Hillsboro, Oregon -
A&W Root Beer Family

Regarding the history of the A&W Root Beer/Burger family that so cheerfully stand by the Hillsboro Aquatic Center by Shute Park: Teen Burger was stolen, as noted by others, but the original was never recovered for use. The city managed to locate a twin Teen Burger in Longview, WA and had him shipped to Hillsboro to complete the family. The original A&W restaurant was the drive-up and order from your car type and is now Thomas Auto Sales, a used car dealership near 13th and TV Hwy. [Amy B., 11/25/2011]

The A&W Root Beer Family originally came from the A&W Restaurant in Forest Grove, on the corner of Pacific Highway and Tualatin Valley Highway. My family lived in Forest Grove from 1959 until now, and when I was a little girl in the early '60s my family used to go there to get root beer floats! Then they closed the restaurant (I believe in the early 70's) and they moved the A&W Root Beer Family first to Schutes Park in Hillsboro, and then in front of some kind of fast food place in Hillsboro.

By then I had gotten married and moved away. I do remember that one of the family members had been stolen and I never did find out if they recovered it or not. [Pam T., 01/08/2010]

[RA: This particular A&W family smiles bravely, but they have been cruelly positioned to stare directly at a pair of Golden Arches of a McDonald's across the street!]

The A&W Family is located on the grounds of the Shute Park Aquatic and Recreation Center at the corner of SE 10th Ave. and SE Maple St. in Hillsboro. [Joe Boulter, 10/01/2006]

Some more info on the A&W Family in Hillsboro, Oregon. I grew up in Hillsboro and can tell you this: The family originally sat in front of the old A&W in Hillsboro. The teenaged son was stolen by High School kids in the 70's and was thrown into Hagg Lake in Forest Grove (how do I know this? I dated the son of one of the guys who stole him -- or at least that's what he claimed). Anyhow, the family was sold to Papa Aldo's Pizza (a take and bake place) and the giant burgers they were holding were painted to resemble big, fat, pizzas. I think this happened some time in the mid or late '80s. Then they were moved across the street and became a pop-art display. Recently, Hagg Lake was dredged to clean it up, and then mysteriously the teenaged boy was reunited with his family and is now on display. I have no idea if it's the original statue and was found in the lake or if another one was located somewhere else. [Melanie, 03/08/2002]

An update for you. I am a 21 year resident of Aloha and I read the Harvey the Rabbit story with interest. Also mentioned is the A&W family in the park in Hillsboro. When the A&W closed, the family was left out front of the store and then repainted. Eventually some of them were stolen. An effort was made to recover them as icons of the 60's and they were relocated to Shute Park in Hillsboro. Incidentally, the old A&W location became a used car lot. A few years later the offices that were in the original building burned to the ground. [Jeff Butts, 05/25/1999]