Silverton, Oregon -- A Walking Tour
The first "Silverton" settlement was actually two miles upstream on Silver Creek ~ James Smith and John Barger were some of the first settlers in the Silverton area, establishing a lumber mill in 1846 on Silver Creek about 2 miles north of the present day location. They called the site "Milford" in anticipation of further settlement; however, the mill was abandoned by the mid-1850s because another settlement was springing up in Silverton's present location. Many of the buildings from Milford were then relocated.
Smith and Barger moved their Milford milling operation downstream to the present location in 1854-55. In this same year, the first commercial building was built by Waite and Holland on the east side of the 300 block of South Water Street. The town name of "Bargerville" was entertained, but was thought to sound too much like nearby "Parkerville," so they settled on Silverton. Many of the early buildings have since disappeared. This walking tour covers commercial structures and historic homes that remain, mostly from the early 20th century, soon after the arrival of the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1880. The railroad transformed the town into a leading regional shipping center for timber and flour. Historic buildings in the district range in date from 1870 to 1936, but the majority post-date a fire of 1900.
Here is a map of the historical downtown area:
1. Mac's Place (pre-1890): One of the first owners of the building was John Hicks, son of Simeon Frisby Hicks who brought the family to Silverton in 1866 from Indiana. Hicks used it as a hardware and general store until it was purchased in 1892 by carpenter, Lewis Cass Russell, formerly of Branch County, Michgan. The Russells moved to Silverton from nearby Hubbard, OR and converted the building into a furniture and upholstery shop. Mrs. Russell used part of the building for millinery (hat making) in the early 1900s. An interesting fact about the family is that their son, Rex, joined the Ringling Brothers Circus as a young man. There is a National Register Historic District plaque that says this building is Silverton's oldest commercial wood framed building. Many of the town's wooden buildings were destroyed by fires in 1885, 1900, and 1934. Since the 1920s it has been a pool and billiard hall, restaurant and tavern. The present business is a tavern well known for its Mac and Cheese and outdoor patio overlooking Silver Creek.
2. Hicks & Ames Building (1885/1905): The south section of this building was built first and the north section was added in 1905. The addition is apparent by the variation in the brick color. The building was first owned by John Hicks, and in 1885, half ownership of the business was purchased by Mr. Samuel Ames of Mansfield, Ohio. An orphan at the age of 13, Mr. Ames relocated to Silverton in 1877. Ames formed a partnership with his brother, Louis, and moved their hardware operation out of this building in 1913 after purchasing the Adolf Wolf business. The Hicks & Ames building remained in the hands of the Hicks family until 1940.
3. Julius Alm Building (1908): Mr. Alm was born in Norway in 1862. In 1885 he emigrated to the United States (North Dakota), learned English, and relocated to Silverton in 1893. Initially employed by a Silverton merchant, John Wolfard, he eventually established his own small grocery and men's furnishings store. To accommodate his expanding business he relocated to the opera house and finally constructed this building in 1908. In 1922 he entered a partnership with his sons Otto and Henry under the firm name of Julius Alm & Sons. He later became president of the First National Bank in Silverton. The upper transom lights of this building, while coated with paint, remain in nearly original condition. Remnants of some early grocery signs are visible.
4. Ames Building (1905): This five-sided building was constructed in 1905 for Peoples' Bank, the second of two banks in Silverton. Ed Porter, C.F. DeGuire and John Hicks were responsible for organizing the bank. Horses and pulleys were used to lift the loads of bricks for placement during its construction. In 1914 the interior was extensively remodeled. The bank went broke in 1930 and was taken over by the Coolidge and McClaine Bank of Silverton.
5. Wolf Building (1891): This is one of the most prominent and impressive buildings in Silverton. Adolph Wolf was an Austrian immigrant who arrived in Silverton in 1884 from the town of Independence, Oregon and commissioned the building in 1891 to house his hardware store. It later became known as Wolf & Son and was sold in 1899 to the Ames family where it remained for two generations. After selling the property, Wolfe entered the hop growing business. Many of its original cast iron details remain. The facade is a pressed metal and cast iron building front manufactured by the Mesker Brothers in St. Louis, MO. Wolf served the City of Silverton as mayor and city councilman and was instrumental in bringing the railroad to the city.
