Prindel Creek Farm is located in the USA twenty miles inland from the Pacific Ocean on the Central Oregon Coast. Five Rivers, a tributary of the Alsea River runs through the farm. The terrain is a lush green forest mountain covered with Douglas fir, Western Redcedar, Hemlock, Alder and Maple. The weather is warm and sunny in the summer, averaging a high of 75 degrees Fahrenheit and a low of 21 degrees in 1998. The winters are warm with a fair amount of rain, accumulating 75 to 85 inches a year, mostly in the winter months of November through March.

The Prindel Family came to this area about 1895 and claimed 160 acres of land. Hiram Prindel and his wife Alvira Angeline Goodwin received homestead papers about 1905. The land was passed from one family member to another and eventually the family lost ownership. Logging and farming were important sources of food, shelter and money. The area produced dairy and field products like potatoes and shipped them to the coast on barges made of Douglas fir logs. Once the barge reached Waldport the barge was dismantled, the logs and produce sold. Often a horse and supplies were purchased and carried back up river to the homestead. Read more about Hiram Prindel.

The abundant supply of large trees fueled the logging industry, and small family saw mills were established every few miles. Families grew and eventually schools, the grange hall and post office were built. Prindel Creek Farm is the original site of Paris, Oregon named for the first postmaster. Paris had a post office, school and several families lived in homes built around the mill site. A bunkhouse was available for the transient labor that worked seasonally. Eventually one mill became predominant and the small family mills closed. Roads began to improve and workers could travel greater distances between work and home. Paris came to an end.

Again this land was a family farm and cattle ranch, for another forty years. Open range granted them the rights to run cattle in five square miles of the national forest and that came to and end in the early 70s. The land and homes was sold to a young man from Seattle wanting to start an artist colony. Friends were invited to live on the land and experience a back to nature life style.

Prindel Creek Farm was established in 1978, as a cooperative corporation owned by the seven residents willing to purchase the land and work together. The forest nursery was established the same year as a revenue source for the members. Logging on the national forest was at its peak, and the first contracts the nursery obtained were with the government.

The name Prindel Creek Farm was chosen to honor the homesteaders that worked and struggled to live on this land, raise a family and a community. The other reason was geographic, Prindel Ridge runs behind the farm and Prindel Creek meets Five Rivers here. One hundred fifty of the original 160 acres are still together as one working farm. Today the farm is home for two families that own the corporation and the land, raise a family, animals and trees.