Dr. Forbes Barclay House

Dr. Forbes Barclay was a Scottish born physician (1812-1873), employed by the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1839 and sent to Fort Vancouver on the Columbia River in 1840. He met and married Maria Pambrum there in 1842. He built this house in Oregon City just prior to his retirement from Hudson’s Bay Company and settled in the town for the remainder of his life. He served as physician for local settlers and townspeople, and served as Clackamas County Coroner, City School Superintendent, Oregon City mayor, and city councilman. The house is reported to have cost $17,000, a high price attributed to the shortage of labor in the area due to the discovery of gold in California. The house was moved to its present location in 1936. The Barclay House was added to the National Park System in 2003 as a part of the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.