The Bealey Military Academy at Troutdale flourished in the 1920s and early 1930s in a handsome cluster of buildings north of McMenamins Edgefield at about the location of the Multnomah County Animal Shelter.
Major Bealey, a veteran on both English and U.S. military services, started the academy in the white-pillared building in 1924. Previously it had been "The Cedars," built as a rehabilitation facility for Portland prostitutes by the City of Portland.
Major Bealey bought the 31-acre estate and enrolled 18 boys in a rigorous course of military discipline, drill and exercise. The cost was $675 a year. Eventually the student body numbered about 30 "select lads" and was known for its military balls, in which young ladies from Portland were invited to the academy for dancing on the hardwood floors.
The academy closed during the Depression. The buildings were torn down and part of the material was recycled to build the duplex that housed the medical staff at the Multnomah County Farm, not McMenamins Edgefield.
Photo courtesy of McMenamins History