Due to safety concerns regarding COVID-19, the seasonal opening of the Barclay House has been delayed. All tours and events scheduled at the McLoughlin, Barclay and Holmes houses have been canceled until further notice. We apologize for the inconvenience. Please continue to check our website for updates.

Dr. Forbes Barclay (1812-1873)

Arctic explorer, physician, public official, philanthropist

-Dictionary of Oregon History, Binfords and Mort, 1956

    After a reportedly disastrous voyage into the Arctic in search of a "northwest passage" and other exploits of his young adulthood, Dr. Barclay came from Scotland to Fort Vancouver as a Hudson's Bay Company physician in 1840.

    In 1850, he and his wife Maria Pambrun Barclay and their seven children moved to Oregon City, where they became prominent in community affairs.

    Dr. Barclay served variously as mayor of Oregon City, superintendent of schools and the first coroner in Oregon, as well as a physician.

    Dr. and Mrs. Barclay are now buried in the Mountain View Cemetery in Oregon City.

    Their home, built in 1849, remained in the Barclay family until 1937, when it was moved up the hill from the waterfront to its present location adjacent to the McLoughlin House. It was added to the National Park System in 2003, along with the McLoughlin House, as a unit of Fort Vancouver National Historic Site.

    The Barclay House currently houses offices for the National Park Service and the McLoughlin Memorial Association. The Barclay House gift shop offers many hard to find books on northwest history and its pioneers, traditional toys, handcrafted goods, and other gift items.

TOURS:   The Barclay House is now closed to tours due to COVID-19. Normally we are open from February to December from 10:00am to 4:00pm on Fridays and Saturdays. Tours are 15 minutes after the hour with the last tour at 3:00pm. Gift Shop is also closed. For additional information visit our Facebook site.