11th Avenue and Willamette St. circa 1915

This is an interesting view looking southwest of the intersection of 11th and Willamette streets. Probably taken from the tower of the old First Christian Church it shows from the right the old St. Mary's Catholic Church, next on Willamette is the old Carnegie Library and then the 1912 Episcopal Methodist Church with the then "new" First Christian Church behind it. The tower of Eugene City Hall is on the far left of the photo. The dark outline of a structure between the Library and the Methodist Church is an old Victorian house which was later enlarged toward Willamette and turned into retail space and apartments. It for many years housed a series of Antiques store and most recently housed Puttin on the Ritz, a vintage clothing shop. The building is most certainly a total loss after a major fire June 18th.

The Cherry House, 740 High Street

I can find no information on this little cottage that once belonged to the Cherry family and stood at 740 High St., today the site of the east entrance to City Hall. The house was probably constructed about 1870 as the porch supports strongly resemble those of the Peters and Dunn houses that were built in the late 1860's. While the exterior was a little on the plain side the interior made up for it with typical Victorian exuberance. The walls and curtains have been decorated with pine bows and leaves for some unknown celebration. All in all it's a very pleasant room.

Eugene City Hall

This bracketed Italianate building served as the City of Eugene's Fire Hall on the first floor and the City Hall on the upper floor. It stood on the North side of 8th Avenue between Willamette and Park Streets and served in this dual capacity until the City Hall was moved to the Old Eugene High School building at 11th and Willamette St. in 1915. The tower in the back ground served a double purpose as the fire alarm (a large bell) and the hose drying tower. It can be seen in many of the old views of downtown taken from Skinners Butte. The building continued to serve as the downtown fire hall for several years after the relocation of city hall.

New Eugene City Hall (1965)

Here is an aeriel view looking north east toward the Coburg Hills of the 1964 Eugene City Hall which replaced the 1915 City Hall featured in the prior post. It is an interesting shot as it shows the 5th Street Market area (upper left) when it was still a warehouse district. Most of the small structures surrounding the City Hall have now been replaced with large office buildings.