With a courthouse coming, it was time to turn the area near Skinner Butte into a real town. In August, 1851, Eugene Skinner and judge David Mattheson Risdon surveyed and defined boundaries for smaller homesites on Skinner’s property. Eugene Skinner’s plan was to sell these smaller properties to others who wanted to live in “town.” The Skinner’s son, St. John Bull,  was born soon after on November 7, 1851.

The plat, or layout, of the townsite, as surveyed by Judge Risdon, was officially recorded with Lane County in 1852 and named Eugene City by Mary Skinner. Unfortunately, Eugene City was a bit too close to the Willamette River. Wet winters and the Willamette’s flooding soon earned Eugene City the nickname “Skinner’s Mud Hole.” The town was re-platted in 1853 farther from the river. By this time James Huddleston had opened a grocery store and Hilyard Shaw had built a sawmill. Eugene City was becoming a real town.