Bailey-Booth House

This fantastic wedding cake of a house was built by Mark Bailey, a professor of mathematics at the U of O, on the northwest corner of Broadway and High in about 1876. It was later owned by Senator Robert Booth who's family lived in the house until it was purchased by the First Baptist church in the mid 1920's as the site for a new sanctuary. That church building now houses the John G. Shedd Institute for the performing Arts.

The Johnson-Wilkins House

Directly across 5th Avenue from the Geary house, at 482 Lawrence Street, stood the Dr. J.W. Johnson house. Dr Johnson was the first President of the University of Oregon and had the house constructed in 1883. It was said the Dr. Johnson examined every board and timber that went into the building to insure a sound structure. The house had 13 foot ceilings downstairs which comprised two parlors, a dining room, kitchen,pantry and Library. Upstairs were four bedrooms and a large bath. In 1906 the house was purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Amos Wilkins. Mr. Wilkins was the son of early Lane County Pioneers and brother of Eugene Mayor, F.M. Wilkins. Mrs. Wilkins always claimed her husband bought the property because of the fine barn that stood behind the house, which included stalls for several horses, carriage storage and electric lights! Mrs. Wilkins stayed in the house until she was nearly 100 years old. Soon after her passing in the early 1960's the house was dismantled and replaced with an auto repair shop which still occupies the site. The only thing that remains from this fine old Italianate home is one of the large old shade trees on the Lawrence Street side of the property.

Belshaw-Condon House

The mansard roofed Belshaw-Condon house was built by George Belshaw in 1878 at 148 E. 11th Avenue ( S.W. corner of 11th and High). It is the only example besides Deady and Villard Halls on the University of Oregon campus of the Second Empire style in Eugene. In 1882 the house was purchased by Dr. and Mrs. Condon. Condon, a long time geology professor at the University, would live the rest of his life in the charming house. Sometime in the 1880's Dr. Condon added a wing on the right side of the house which added two rooms to the original eight room house. The additional was carefully constructed to match the existing style of the house with mansard roof, dormers and bracketed cornice. The house stayed in the family after Dr. Condon's death and was used as a rental until it was moved to 1268 Jackson (second photo)by a grandson sometime in the 1920's where it stands today. Other than the lose of the original porch and roof-top railing the exterior of the house is basically intact after the removal of non-historic siding circa 2000.

A Now Impossible View

It seems that most of the photos taken from the top of Skinners Butte looked out due south over downtown and few early shots included the growing University of Oregon campus to the south-east. Starting at left is the bend of the Willamette River with Villard and Deady Hall in the upper center of the photo. Just below center is the Midgely Mill complex approximately at the far western reaches of the current E.W.E.B. site. In the extreme lower left is the rear of the Cogswell-Miller house of 1884. This house was moved in 1909 to its current location at 246 E. 3rd. In the extreme lower right is the back of the Shelton-McMurphy house. This view would now be impossible as the Ya Po Ha Terrace (along with a heavy stand of huge firs all over the butte) now looms up on the left about where the old Shelton carriage house stood.

Villard Hall

Here is a great shot of the east side of Villard Hall on the University of Oregon campus. This photograph was probably taken about 1905, about 40 years before the horrible Robinson Theater addition was tacked on to its matching West facade.

Astronomical Observatory

Similar to Villard Hall in its detailing, the observatory was built in 1889 atop Skinners Butte by local builder W. H. Abrams from a design by Portland Architect Warren H. Williams (Who also designed Villard Hall, the second building on the U of O campus). The Observatory cost the University $4782.78. Part of this coast was the $1,000 paid to Dr. T.W. Shelton who originally owned the property the observatory was built on. (A side note: Dr. Shelton at first did not want to sell but changed his mind in September 1888. Perhaps as he needed funds to rebuild his not yet completed mansion on the south side of the Butte after it had been burned nearly to the ground by a disgruntled worker.) Subject to vandalism and handicapped by its distance from the University, the building was abandoned by June 1898. In the early morning hours of May 12, 1905, the Observatory was covertly demolished with several charges of dynamite as it had become a serious liability to the University. If you walk to the view point at the east end of the parking lot atop the butte you can still the foundation of the structure.

Shelton-McMurphy-Johnson House, circa 1895

In a previous post I mentioned the old University of Oregon Observatory that once stood on top of Skinners Butte. This photo of the Shelton-McMurphy-Johnson house from about 1895 shows the observatory perched on the east side of the hill top. Western Oregon with so many cloudy nights was not a good place for an astronomy class so after only a few years, use by the University was discontinued. It was soon thought of as a liability and was finally dynamited early one Sunday morning in 1905. I should note that the staircase seen in this photo leading from the front of the house down to the lower terrace is currently being restored by the City of Eugene. Unlike the original staircase which was off set to the west the new stairs will lead straight down from the original front steps to the porch and extend all the way to the street. Hopefully they will accommodate the remaining grade for the old carriage drive that once passed along the front of the property.

Franklin Blvd. from Hendricks Park 1927

This panorama of East Eugene featuring Franklin Blvd. appears to have been taken from the Hendrick's Park vicinity. There is virtually nothing familiar in this shot until you look to the left of the near smokestack and see the roof of Villard Hall on the University of Oregon campus. The Eugene Hotel and the Minor Building loom in the distance along with Skinners Butte to the right. The open area in the foreground is approximately where Joe Romania Chevrolet was to locate years later with is distinctive "Fish Bowel" Showroom. Most of what you see in this shot was replaced in the 1950's and 60's with restaurants and Motels to accommodate travelers from the newly completed Interstate I-5.

University of Oregon Campus circa 1895

Here is an earlier view of the U of O campus taken by Winter's studio in about 1895. This view is closer to campus and from a more northerly point than the prior image. This photograph can be dated to 1892-1895 as it shows the new gymnasium after it was completed in 1892 but before the ivy started growing up the walls as it did for many years. It also illustrates how the west side of Villard Hall once looked before the 1940's addition of the Robinson Theater. It is hard to believe that this small building was the only athletic facility the University had until 1908 when a new men's gym was built and this became the women's athletic building. Notice all the empty "countryside" surrounding the seemingly isolated campus and how small the now huge tree's are that shade the campus.

University of Oregon circa 1910

This photo has me slightly puzzled. It is a view of Villard and Deady Halls taken from the West/North West probably about where the Phoenix Inn stands today. I assume the body of water in the foreground is the Millrace but it looks more like a pond or even a small lake to me. Perhaps that section was made considerably smaller when it was "canned up" under Broadway. It's such a shame that in the late 1940's when the Robinson Theater was constructed that it couldn't have been built away from Villard Hall instead of tacked on like a conjoined twin forever marring the once beautiful west facade.