6. Brooks & Steelhammer Pharmacy (c. 1903): Removal and reconstruction of the original storefront is needed for this building to recapture its original beauty. Unfortunately, the front has been drastically altered with a brick veneer. Brooks & Steelhammer Rexall Drug was established as early as 1884. G.W. Steelhamer became an apprentice under John H. Brooks and eventually bought the business from him in 1913 and the business became Steelhammer's Rexall Drug. The building remained a pharmacy until around 1970.
7. Coolidge & McClaine Bank (1922): The building is constructed of white colored brick. The windows are framed by brick pilasters that sit on a concrete base. Jake McClaine and Ai Coolidge founded the bank in 1880, the same year the railroad came to Silverton. Ai Coolidge relocated to Silverton in 1851 from Ohio and Fielding "Jake" McClaine crossed the plains from Illinois to Oregon in 1852. In 1893 the Coolidge & McClaine Bank was located in a wood frame building slightly west of the present structure. Business quickly expanded, and to accommodate the increased demand, the present Coolidge & McClaine building was built in 1922. Alfred Coolidge and Adolf McClaine, sons of the former, operated the bank at this time. Alfred Coolidge was well known in the community, serving as Marion County Commissioner for two terms, promoting the Silverton Electric light Company, rebuilding the local gristmill and investing in local properties and businesses. Alfred is remembered for being very informal and keeping a bottle of brandy in his bank office. A. F. McClaine was born in 1860 at Silverton. He and Alfred established several banks in Washington State.
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| Ai Coolidge (1823-1908) and Fielding "Jake" McClaine (1832-1899) |
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| Earhard Wolfard |
8. Independent Order of Odd Fellows Lodge (1868/1901): The Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) linked-chain motif can be seen from E. Main Street in the center panel of this building's cornice. This was the first brick building in town, constructed for John Davenport and James Madison Brown. These two men, along with Earhard Wolfard, ran a business here until 1873. J.M. Brown was an Oregon pioneer who moved to Oregon from Missouri in 1846 and established the first tannery one-half mile north of Silverton. E. Wolfard was a French/German immigrant who came to Silverton in 1853 from Ohio. The Davenport, Wolfard & Co. collaboration on a general mercantile was not a success, and bankers Coolidge & McClaine bought the property. A fire destroyed much of the structure in 1900. The building was re-built almost immediately, and B.R. Bentson soon ran his mercantile store on the first floor. The second floor was deeded to the IOOF in 1905.
9. Historic Silverton Auto Office (1922): Some have claimed that the building was originally constructed as a post office. However, fire insurance maps show that it was added as an office portion of the adjoining building to the south. It has operated as Hoff Bros, appliances, Western Auto, Montgomery Ward, and Goodwill Industries.
10. Silverton Masonic Building (1915): Notice the round arched opening off 1st Street with a key stone bearing the masonic insignia. There is geometric patterned exterior brick on the upper stories. The Charter of Silverton Lodge Number 45 was granted June 24, 1868 with 15 members and the following officers: Willis Dunagan, master; Joseph Chamness, senior warden; Thomas C. Shaw, junior warden, and John C. Davenport, secretary. The lodge grew rapidly, and there were three Silverton buildings used by the masons before this structure was built. The second, located at 206 E. Main Street, housed the fraternal order for over 30 years before this new lodge was built.
11. Wray Furniture Building (1902): This building was originally divided into two spaces with jewelry and furniture on the west side and hardware, stoves and buggies on the first and second floors of the east side. By 1906 the entire building was converted into one large space with a staircase on the north end. An article in The Capital Journal (April 15, 1910) reads "F.E. Wray has been in business at Silverton for twenty years as a jeweler and in connection with his trade he has been in the furniture business for seven years. He carries a large stock of carpets, rugs and house furniture, and has sales amounting to about $20,000 a year. He has lately become the ownerof a fine piece of farm property which he is improving and making himself a suburban home."
