National Register of Historic Places

Recently Listed Oregon Properties in the National Register of Historic Places

• South Park Blocks, Portland, Multnomah County, listed in March 2022 - The South Park Blocks (SPB), is an 8.76-acre, city-owned park in downtown Portland. SPB, officially addressed as 1003 SW Park Avenue, encompasses twelve blocks and serves as the anchor of downtown’s cultural and educational districts. The park illustrates the pedestrian mall concept which became a popular urban redevelopment scheme in the United States starting in the 1950s and through the 1970s.  The park mall concept is reflected in SPB’s linear north-south contiguous greenspace nestled within urban buildings, cultural venues, apartments, Portland State University (PSU) campus buildings, and historic churches. The boundaries of the SPB were selected because they represent the boundaries of the park within its period of significance (1852-1973) and includes all of the contributing resources that relate to that period.  Originally conceived by Daniel H. Lownsdale, the park area has been consistently defined since its original platting in 1852 with few changes to the park’s historic boundaries.  In the 1870’s, the city established the park’s formal landscape design under the guidance of Portland horticulturist Louis G. Pfunder. SPB nomination form.
  
  
• Dean’s Beauty Salon and Barber Shop, Portland, Multnomah County, listed March 2022 -   Located in Portland’s Eliot neighborhood on NE Hancock Street, Dean’s Beauty Salon and Barber Shop is the oldest confirmed, continuously-operating Black-owned barber shop or salon in Portland.  The building, designed by Benjamin Dean with the assistance of local Portland architect Jack P. Stuhl, was completed and opened for business in 1956. It has transitioned through three generations of Dean family ownership, established itself as an important gathering space for the local African American community, and succeeded in creating generational wealth through entrepreneurship despite the discrimination they faced as Black business owners in mid-twentieth century Portland. During the period of significance (1956 to 1979), the business survived the upheaval of urban renewal and transportation development programs that displaced many of their clients and neighboring Black-owned businesses in Lower Albina. They remain an important cultural and gathering space for many members of Portland’s Black community. Nomination form.
  
  
• Golden West Hotel, Portland, Multnomah County, listed March 2022 – This was the only hotel in Portland with an African American proprietor and the only major hotel to welcome African American guests from 1906 to its closure in 1930, becoming one of the most important community gathering places for African Americans living in or visiting Portland. Located in Portland’s northwest quadrant just blocks from Portland’s Union Station, the hotel serviced mainly Black railway porters, cooks, barbers, waiters, and travelers who passed through Portland via Union Station, but also by traveling entertainers, athletes, politicians and activists, all of whom were denied lodging at white-owned establishments, because of their race.  The hotel and the smaller commercial spaces in the basement and ground floor, most of which were owned and operated by African Americans, provided recreational opportunities and social gathering spaces for the local African American community in early twentieth-century Portland. Nomination form.
  
  
• Mt. Olivet Baptist Church, Portland, Multnomah County, listed in March 2022 – This building was used primarily as a worship space, but is significant for its association with the history of Portland’s African American community and not from its religious association. The church was heavily involved in the local African American community as a venue for prominent speakers, choir performances, social events, and meetings of civil rights and community groups from 1923 through 1973 near the end of the Emanuel Hospital Urban Renewal Project. Mt. Olivet Baptist Church is the only church building that remains of the four African American Christian churches that relocated to Lower Albina in the early twentieth century. Nomination form.
  
  
• Rex Theater, Vale, Malheur County, listed March 2022 - The Rex Theater is an Art Deco Style building built in 1928. It was constructed and has operated as a theater for the past 93 years. The location, setting, and feel of the theater represent the city’s early twentieth-century infrastructure and business development. Associated with the Golden Age of Hollywood, the theater had a profound social and cultural influence on the community, being the sole source of entertainment for both the community of Vale and surrounding towns during the period from 1928-1937, until a neighboring town constructed a theater. The Rex Theater has proven to be an invaluable resource to the town of Vale and has contributed substantially to the historic, social and cultural fabric of the area. Nomination form.
  
  
• The Burford-Stanley House, Monmouth, Polk County, listed in March 2022 - The Burford-Stanley House is located in the city of Monmouth, Polk County, Oregon.  It is the oldest known remaining building with direct association to the founding and early growth of Monmouth, the community and Monmouth University, known today as Western Oregon University. The Burford-Stanley House is one of the earliest sawn lumber (as opposed to log) houses to be built in the community. The building form and appearance have remained generally intact and reflective of the 1857-1885 period of significance, illustrating both the earlier Federal Revival style and including historic-period upgrades through the early 1880s. Hezekiah Burford was active in the community and one of the eleven original founders and trustee to Monmouth University for several years. Records indicate he engaged in constructing the first University building in 1858.  The Burford-Stanley House changed ownership a few times, but was the home of David and Mary Stanley from 1878 to 1885. Mr. Stanley, editor of local newspapers, was the third president of Monmouth University. Nomination form.
  
