Oregon Commercial Company Building

The Oregon Commercial Company Building, in Huntington, Baker County, Oregon, United States, was built in 1890. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.[2]

Oregon Commercial Company Building
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
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Location	40--50 E. Washington St., Huntington, Oregon
Coordinates	44°21′5″N 117°15′59″W
Area	0.1 acres (0.040 ha)
Built	1891
Architect	Steel, R.M.
Architectural style	Italianate, High Victorian Italianate
NRHP reference No.	92000666[1]
Added to NRHP	June 04, 1992

According to the Statement of Significance in its application for appearance on the Register, the Oregon Commercial Company Building is "the best preserved, most dominant building remaining [in Huntington] that reflects the era of expansion associated with the economic impact of the railroad ... ". It is also described there as a "rare and prominent vestige of Huntington's heyday as a railroad town".[3]

Burned down 5/24/2019

History

In the early 1880s, two subsidiaries of the Union Pacific Railroad were working to complete a single line that would connect Portland, Oregon and Omaha, Nebraska. Working from east to west was the Oregon Short Line; working in the opposite direction was the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company. The two lines of track were connected in Huntington in November 1884. At this point, economic activity around the connection point increased, generally catering to the railroad, its workers and its passengers. Huntington became an incorporated town in 1891.

The Oregon Commercial Company Building was built by the Oregon Construction Company. Work on it started in 1890 and was completed the next year. The two-story building originally had its lower floor split between a drug store and a general store. Its upper floor was used as rental apartments, chiefly tenanted by railroad workers. It took on the name of the Oregon Commercial Company in 1894 when that company was founded by R. M. Steel and J. H. Aitkin. The name of both the company and the building changed to the Huntington Mercantile when the business was purchased in 1908 by Fred S. Bubb. The building was purchased by Howell (first name not known) in 1928 and, by 1930, the lower floor had been converted into a restaurant (Howell's Cafe) and a lounge (the Streamliner Lounge).

A corner of the building collapsed in 1991, but reconstruction efforts were begun the next year. In 2002, Howell's Cafe and the Streamliner Lounge were re-opened as part of an overall plan to revitalize downtown Huntington.[4] [5]

The building burned with a complete loss on 5/24/2019

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
2. "Oregon Commercial Company Building". npgallery.nps.gov. National Park Service (U.S. Department of the Interior). Retrieved April 16, 2017.
3. "Oregon Commercial Company Building: Statement of Significance". npgallery.nps.gov (PDF). National Park Service (U.S. Department of the Interior). April 25, 1992. The Statement of Significance is a six-page attachment for section 8 of the application. The quoted passages are from, respectively, page 6 and page 2.
4. "Oregon Commercial Company Building: Narrative Description". npgallery.nps.gov (PDF). National Park Service (U.S. Department of the Interior). April 25, 1992. The narrative description is a five-page attachment for section 7 of the application. Some additional detail was taken from the six-page "Statement of Significance" (section 8 of the application).
5. Ferguson, Mike (June 6, 2002). "Huntington spruces up downtown". Baker City Herald (via web.archive.org). Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved February 25, 2009.