Recreation Area. On the foothills of the Cascade
Range, Sandy's elevation varies from 750 to over 1,000
feet. Mt. Hood shelters the city from the wind and ice
storms experienced in the Columbia River gorge. The climate
is mild, but as with the rest of Oregon west of the Cascades,
it rains a lot in the winter. The rain falls as snow on
Mt. Hood, and Sandy residents enjoy the nearby opportunities
for skiing, snow boarding, and snowshoeing.
In 1845, Samuel K. Barlow, a pioneer emigrant from Kentucky,
blazed a road (known as the Barlow Road) from The Dalles,
Oregon around the south side of Mt. Hood to Eagle Creek
(a settlement east of Oregon City) thus completing the
last leg of the famous Oregon Trail that began in Independence,
Missouri.
Sandy's first settlers, the Francis Revenue family,
arrived in 1853 and soon opened a trading post here on
the Barlow Road and served many of the thousands of pioneers
who traveled through on their way to the Willamette Valley.
Sandy's first Post Office was established in 1873 and
the village became an incorporated city in 1913.
Sandy was named for the nearby
Sandy River which was originally identified as the "Quicksand River" by
Lewis and Clark; however, the name "Quicksand" gradually
evolved into "Sandy".
Rural lifestyle in mild climate, close to urban amenities.
Affordable median housing prices with large lot.
.
Quality public schools and easy access to local colleges
and universities.
Nearby recreation includes Mt. Hood and the Mt. Hood National Forest, Sandy River, Cascade Mountain range and the Columbia River Gorge.
