Harlow, Mahlon H
From Lane Co Oregon
Mahlon H. Harlow (1811-1896) bought 320 acres for five dollars and an old pistol. It was 1851, and he settled with his family in the fertile land between the McKenzie and Willamette rivers. There on his farm he built a school, and in 1852 his home was the site of Eugene’s first church: the Willamette Forks Baptist Church of Jesus Christ. When services were moved into town five years later, they met at Harlow’s “Red Top Tavern” before a proper church was built. Harlow was also a successful farmer, was elected the first county clerk, and with his wife, Frances Tandy Harlow, raised eight children. Harlow Road is today a main traffic artery in the busy Gateway region of north Eugene and Springfield.
