Donald, OR

Donald is a Marion County city in the Willamette Valley, 23 miles northeast of Salem and 24 miles southwest of Portland. The 2020 census counted 1,009 residents. Farmers and loggers settled the area in the mid-19th century, then the Oregon Electric Railway built a substation and depot in 1906, linking Donald to Salem and Portland. Highway 99E later reduced rail ridership, but the line remains in use. The old substation still stands, giving the city a visible piece of its transportation history. North Marion School District serves the area, and the former 1938 school building is now used by an electrical contractor.

Donald's most distinctive current facility came from a local idea: children approached the mayor about a skateboarding place, and the city later built Oregon's first public skate pool as a permanent concrete park in 2001. That park draws skaters from far beyond Marion County, while Center Market and the Donald Tavern occupy older commercial buildings. Donald is a small rail-and-farm city where a locally built skate park shares the map with older school and commercial buildings.