A charming piece of Dayton history is new again; repurposed as a favorite community gathering place… In 1885, 12 members of the Village of Dayton and the Baptist Church of McMinnville voted to join together to create their own Dayton First Baptist Church. In April of the following year the church’s building committee reported to […]
Madras’ Historic Courthouse and Jail Granted Reprieve
Declared surplus property by Jefferson County and facing the wrecking ball late last year, Madras’ historic Old Courthouse and adjacent county jail building were granted a last-minute reprieve when local resident Steve Jansen stepped in to save them. County commissioners, citing engineering reports suggesting the courthouse was unsafe and impractical to repair, made the property available for purchase, with demolition and redevelopment […]
Historic Willamette Falls Locks Program This Wednesday in Oregon City
One of the oldest and most storied historic structures in Oregon is not a building! From 1873 until their closure in 2011, the Willamette Falls Locks made navigation on the Willamette River possible. Because the locks sit opposite to the old Blue Heron paper mill site now being redeveloped in Oregon City, we see the […]
A Case Study in Preservation Law: Christie School
Only 62 designated Landmark buildings remain in Lake Oswego. Today, the community faces the sixth public hearing in three years regarding the delisting or major alteration of a Landmark property: the 106-year-old Christie School. Until recently, delisting applications were based on city code which allows removal of designation only if specific criteria are met. However, […]
Cape Arago Lighthouse Site Faces Dim Future
Since 1866, the Cape Arago Light Station has provided a beacon guiding mariners along the Pacific Ocean near Coos Bay on the southern Oregon coast. The current 1935 lighthouse, which is actually 2.5 miles north of Cape Arago on Chief’s Island at Gregory Point, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993 […]
Saving the Remnants of Our Pioneer Places
Last year, Restore Oregon listed the categorical group of Willamette Valley Pioneer Houses and Farmsteads as one of Oregon’s Most Endangered Places. Often referred to as “Oregon’s oldest buildings,” these handmade buildings marked the end of the Oregon Trail from 1841 to 1865. While their significance to our state’s history is paramount, these buildings are […]
La Grande's Grand Staircase
Off a quiet residential street in the northeast Oregon town of La Grande lies what is possibly the most architecturally outstanding outdoor staircase in Oregon. The Italian Renaissance Revival Grand Staircase rises five tiers up a hillside on the campus of Eastern Oregon University. Unfortunately, it is forgotten and deteriorating, the victim of ground movement, […]
Restoring Diamonds in the Rough
Portland’s Rinehart Building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in December of 2013. Until a few years ago, the building suffered extreme neglect, but its history is incredibly significant. The Rinehart Building was constructed in 1910 along an important streetcar line in Portland’s historic Albina neighborhood. It is notable as one of the few […]
Petersen Rock Garden Now Officially “Historic”
Central Oregon’s Petersen Rock Garden was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on October 30 after two years of intensive historic research and documentation. Located between Redmond and Bend in Central Oregon, the quixotic man-made landscape has been the subject of considerable media attention since the property’s listing as one of Oregon’s Most […]