In 1847, Jeremiah and Jemima Ralston bought a pioneers' cabin, staked a claim, and built a log house on a low rise at what is now Ralston Park. Nearby, on today’s Main Street, they built a store. It soon became a stop for gold seekers on their way to California. A village grew up around the store, and in 1855 the couple filed a plat for the town, naming it for Jeremiah’s birthplace of Lebanon, Tennessee. They also donated land for the Santiam Academy, which the Methodist Episcopal Church operated until 1906.<br><br>