‘! Aschoff Marmot

Marmot is an unincorporated community in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States located in the Mount Hood Corridor. It is within the boundaries of the Villages at Mount Hood, on a ridge known at Devil’s Backbone, which lies between the Sandy and Little Sandy rivers, along the historic Barlow Road (the final stretch of the Oregon Trail.)  It is approximately six miles west of Brightwood.

 The community was named by Adolph (or Adolf) Ashoff, a German immigrant who was for many years a forester and guide on the Mount Hood area. When he settled in the area near the Sandy River in 1883, he found many animal burrows that, according to the local residents, were made by marmots. He later discovered that they were actually made by the mountain beaver, another rodent. When the post office was established in about 1886, Ashoff and two of his friends decided to name it “Marmot” on account of this error.

Construction of the Mount Hood Highway in the 1920s diverted traffic away from Marmot, and fewer visitors came to stay at Ashoff’s hotel. Ashoff sold the hotel in 1930 and died soon after.

Marmot post office was discontinued in 1930. Most of the buildings burned to the ground in 1931, with the exception of Ashoff’s museum, the post office, and a store. None of these structures remain today.

East Marmot Road approximately 6 miles from Brightwood the Barlow Road goes through the once thriving Oregon community of Marmot. Today there are only a few homes and a “Barlow Trail Route” historical marker on the road. Marmot was settled in 1883 and humorously given the name “Marmot”. According to Oregon Geographic Names (2003, Oregon Historical Society Press).

Adolf Aschoff, for many years a forester and guide about Mount Hood, settled at the present site of Marmot on March 16, 1883. He found an abundance of peculiar borrowings, especially in the fern growth near the borders of the timber. Local residents told him that these holes were dug by marmots, but Aschoff determined otherwise and found that they were made by the so-called mountain beaver or Aplodontia rufa. When the post office was established, Aschoff and two cronies decided to call the place Marmot on account of this error. One of these friends of Ashoff’s was an old miner, Fauntleroy S. Peake, who became first postmaster about 1886. Aschoff became postmaster in 1891, and the office was discontinued in 1930.