  
• Jacob Zimmerman House [Amendment], Gresham, Multnomah County - Update to the contributing and noncontributing resource count. Jacob Zimmerman House 2022 Amendment
  
  
• College Hill West Historic District [Amendment], Corvallis, Benton County - Update to the contributing and noncontributing resource count within the district. College Hill West Historic District 2021 Amendment

• Laurelhurst Historic District [Amendment], Portland, Multnomah County - Update to remove a resource incorrectly identified as part of district. Laurelhurst Historic District 2021 Amendment

• Historic City Hall, West Linn, Clackamas County, Listed in October 2021 - The Historic City Hall, a modestly-sized two story brick building designed by Portland architects Claussen and Claussen, is significant as the first and only governmental building owned and constructed by the City of West Linn, and the only one to combine municipal functions with private commercial uses in the town. The building also was constructed under the PWA, a jobs-creating federal New Deal program providing loans and grants to public works projects. The building represents the impact of the New Deal on a small community that would not otherwise have been able to construct a publicly owned building during the Depression. Historic City Hall nomination form
  
  
• O.K. Jeffery Airplane Factory, Portland, Multnomah County, Listed in October 2021 - The O.K. Jeffery Aircraft Factory was the first and only factory of its type in Portland, representing the beginning of the aircraft industry in the city. The production of spruce airplane parts became critical to the United States and their European allies in the fight against the Germans in World War I. As a result, the stands of old growth Sitka spruce, which were primarily located in Oregon and Washington states, were critical to the war effort. Spruce logs previously had been sent to the east coast where they were fashioned into the needed parts and where planes were assembled and engines added. O.K. Jeffery successfully argued to government contractors that, because of the wastage involved in developing the logs into the needed plane beams, struts, webs and engine beds, the U.S. government would save money if the plane parts were made close to the source of the wood. The new O.K. Jeffery building was quickly converted to this purpose and production began. O.K. Jeffery Aircraft Factory nomination form
  
  
• Harry & Eleanor Holmes House, Medford, Jackson County, Listed in June 2021 - The Harry and Eleanor Holmes House, completed in 1939 in Medford, Oregon, was designed by Los Angeles based architect Paul Revere Williams, a nationally significant designer associated with what has been called “California Georgian Revival” style. Williams’ designs for industrialists, movie stars and other celebrities during the 1930s-1960s were broadly published and widely recognized for their elegant character, especially his trademark helical stairways. The house is additionally of interest as the home of Harry Lapworth Holmes, designed specifically for his occupancy following his marriage to Eleanor, and serving as his residence from construction until his death in 1959. With his brother, David, Harry was the owner of Bear Creek Orchards, later Harry & David, a nationally prominent innovator of mail-order marketing through their Fruit-of-the-Month club. Harry & David sold high quality pears and other fruits, developing a highly successful operation that was among the largest of its type in the nation. Harry and Eleanor Holmes House nomination form
  
  
• Mill City Southern Pacific Railroad (SPRR) Bridge, Mill City, Marion/Linn Counties, Listed in June 2021 - The Mill City SPRR Bridge is a rare Oregon example of a Phoenix Column Pratt thru truss bridge, as designed and manufactured by the Phoenix Bridge Company, of Phoenixville, PA. The span was built for the Southern Pacific Rail Road for use in California c1885. Typical of Phoenix Column spans, the bridge was disassembled and relocated, first to Lake Oswego, OR, c1901 and then finally to Mill City in 1919. In Mill City, it replaced an earlier wood truss bridge at the same location, to carry the railroad across the North Santiam River, serving the timber and logging interests in the region. Railroad use continued until 1971, after which the bridge was converted and minimally modified for its current bike and pedestrian use. Mill City Southern Pacific Railroad (SPRR) Bridge nomination form
  
  
• Oregon Trail: La Grande to Hilgard Segment, Union County, listed in June 2021 - The Oregon Trail: La Grande to Hilgard Segment is significant for its association with the movement of goods and persons, fostering communication and economic growth in the local area and throughout the state. The trail segment was consistently used by overland emigrants, freighters carrying mining equipment, foodstuffs, and other commodities, and was used by stage companies carrying passengers across the greater Blue Mountains. The period of significance is 1840-1867, beginning with the first use by emigrants of the trail and ending when a toll and freight road was constructed from the Grande Ronde Valley, up the Grande Ronde River, to Hilgard that offered an alternative route for emigrants. Oregon Trail: La Grande to Hilgard Segment nomination form
  
  
• The Oregon Trail, Oregon, 1840 to 1880 MPD, Statewide, listed in June 2021 - The Oregon Trail Multiple Property Document provides an overview of the history of the Oregon Trail through four different historical contexts. Thematic Contexts discussed in the document include: Geography and Natural Character; Physical Character and Setting of the Road; Exploration, Transportation Use, Settlement; Social, Political and Cultural Significance; and Economic and Commercial Significance. The document also establishes a framework for identifying and listing Oregon Trail resources in the National Register of Historic Places. There are many different types of resources associated with the Oregon Trail, some of which include: trail/wagon road segments; fur trade posts; toll gates; camping sites; etc. Oregon Trail Multiple Property Document