It includes Willamette Station Site, Methodist Mission in Oregon, which is listed by the National Register of Historic Places.

[1][5] The park is the site of the Willamette Mission, established in 1834 by Jason Lee, who traveled to the area to convert Native Americans in the Oregon Country to Christianity.

The missionaries built a one-room house that served as a school, chapel, hospital, and living quarters.

In September 1837, more missionaries arrived and built a blacksmith shop, granary, hospital, and a building that doubled as a school and a dining hall; the ensuing settlement became known as Mission Bottom.

In a flood in 1861, the mission site was extensively damaged, and the Willamette River changed its course.