Mary Skinner Packard House

In 1867, three years after the death of her first husband Eugene Skinner, Mary Cook Skinner married Captain N.L. Packard. Right after their marriage they started construction on this house which was completed the next year. Mary Skinner Packard lived in the house at 260 West 6th until her death in 1881 at age 65. The house and its original carriage barn in the back yard still stand, though greatly remodeled and altered as they have served as a rental property for more than 60 years. The most notable change in the house is the enclosure of the large front porch and the replacement of many of the original windows. Also lost were the once extensive grounds that once surrounded the house which were lost to the several lane additions to 6th Avenue.

Second Eugene Skinner Home

After the Eugene Skinner family out grew their log cabin on the West slope of the Butte they built this snug little home closer in the town site on the southeast corner of 6th and Charnelton. It is believed that this is the house where Skinner died in 1864. Later his widow remarried to Captain Packer and moved into a much larger house two doors down which still stands.

St. John Skinner Homestead circa 1955

St. John Skinner, son of Eugene and Mary Skinner built this home on the northern most section of his parents donation land claim, between what is now 1st Avenue and the Willamette River at the end of Madison St. The house was razed in 1955 for the construction of the Eugene Vocational School.

First Presbyterian Church

Just west on 8th from the Lombard House was the First Presbyterian Church. Built in 1883 it stood on the Northeast corner of 8th and Lawrence until it was razed for the construction of the W.O.W. Hall in 1931.

Lombard House

This prim, towered Queen Anne style house was originally built at 227 West 8th, now the approximate site of the St. Vincent De Paul housing complex. Mr. Lombard was a farmer and also a plasterer, working in many early Eugene homes. I can find no information as to the fate of the house, but it has been gone for many years. The commercial building that stood there for many years was a 1920's era structure.

National Guard Armory

Here is a view of the old National Guard Armory which stood on the northeast corner of 7th and Oak, now the site of Umpqua Bank. torn down around 1975 after much protest from early preservationist, nothing replaced the building until the early 90's and the corner served as a parking lot in the intervening years.

Shumway Metal Works 7th and Oak

This is an interesting shot of the intersection of 7th and Oak St. Probably taken about 1955, just prior to the demolition of the entire northwest corner, it shows the Shumway Metal Works with the old National Guard Armory across Oak St. How unusual that a manufacturing business and such dilapidated old buildings would survive in the heart of downtown until the mid 1950's. This corner has been the site of the Hilton Hotel and Convention Center for almost 30 years and was a parking lot in the interim. That large Oak partially hidden by the building with the false front survived until 2009.