The town of Sweet Home, Oregon is bound to stir the memory of almost anyone--rock music fan or not--under the age of 70. The melody of Leonard Skynyrd's Sweet Home Alabama resounded for a good many years. (Today, of course, the movie might well come to mind.) But as you look at real estate in Oregon's lovely green Willamette Valley, you ought to consider Sweet Home, Oregon.

It's a prime location in the valley if you welcome the idea of a vibrant town and a sense of space. Located in eastern Linn County, Sweet Home lies 50 miles from both the state capital of Salem (Marion County) and Eugene (Lane County). The closest cities are Lebanon, 15 miles to the northeast, and Albany, 10 miles beyond that. Sweet Home is the third largest city in Linn County.

The History of Sweet Home, Oregon

Nestled in the foothills of the Cascades at an elevation of 525 feet on about five square miles, Sweet Home, Oregon is home today to a population of nearly 8,200. Its first settlers arrived in 1851 but moved on. The next year Lowell Ames and his family arrived and stayed on. Ames built a sawmill and over time other settlers arrived. Although only 15 miles from Lebanon, the journey took two days for many years.

By 1878 the town was still tiny, with 32 lots on four blocks. Only a stage stop well into the 20th century, Ames' old sawmill came into its own during the 1930s. The village became a boom town, thanks to the demand for lumber that arose during the war years. The construction of the Green Peter dam in the 1960s gave Sweet Home another shot in the arm. It is now the gateway to eastern Linn County.