| SUBJECT PROPERTY
The Sturges Barn is part of a farm complex, which also includes a dwelling and two sheds. The dwelling appears to date from the post World War II period and may have replaced an earlier dwelling. The sheds appear to date from the early 20th century. The date of construction and use are unknown.
A.B. Sturges owned the land on which the barn is sited in 1880, the approximate time the subject barn was constructed according to the current owner in 1984. Sturges is listed in both 1860 and 1870 census records for Clackamas County, in the Marquam precinct. The 1860 census lists A.B. Sturges as a 62-year-old farmer from New York with a wife Eliza, 55, also from New York and one son, Emory, 17, born in Illinois. The 1870 census shows A.B. Sturges to be a 76-year-old blacksmith with a 56-year-old wife, Eliza. In 1883, Sturges sold to Joseph W. Marsh, who owned the property until 1906. John and Anne Bradbury owned the barn between 1908 and 1916, selling to J.L. and Ida Whitris. The Whitris' sold in 1934 to B.M. Randall, owner until 1945.
The barn was constructed using unsawn logs as the structural support. The form gable roof volume with shed attachments was popular in Oregon since the 1860s. A similarly shaped barn is located south of Molalla in the Teasel Creek vicinity. That barn is believed to have been constructed in 1862 by Alfred Sawtell, major teasel grower and employer in the later half of the 19th century. It is not known whether Sturges produced teasel.
The A.B. Sturges Barn, constructed circa 1880, is significant as a well preserved and early example of a Western barn in Clackamas County. Of interest is the use of unsawn logs for structural support.
HISTORIC BACKGROUND
The earliest settler in the Molalla Valley was William Russell who arrived in the early 1840s. Another early land claimant was William Barlow, who settled a 640 acre donation land claim near Russell. The first wagon train arrived in the valley in 1843. It is this date that is generally given for Molalla's initial founding. Early settlers carried out subsistence farming activities coupled with raising livestock. Wheat, supplemented by hay, was the primary "cash" crop, serving as the medium of exchange until 1849. Production of rails, shakes, and timbers were early cottage industries. Molalla was originally called Four Corners for its alleged location at the intersection of two Native American trails, and because it is centrally located within the Molalla Valley, at what was the intersection of four adjacent donation land claims. The Molalla area remained sparsely settled in the early years. A circa 1850 photograph shows only one house and a few sheds. In 1853, the Preston Barger family arrived in the area. After fording the Molalla River, they found no stores and only a few settlers. By 1856 the first school was constructed approximately four miles east of Four Corners, and in 1857 Augusta Engle established the first store in the settlement. The earliest known post office, given the name Molalla, was established in 1850, at or near Liberal, four miles north of Four Corners. It was established by Harrison Wright, who settled in the Liberal area in 1844 and operated a ferry across the Molalla River. Wright served as first post master. The post office was discontinued in August 1851. It was reestablished in 1868, operating until 1874. Its exact location of is unknown. The following year it was moved to the present community of Molalla.
The discovery of gold in California in 1848 had a significant impact on the settlers in the Oregon Territory and in Clackamas County. Within one year after the discovery of gold, Oregon was transformed from a subsistence level of agricultural activity to a major supplier of goods to miners in California. During this period agriculture expanded to include horticulture, dairying, increased livestock raising and more. Gold fever struck the Molalla River basin in the late 19th century. Although gold was initially discovered in the area in the 1860s, lack of confidence and capital delayed exploration for a number of years. By the mid 1880s, however, several new discoveries led to the proliferation of claims along the Molalla River. This flurry of mining activity brought increasing numbers of people to Molalla, which was reflected in numerous developments in the early years of the 20th century. In 1900, the Molalla Public Library was founded, reportedly the oldest continuous library in the County (not confirmed at this writing). In 1903, the first phone line was installed at Robbins Store, at the corner of Main and Molalla Avenue. In 1906, the community's first jail was constructed, and in 1911 Frank Perry constructed Molalla's first hotel, along with his livery stable and saloon. In 1913, the Molalla Pioneer, a weekly newspaper, was started, and it heralded the coming of one of the most momentous events in the community's history: the arrival of the railroad. Equipped with steam trains, the Portland, Eugene and Eastern Railway ran its first train from Canby, on the main line of Southern Pacific, to Molalla.
Although Molalla was the shipping center for agricultural and manufacturing products, up to this point all transportation was by wagon. The coming of the railroad provided a significant boost to the town's prominence as a distribution center and allowed for increased volume of goods both to and from the area. With the celebration of the coming of the railroad in 1913, a large rodeo was organized which became an annual event. Called the Molalla Buckeroo, the rodeo continues to draw crowds to the city each year.
Molalla was incorporated in 1913 with a population of 240. W.T. Everhart was elected mayor with W. Robbins, W.T. Echerd, I.M. Toliver, A.T. Shoemake, W.M. Mackrell and Fred M. Henriksen as the City's first council people. That same year also brought construction of a new school, housing both primary and secondary pupils. The school opened in 1914. By 1916, the town's population had reached 600. Electrical lights were installed the previous year, and in 1917, the first street in Molalla was paved, followed soon after by paved sidewalks. The first automobiles appeared in Molalla during the teen years, and in 1920, gas was still transported to the area in single railcar loads. Drivers were asked to bring a container to get their supply, or if lacking a container, bring the vehicle.
The timber industry burgeoned during the early decades of the 20th century. The Southern Pacific Railroad reported shipment figures that doubled between 1919 and 1920. One report indicated that if railroad cars were available to transport the amount of timber ready for cutting, business could be tripled. Changes in transportation and industry during the teens and twenties had a tremendous impact on the growth and development of the area. It was during this period that many of the historic buildings included in this Inventory were constructed. In 1921 the population of Molalla was approximately 500. The town boasted its own bank, two churches, a weekly newspaper, two garages, several sawmills and various stores, which offered hardware, imports, drugs, automobiles, notions, paint, furniture, general merchandise, feed, warehousing, meats and lumber to the community. Two physicians and one dentist were in residence. Throughout the 19th century the Willamette Valley was the center of Oregon agriculture, producing primarily wheat as an export crop and a variety of secondary crops. Farmers in the Molalla River Valley followed much the same pattern; however, by the turn of the century, wheat farmers were experiencing serious soil depletion due to poor farming practices. As a result much of the wheat acreage was turned over to other crops. The most significant of these in the Molalla area was teasel:
Teasel deserves special mention...During the late 1880s and early 1890s at least one farmer successfully raised teasel...Clackamas County was the only center of teasel production west of the Mississippi and one of the few areas of cultivation outside of New York and Pennsylvania (Olsen 1970:160). |
