He had already been a Spanish American War volunteer lieutenant, world traveler and newspaperman, but Albert Cooper Allen sought new horizons in Oregon.
Arriving in 1904, he first purchased the Hollywood Orchard near Medford, became a respected fruit grower, and created a 30-acre Hollywood Park that contained young elk, deer, peacocks and four kangaroos. Later he became the state agricultural commissioner.
The Allen family often traveled to Eastern Oregon spending summer vacations on Klamath Lake. In 1922-23 he operated Rocky Point Resort on Upper Klamath Lake, where he had a large self-propelled houseboat named the Jim Jackson.
Allen enjoyed automobiles and became one of the first to drive one to Crater Lake. Already experienced as a freelance photographer for early motion picture studios, Allen took movie film of Crater Lake and other areas of Southern Oregon.
He also wrote Western adventure stories, including a book in 1958 titled Crater Lake and its Legends, and children’s books published in his Rogue River printing shop.
Sources: "Albert C Allen Photographs, c. 1914-1950s." UO Libraries, U of O, library.uoregon.edu › speccoll › photo › allen; "Albert C Allen. “Southern Oregon History." Southern Oregon History, Revised, edited by Ben Truwe, SOHS, 2019, truwe.sohs.org › files › allen; Sawyer, Jeanie. "Albert C Allen." Find a Grave, Herald and News, 1 Dec. 1972, www.findagrave.com › ... › Medford › Eastwood IOOF Cemetery. Happy Birthday Raymond F. J. Scully.
