National Register of Historic Places

Oregon Properties ​Recently Listed in the National Register of Historic Places

• Arthur H. Devers House in Portland, Multnomah County, listed in February 2026. Completed in 1891, the Arthur H. Devers House was the longtime residence of one of Portland’s most influential early‑twentieth‑century business and civic leaders. While living here between1891 and 1908, Devers helped shape major regional initiatives, including the Lewis and Clark Exposition of 1905, early planning efforts that led to the Civic Improvement League and the Bennett Plan, and federal support for the Dalles‑Celilo Canal. The house is the only surviving property closely associated with Devers during this formative period, offering a tangible link to his role in Portland’s commercial growth and civic development. View the nomination​.​
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• Balch Gulch Bridge in Portland, Multnomah County, listed in September 2025. Designed by engineer James B. C. Lockwood and completed in 1905 the Balch Gulch Bridge carries NW Thurman Street across Balch Creek in Northwest Portland’s Willamette Heights neighborhood. It is Oregon’s only remaining pin-connected deck truss highway bridge and a rare example of early twentieth-century bridge engineering. It catalyzed the development of Portland’s Willamette Heights neighborhood by extending streetcar service across the gulch, and it also played a small role in advertising Portland to visitors and potential investors during the 1905 Lewis and Clark Centennial exposition. The bridge’s listing recognizes both its engineering significance and its contribution to Portland’s urban growth. View the nomination.
  
  
• Methodist Episcopal Church of Union in Union, Union County, listed in September 2025. Built in 1905 by Union’s Methodist Episcopal congregation, the two-and-one-half story brick church—now home to the Catherine Creek Community Center—stands as a rare and well-preserved example of Late Gothic Revival architecture in rural northeastern Oregon. Notable for its cross-shaped plan, steep gabled rooflines, lancet stained-glass windows, and elaborate corner belltower with Queen Anne detailing, the building also features original interior elements such as curved wood pews and tamboured wood partitions. Its design may reflect the influence of nationally renowned church architect Benjamin D. Price. View the nomination​.
  
  
• Oregon Country Methodist Mission Sites: 1834-1847 MPD, accepted in June 2025. This Multiple Property Documentation Form (MPD) provides a thematic framework for identifying, evaluating, and nominating historic properties associated with the Methodist mission to the Oregon Country during the mid-nineteenth century. The MPD contextualizes how these missions attempted to convert and assimilate Indigenous communities in present-day Washington and Oregon, activities that supported Euro-American settlement but also inflicted long-lasting harm on Native peoples and their cultures. This MPD, which is intended to serve as the basis for future National Register listings, was submitted and accepted alongside the nomination for the Mill Place House Site.​ View the documentation​​.
  
  
• Mill Place House Site in Salem, Marion County, listed in June 2025. Constructed in 1841 by Methodist missionaries as part of their newly established Central Station in what would become Salem, the Mill Place House was the earliest known Euro-American dwelling in the area. Though the house itself was relocated in 1963, archaeological investigations in 2020 confirmed that the foundation remains beneath a present-day parking lot and yielded mission-period artifacts. Listed under Criterion A for its role in early missionary settlement and Criterion D for its archaeological significance, the site reflects the work of Reverend Jason Lee and others whose efforts to Christianize and enculturate the Santiam Kalapuya people were part of broader nineteenth century U.S. expansionist policies—efforts that played a central role in shaping Oregon’s early development, while also contributing to the displacement and cultural disruption of Indigenous communities. View the nomination​.
  
  
• Mingus Park Community Building in Coos Bay, Coos County, listed in May 2025. The Mingus Park Community Building, also known as the Scout Cabin, was designed by Clarence E. Landes and constructed between December 1939 and July 1940 by WPA laborers using local materials. Nestled along the northwest forested edge of Mingus Park, the one-story Rustic-style building features a post-and-beam ceiling, a distinctive double-sided stone fireplace, and vertical D-log cladding both inside and out. The building has long been a hub for youth scouting activities and community events, retaining its historic integrity with minimal alterations over the decades. It is listed under the Oregon New Deal Resources from the PWA and WPA, 1933-1943 Multiple Property Documentation (MPD) Form due to its association with recreation and civic engagement in Coos Bay and as an excellent example of WPA Rustic architecture in southwestern Oregon. View the nomination.
  
