Hillsboro, Oregon - A&W Root Beer Family

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]

On the way to see Harvey the Rabbit in Aloha, Oregon, don't miss the A&W family in Hillsboro, OR. They are inexplicably located in a local park (I think on the TV highway) and are the only statuary in the park. I used to take visitors to see them and then Harvey as part of the "big tour" of Hillsboro. [Eric Iverson, 02/23/1998]