The W. C. Brown Building, currently 861, 863, and 865 Main Street – was built in 1889, the same year as the Adam K. Wilson Building and the David Crider Building on the same block. In form and substance, it is essentially the identical twin of the adjacent Crider Building. This two-story brick building and its twin next door are excellent examples of the Italianate style with large storefront windows in bays, brick construction, recessed entrance, paired double-hung windows on the upper story, and a decorative pointed arch parapet with a date plate in the center. Again, reflective of the Italianate style, the second story of the buildings were configured for non-retail uses such as apartments, offices, or meeting halls.
William C. Brown had early involvement in the business community in town. First, in 1853, he bought out the stock of the Ellendale General Merchandise in the nearby settlement of Ellendale and moved it to the downstream settlement of Cynthian, north of the La Creole River (now called Rickreall Creek) to start his own store. In 1857, Mr. Brown moved his merchandise business across the river to a wooden building on Main Street in the newly platted (1856) town of Dallas, his store being the first merchandising business in Dallas.
On July 31, 1889, a fire that started in the bakery behind the Crider Brothers Grocery, destroyed most of the wood buildings on the block of Main between Court and Mill Streets. Many of businesses soon reopened and in 1889, the Criders purchased property next to the Brown building and both buildings were rebuilt side-by-side in brick, in large part to alleviate the danger of fire.
In 1892, the Sanborn Fire Insurance maps show that the Brown building had a general merchandising store (Brown’s) and a bank on the first floor plus offices, a Millinery store and printing business on the second floor. By 1913, 420 Main Street was a grocery store and 416 was a tobacco and cigar store. In the 1930s, 420 Main Street featured Skeels’ Butcher shop and grocery store and 416 Main Street was Stockwell’s confectionary store. Other businesses of the era included Mrs. B. Toner Exclusive Millinery, Raymond’s Dress shop and Butler’s Variety Store. W.C. Brown kept his business in the Brown Building until he retired in 1903.
As the building was located directly across Main Street from the Polk County Courthouse, the Brown building’s second floor emerged as a prime spot for law offices. During the first decades of the new century, an abundance of attorneys occupied the building. Joseph Helgerson, Polk County District Attorney at that time, had an office on the second floor of the building and Lot D. Brown, an attorney, moved his new office to the second floor in 1924. Charles Gregory, admitted to the bar in 1917, became auditor and police judge for Polk County during the 1920s and moved his office to the Brown building, as did District Attorney W.W. Harcombe. Later, District Attorney, Elmer Barnhart, moved into Harcombe’s office. In addition to the various attorneys, Will Caldwell, a music teacher, had his studios in the back of the Brown building for years.
KEY REFERENCES:
- Library of Congress Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps:
- Polk County Assessor’s Deeds
- The Itemizer Observer, April 2, 1959, Dallas of 35 Years Ago Sketched by Blocks
- The Oregon statesman., January 26, 1929, Page 6
- The Oregon statesman., November 05, 1939
- Capital journal., August 08, 1929