Thurston: the east end, where springfield still feels like a town

The east end, where Springfield still feels like a town. Thurston was a town before it was a neighborhood, and it still carries itself that way. There was a post office here in 1877, a general store and a blacksmith at the corner of Thurston Road and 66th, and a farming community that had been going for decades before Springfield ever annexed it.

The housing here leans detached single family, with the largest share built in the 1970s and a strong second wave through the 1990s and 2000s. That mix is what makes the east end work for a lot of buyers: you can find a mid-century ranch that needs your attention, a nineties subdivision home that does not, or an older place on a bigger lot toward the county line. Head far enough east on Thurston Road or up toward the hills and lots get larger, some with the well and septic that come with leaving city services behind.

Springfield Public Schools serves Thurston, including Thurston Elementary, Ridgeview Elementary, Thurston Middle School, and Thurston High School, home of the Colts since 1960. Walterville Elementary sits further east along the McKenzie Highway and calls itself a rural school, which it earns.

It depends entirely on what you want out of a day. Thurston Hills opened to the public in 2017 with more than twelve miles of trail, including the region's first purpose-built downhill mountain bike trails, cut in partnership with the local Disciples of Dirt crew. Lively Park sits on Thurston Road with thirty-one acres, a four-acre dog park, and an eight-thousand-square-foot playground. Splash!, the indoor wave pool attached to it, is the reason February is survivable with kids. And the McKenzie is right there. I would rather ask you a few questions than guess. Call or text 541-968-9422 and I will give you an honest read, including if the answer is that another area fits you better.