William Faull commissioned this building as a hardware, farm implements, and home furnishings store. Mr. Faull is considered one of the pioneering merchants of the city. He was born in Wisconsin, and his father set out for the California gold rush in 1848 but died aboard a ship. William’s mother was left to raise their children, including William, who was a baby at the time. In 1875 William married Mary J. Kinney of New York. They came west in 1880 and settled in the area where Mr. Faull farmed for four years.
He was later in the hardware and farm implement business at a different location on Main Street and bought out his partner Harry Cosper in 1888. Business prospered, and in 1892 he began to build his new building. The two-story brick building had two storefronts, the main hardware store to the south and a small sublet to the north. The smaller space had at times been a jewelry store as well as a millinery (The Vogue). There was a tinsmith shop upstairs, which was accessible from stairs at the back of the hardware store.
In 1902, Mr. Faull built a single-story brick addition in the back. At that time, he also developed the eastern half of upper floor, which he intended as a lodge or meeting hall. The entrance to that space is through the upper floor of the then newly-built Uglow Building beside it. The upper space, facing Main Street, served as an office for doctors and dentists until the 1980s. The back western half retained its access through the interior of the main building and was never finished off. It remained a tinsmith shop (operated by Mr. Neis) and eventually became storage space.
Evidence suggests that there had been a wrap-around mezzanine, and it isn’t known when that was removed. The building had a freight elevator or lift although nothing remains except the framing for the opening to the second story. There was an enclosed, interior stairwell at the back of the building to access the upper floor that has since been removed.
In 1908, William Faull sold the business to the Craven brothers, who had been operating a hardware store in Independence. Around 1910, the Cravens removed the partition between the two storefronts to make one large interior. They moved the southern front entrance door to the center of the building and added a tin ceiling to the large center section. They shortened the doors and windows and added divided glass fixed transoms to the facade. The exterior cast iron pilasters and tin cornice and bracket assembly were retained.
That façade remained into the1950s where photographs show the pilasters encased. Eventually, the entire first story storefront, except the pilasters and tin cornice and bracket assembly, was removed during a conversion to a Ben Franklin store.
Subsequent tenants included Cooley’s furniture in the 1950s, the Ben Franklin in the 1960s, and Coast-To-Coast in the 1970s. In 1986, a movable set was built inside to film the office scenes for the movie Promise. In 1990, the interior was refreshed and housed Ron Terry’s Video and Rent-To-Own and then Dallas Antique Mall until 2024.
KEY REFERENCES:
- Independence Enterprise, Polk County Observer, Polk County Itemizer (1888 – 1910)
- City of Hillsboro Oregon Historic Site Form for William Faull
- Library of Congress Sanborn Maps: https://www.loc.gov/collections/sanborn-maps/?q=dallas+oregon