511 Lawrence Street

Little is known of this Queen Anne style house which stands on the southeast corner of 5th and Lawrence. It was built circa 1895 and survives (a long with its neighbor to the south, shown on the right in this photo) to this day virtually intact. When this photo was taken, circa 1950 there was a ramp leading up to the front porch which has since been removed. This house would have completed the 5th and Lawrence intersection with the Geary house, Johnson house and the Mystery house mentioned in last Fridays post.

Mystery Solved!

In my post earlier this week about the T.W. Harris house, I speculated that the heavily altered one story Victorian house that stands today on the northeast corner of 5th and Lawrence might be the old Harris house. Today I just happened to find a photo of that house simply labeled as standing on 5th, but with no other information other than at the time the photo was taken it housed 5th Avenue Electric. While greatly resembling the Harris house and being of the same time period and style it is mostly certainly not the home of Dr. Harris and his wife. While the brackets and bay window have been removed and the porch greatly altered, (not to mention the cinder block addition in the front yard that has for many years housed the Keystone Cafe) the house is easily recognizable as being the one in this photo.

Dr. T.W. Harris House

This one story Italianate home at was once 253 West 5th Avenue, was the first Eugene home of Dr. and Mrs T.W. Harris. After their marriage Dr. and Mrs Harris first settled in Albany were their son Lawrence was born. They later moved to Eugene were Dr. Harris set up his medical practice and also served as Mayor. Lawrence became a county Judge for many years. Laura Harris, who was one of Eugene's most prominent society matrons passed away at age 96. The Harris house may be the house that still stands on the N.E. corner of 5th and Lawrence street, (minus its front bay window and with the porch greatly altered) as the records are sketchy as if the house was moved or torn down. There are many similarities between the two structures and it may be a forgotten survivor.

Interium Lane County Jail

In last Tuesdays post I speculated that the tiny jail building of 1858 may have served as the only jail building until 1892. There is some evidence that the above building was used as the Lane County Jail before the 1892 structure was built. It stood on 5th Avenue at the North end of Olive St. very near where today's jail is located. When this photo was taken it was being used as a livery stable and early automobile garage.