12. Inman Building (1925): This building was originally only two stories, with the uppermost story completed in 1925 for Mr. L.E. Inman. Mr. Inman operated a plumbing business on the first floor with apartments on the second floor. From 1866, pioneer A.G. Steelhammer ran a blacksmith shop in this location before the present building was constructed.
13. J.C. Penny Building (1942-52): While the building lacks detailing, J.C. Penny occupied the structure until 1985. This was the second location of J.C. Penny in Silverton. It was formerly located at 107 Water Street. The present building was constructed for J.C. Penny's.
14. Historic Silverton Bakery (1914): The former Silverton Bakery was constructed for Henry Schmidbauer (1872-1927) in 1914. Within a few years Schmidbauer sold the business to E.H. Knoll in 1919 and again to J.L and Josie Stalker in 1920. From The Daily Capital Journal, July 8, 1916: "Probably the quietest Fourth of July that Silverton has known occurred Tuesday... Just to be patriotic, Henry Schmidbauer stepped out of the rear door of his bakery on the morning of the 4th and began firing an automatic revolver in the direction of a barn across the street. His aim was good and about every piece of lead contained in the gun found lodging in Earl Wood's automobile which stood within the walls of the building. The windshield was shattered and the top was punctured. Henry did not stop to think that the bullets might go through the boards or what the result might be. He has offered to make good the damage."
15. Palace Theater (1936): The Palace Theater is an art deco style building built diagonally to the southwest corner of Oak and Water Streets. The location has historically been the site of theaters and opera houses since 1905 when Edward S. Porter and L.J. Adams constructed a wood frame building at this same location. Louis J. Adams came to Silverton in 1884 from Ohio and initially found work as a bookkeeper for the Oregon Milling Company, then for Coolidge & McClaine. He passed the bar examination in 1902 and eventually started a law practice while continuing to manage the theater. He was later a state senator. The theater began showing silent films as early as 1919. Adams' son, Alfred L., bought the Palace Theater in 1925, however a 1935 fire destroyed the building. Within a year, the present structure was built. In the 1950s many rural theaters were closed and demolished, and the Palace Theater had to close for most of 1958. Roger Paulson took over the theater in 1973 with co-owner Stu Rassmussen. The building remained virtually unchanged from its 1936 opening. However, in April 2012, another fire damaged the building interior causing $250,000 in damage.
16. Silverton City Hall (1925) and Fischer Flour Mill Office (1918): These structures are located at 306 S. Water Street. The original plans for the City Hall building were drawn by C. H. Rullman, City Engineer, in 1925. The site was formerly the location of the City Water Works, and in 1892, the City Electric Light Works. The adjacent Fischer Building to the south served as the Fisher Flour Mill Office until 1928. The Silverton Country Historical Society, the Southern Pacific Depot and the Silverton Public Library now occupy the spot where the mill stood. After the mill closed in 1931, the building was used to store corn before becoming a WWII Ration Board headquarters. It subsequently housed a cannery and liquor store. It has been the Police Station since 1952.
17. June D. Drake House (1904): The June D. Drake house is located at 409 S. Water Street. June Drake was a commercial photographer and historian from 1904 to 1960. Born in Marquam, OR on July 11, 1880. His family moved to Silverton when he was nine years old. June Drake and his brother Emery bought a photography business in 1904 from long-time Silverton photographer William L. Jones. In the early 1900's Drake would hire men to help him cut pathways to the ten waterfalls on Silver Creek so that he could photograph them. He used these photographs in a campaign to establish Silver Falls State Park in 1931.
References:
- United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory — Nomination Form (1987)
- Cinema Treasures: A New Look at Classic Movie Theaters by Ross Melnick, Andreas Fuchs (2004)
- Silverton, Oregon - Historic Context Statement by Gail E.H. Evans (1996)
- Portrait and biographical record of the Willamette valley, Oregon, containing original sketches of many well known citizens of the past and present, Oregon, Chapman Publishing Company (1903)
- A History of the Silverton Country by Robert H. Down, Portland, Or. : Berncliff Press (1926)
- Silverton Couny Historical Society Newsletters (various).
