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NR Nomination

LOCATION AND PROPERTY NAME
address:113 E Main St historic name:Enterprise Mercantile & Milling Company
Enterprise, Wallowa County (97828) current/other names:EM&M; Berlund Building
assoc addresses:113 1/2 (actual addr)
block/lot/tax lot:
location descr:115 E Main Street (See note below) twnshp/rng/sect/qtr sect:2S 44E 2
PROPERTY CHARACTERISTICS
resource type:Building height (stories):3.0 total elig resources:1 total inelig resources:0
elig evaluation: eligible/significant NR Status: Individually Listed
prim constr date:c.1916 second date:1925 date indiv listed:03/07/2012
primary orig use: COMMERCIAL: General orig use comments:
second orig use: Multiple Dwelling
primary style: Late 19th/20th Amer. Mvmts: Other prim style comments:
secondary style: Commercial (Type) sec style comments:
primary siding: Volcanic Stone siding comments:
secondary siding: Stucco
plan type: 2-Part Vertical Block architect:John Tourtellotte
builder:George Hyatt
comments/notes:
Building takes up more than half a block with multiple addresses. Address of the building manager is actualy 1131/2 but db won't let me enter that. Alterations made to first floor stores, some details lost due to decay, some alteration of fenestration pattern. Address of 115 E Main Street entered on front page of nomination.
GROUPINGS / ASSOCIATIONS
Survey/Grouping Included In: Type of Grouping Date Listed Date Compiled
   Historic Resources of Downtown Enterprise, 1888-1956 MPS 03/07/2012 2011
   Wallowa-Enterprise RLS 08 Survey & Inventory Project 2008
SHPO INFORMATION FOR THIS PROPERTY
NR date listed: 03/07/2012
ILS survey date:
RLS survey date: 06/01/2008
106 Project(s)
SHPO Case Date Agency Effect Eval
09/13/2002 no adverse effect
Special Assess Project(s): None
Federal Tax Project(s): None
ARCHITECTURAL / PROPERTY DESCRIPTION
(Includes expanded description of the building/property, setting, significant landscape features, outbuildings and alterations)
Built between 1916 and 1922, the Enterprise Mercantile and Milling Company Building (EM&M) is located at 115 E Main Street in Enterprise, Oregon, Wallowa County. A stone and concrete Commercial-style building with stylistic classical overtones, the three-story, rectangular building measures 110’ x 150’ and encompasses over a quarter of a city block (Figure 3). The building has a concrete foundation that extends below grade creating a full-story basement, and stone and concrete façades, regular fenestration pattern, full entablature, and flat roof with central skylights. Full-height, coursed-stone pilasters separate the seven bays fronting E Main Street and the five bays fronting NE 1st Street (Photos 1 and 2). Wide concrete members below bands of wood sash windows span each bay and divide the façade horizontally. The pilasters on the two primary façades terminate at a wide frieze below a projecting wood cornice embellished with dentils. A high parapet caps the cornice that is divided by squat pilasters. The center of the front parapet is decorated with a pediment above the date plate that has ghost numbering “1916.” The rear (north) facade is constructed of a solid random ashlar, stone wall with irregular window fenestration. Delivery and pedestrian doors at varying intervals are on this facade (Photo 5). The west side façade is only visible above the neighboring, one-story stone building (Photo 6). This façade is erected of both random rubble and random ashlar stone construction with windows on the upper story. Apartment windows are built-up over the center skylight windows on the roof. The interior of the 50,000 square foot building has three floors and a basement (Figure 4a-d). The ground floor is divided into several commercial spaces and offices. A long hallway in the bay directly west of the central bay extends to the back of the building that has the wide ramp to the basement and service area for the apartment tenants. An elevator and two sets of stairways, located at diagonal corners of the building, lead to the upper floors. The second floor apartments extend around the perimeter of the second floor on what originally was an open mezzanine. One apartment has been added near the center of the floor that is accessed by a ramp. Apartments on this level vary in size with a large manager’s apartment in the center of the south side of the building. The third floor is U-shaped in plan with apartments on both sides of the hallways. Most of the original trim finishes, wood floors, built-in cabinets, bathroom fixtures, and apartment doors with wood screens are intact in the upstairs apartments. The basement is organized around the central delivery ramp that is made of wood. Storage units have been built around the perimeter of the basement along the east and north walls (Photo 10) (Figure 4a). Other storage areas are in the center of the room that also has the utilities for the building. An original freight elevator is near the center of the basement.