  
• Owyhee Grocery in the vicinity of Nyssa (vic.) Malheur County, listed in May 2025. Constructed in 1933 at the intersection of OR-201 and Owyhee Avenue, Owyhee Grocery has long served as a key commercial hub for travelers between Nyssa, Adrian, and the Owyhee Dam. Originally established as a service station, the store evolved into a convenience shop, self-service fuel station, and restaurant, continuing its role as a vital gathering place for the community. Architecturally, the building exemplifies 1930s roadside commercial design, with its deep setback from the roadway, ample pull-in parking, and distinctive façade featuring a parapeted gable clad in petrified wood and volcanic rock. It is recognized as locally significant for its role in regional commerce between 1933 and 1937 and as an excellent example of roadside commercial architecture unique to Malheur County. View the nomination.
  
  
• Port Orford City Jail in Port Orford, Curry County, listed in April 2025. Constructed in 1939, the Port Orford City Jail is the only extant governmental building remaining from the administration of Mayor Gilbert E. Gable, a driving force behind Port Orford’s incorporation and economic development. The jail provides a tangible connection to a formative period in the city’s history, when governmental services and civic infrastructure were new and critical elements in Port Orford’s development. The building is also significant for its association with Gable himself; his leadership in the "State of Jefferson" movement, in particular, sparked ideas about regional representation and autonomy that have persisted into the twenty-first century. The building itself operated as a correctional facility until 1965, and it then passed through several private owners until it was reacquired by the City of Port Orford in 2007. Although surrounding properties have been redeveloped, the jail retains an appearance that is reflective of its original purpose. View the nomination.
  
  
• Salem Substation Historic District in Salem, Polk County, listed in April 2025 under the BPA Pacific Northwest Transmission System Multiple Property Document (MPD). Constructed between 1939 and 1942, the Bonneville Power Administration’s (BPA) Salem Substation was a key component of the BPA’s Master Grid Development period (1938-1945). This period encompasses BPA’s establishment as a Federal agency and its early efforts to create a cohesive transmission network distributing hydroelectric power from the Columbia River dams to communities and industries across the Pacific Northwest. Spanning an 8.53-acre parcel, the district includes three contributing resources: the Control House, Switchyard, and Transfer Track. The Control House, completed in 1942, exemplifies the Streamline Moderne architectural style with features like glass block windows, stucco, and aluminum detailing, and it is a rare surviving example of BPA’s architectural practices during the era. Collectively, the substation’s contributing resource played a pivotal role in supplying power to rural communities and supporting industrial demands in the Willamette Valley during World War II. Today, it remains operational and continues to supply power to the Willamette Valley. View the nomination.
  
  
• Juniper House in Portland, Multnomah County, listed in February 2025. Originally constructed as a single-family residence in 1902, Juniper House co-founders John Trevitts, Doug Foland, and Jan Weyeneth converted the building into Oregon’s first HIV/AIDS end-of-life care home in 1987. From May 1987 to September 1989, Juniper House filled a critical void in Oregon's healthcare system during a period marked by widespread stigma and systemic discrimination of people with HIV/AIDS. The care facility offered medical care as well as emotional support and a sense of peace, community, and normalcy for residents. Advocacy and education were also integral components of the mission of Juniper House; during its operation, press and local news outlets were invited to the house, leading to newspaper articles and documentary features on KGW-TV and Oregon Public Broadcasting that reached broad audiences in the late 1980s. Juniper House’s influence was crucial in shaping public opinion and responses to HIV/AIDS in Oregon, and it inspired the establishment of several similar end-of-life care facilities around the state in the late 1980s and after.  View the nomination.