HISTORY
(Chronological, descriptive history of the property from its construction through at least the historic period - preferably to the present)
The EM&M, erected from 1916 to 1922 in downtown Enterprise, Oregon, is significant at a local level under Criterion A in the area of Commerce for its contribution to the commercial development of downtown providing retail spaces and residential housing for area residents. The EM&M is also significant in the area of Architecture as an excellent example a Commercial-style, two-part commercial block building type that retains architectural integrity. The EM&M meets the registration requirements for commercial buildings established in the MPD, Historic Resources of Downtown Enterprise, 1888-1956 under Section F-1. The Period of Significance begins in 1922 when the building is completed and ends in 1956, at the end of the historic period defined in the MPD. The significance of the building spans three historic contexts: Railroad, Automobile, and Timber Boom, 1909-1928, The Great Depression and World War II, 1929-1945; and the Post War Resurgence, 1946-1956. During this time, the EM&M Building was an important and prominent building in Enterprise, and the alterations to the building during the POS are reflective of the fortunes of the town. The EM&M meets registration requirements for the NRHP outlined in the MPD under Criterion A in the area of Commerce. The EM&M is significant for its association with the Enterprise Mercantile & Milling Company, one of the first businesses in Enterprise instrumental in developing the downtown, and for its subsequent contribution to the local economy after the building ceased operations as a mercantile. Construction of the EM&M started during one of the town’s most prosperous economic growth periods, when optimism was high for the community’s continued growth. Started in 1916 and completed in 1922, the construction of the building parallels the boom period defined in the MPD as the Railroad, Automobile, and Timber Boom, 1908-1928, subsection, The Eastern Oregon Lumber Company. After the closure of the store in 1925, Wallowa County acquired the building for back taxes in the early 1930s, and invested in its rehabilitation to supply needed housing for residents displaced by the Great Depression and to recoup lost revenue. By the end of the Depression, the apartments and retail businesses were occupied. The use of the building for apartments and retail space brought more people downtown that frequented the downtown businesses, in turn helping the local economy. The history of the EM&M parallels the economies of the various historic contexts in the MPD. The EM&M meets registration requirements for the NRHP outlined in the MPD under Criterion C in the area of Architecture as an excellent example of a two-part commercial block building type that has retail and professional space along the E Main Street and NE 1st Street storefronts, and apartments on the upper floors. Designed by the well-known architectural firm of Tourtellotte and Hummel, the classically inspired, Bowlby stone building with early-twentieth century American movement stylistic details displays salient characteristics of the two-part block buildings as described in Section F of the MPD, Registration Requirements. The EM&M’s rectangular form, street frontage with an alley in the back, clear divisions between the public storefront first floor, regular fenestration on the upper stories, pilasters separating the storefront bays, high parapet, and flat roof are common characteristics of two-part commercial block buildings. Intact classical stylistic features include rusticated ashlar stone pilasters, full entablature with wide frieze board decorated with dentils, a projecting cornice, and multi-light windows between the bays. The three-story edifice is the largest commercial building in downtown, covering a quarter block, and retains a high degree of architectural integrity in its location, setting, feeling, design, association, materials, and workmanship. The storefront alterations do not preclude eligibility as defined in Section F-1, Registration Requirements for two-part block buildings.
RESEARCH INFORMATION
Title Records Census Records Property Tax Records Local Histories
Sanborn Maps Biographical Sources SHPO Files Interviews
Obituaries Newspapers State Archives Historic Photographs
City Directories Building Permits State Library
Local Library: University Library:
Historical Society: Other Respository:
Bibliography:
An Illustrated History of Union and Wallowa Counties. Western Historical Publishing Company, 1902. Barklow, Irene. The Forgotten Grist and Flour Mills of Wallowa County, Oregon: A History of the Eight Grist or Flour Mills That Have Operated in Wallowa County, Oregon. Wallowa, OR: Enchantments Publishers of Oregon, 2001. Chapman, Charles Clarence. Oregon Voter; Magazine of Citizenship. Portland, OR: C.C. Chapman Publisher, Volume 24, No 1.‬ 81. Enterprise Chieftain Recorder. “Son Manages Hyatt Estate, ”April 14, 1927; “Office Rented by Auto Lines in EM&M,” February 26, 1931; “Building Full, Sale Possible,” August 17, 1939; “Pays $27,250 For Building,” October 5, 1939; “McClay to Move Up Main Street: Rents Last Room in Dennis Building,” May 30, 1940; and “Ranch Traded for Building,” April 3, 1941. Enterprise Record Chieftain, “Huge Stone Blocks Quarried For Proposed EM&M Store,” October 28, 1915; “Plans Drawn for Great New Building for the M&M Co.” May 5, 1916; “New EM&M Flour Mill Nearly Ready to Start,” November 8, 1917; “New Mill Grinds 878 lbs. In Week,” January 10, 1918; “Work Resumed on Interior of New EM&M Building,” December 26, 1918; “EM&M Building Will be Ready for Store Use by Early Summer” February 16, 1922; “Store Jammed at M M Sale,” February 25, 1926; “George W. Hyatt Passes While Working in Office,” April 7, 1927; “Tear It Down,” June 27, 1935; “Big Building is Discussed,” July 4, 1935; “Apartment on Store Balcony,” September 10, 1936; “County Gains More Tenants,” January 14, 1937; and “Move To New Offices,” May 27, 1937. Gaston, Joseph, The Centennial History of Oregon, 1811-1912. Chicago: S.J. Clarke Publisher. 1912. League of Oregon Cities. City of Enterprise, Survey of the Financial Situation of the City of Enterprise, Oregon, 1934. Oregonian. “Dealers Upbraid Mail Order Trade.” February 17, 1915; “R.H. Strong Gives Talk to Builders.” March 4, 1917. Ritz, Richard Ellison. Architects of Oregon. Portland: Lair Hill Publishing, 2002. Wallowa County Chieftain. “Kelsay Berland Acquires Courtney Apartment Building,” April 28, 1949; “Bruce Dennis Obituary,” June 21, 1949. Wallowa County Courthouse. County Clerk’s Office. Commissioner Meeting Minutes, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, and 1939. Wallowa County Deed Records, Clerks Office. Wallowa County Courthouse, Enterprise, OR. Wallowa County Reporter. July 10, 1919. Waterleaf Architects. “Building Evaluation Report for the Enterprise Mercantile & Milling Company Building,” 2003. Wright, Patricia. “Tourellotte & Hummel Architecture Thematic Resources.” National Register of Historic Places, 1982.