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Oregon Historic Sites Database

address:395 3rd Ave N historic name:Beauchamp Building
Stayton, Marion County current/other names:Stayton Pharmacy
assoc addresses:
block/lot/tax lot:
location descr: twnshp/rng/sect/qtr sect:
resource type:Building height (stories):2.0 total elig resources:1 total inelig resources:0
elig evaluation: eligible/significant NR Status: Individually Listed
prim constr date:1913 second date: date indiv listed:11/01/2019
primary orig use: COMMERCIAL: General orig use comments:Commerce/Specialty Store; Health Care/Medical business/office; Recreation & Culture/Music Facility
second orig use:
primary style: Late 19th/20th Amer. Mvmts: Other prim style comments:
secondary style: Commercial (Type) sec style comments:
primary siding: Concrete: Other/Undefined siding comments:Cast
secondary siding:
plan type: 2-Part Block architect:Unknown
builder:Unknown
comments/notes:
Survey/Grouping Included In: Type of Grouping Date Listed Date Compiled
   Stayton Historic Downtown RLS 2011 Survey & Inventory Project 2011
NR date listed: 11/01/2019
ILS survey date:
RLS survey date: 08/17/2011
Special Assessment
Status Term End Yr
PR Review 1st  2028
106 Project(s): None
Federal Tax Project(s): None
(Includes expanded description of the building/property, setting, significant landscape features, outbuildings and alterations)
The Beauchamp (/bō, kamp/) Building is a two-story, pre-cast concrete block building of Early Twentieth Century Commercial style with a hint of Mission Spanish Revival in the parapet cap. Constructed in 1913, the building is situated at the downtown intersection of Third Avenue and High Street in the rural town of Stayton, Oregon. Surrounding the Beauchamp Building is a mix of late-nineteenth and twentieth century commercial and residential buildings, along with vacant lots and surface parking lots. Built on the last twenty-five-foot wide lot, on the north end of the most consistent row of two-story fireproof buildings within the Historic Downtown Area of Stayton MPD boundary, this two-part building reveals the formal architectural composition that concrete block buildings assumed in the town during the 1910s. Although small in footprint, 2500 square feet per floor, and with a rectilinear footprint on a concrete foundation, the Beauchamp Building is the tallest pre-cast concrete block building in Stayton. The character features of the building’s exterior are the original fenestration of the building, the second story one-over-one wood windows, transom windows, the plate glass windows, the pre-cast concrete blocks, and the three building entryways, which are all in their original locations. The concrete building also retains “readily observable block patterns and ornamentation,” indicative of the pre-cast concrete block construction. The interior layout of the building features two main rooms on the first floor that function as two separate retail spaces and are separated by a lobby with an interior staircase and two restrooms, and one large open room on the second floor, which is divided and partitioned into open office space. The interior is in good condition and retains its character features, including baseboards, plaster walls, window and door trim, and over seventy-five percent of the original wood floors. Numerous alterations were made to the building in the 1950s, including the removal of the tin cornice, changing the appearance and materials of the eastern storefront, the dentil frieze was replaced with plywood, and the entire exterior, excluding doors and glass, was covered in a fibrous slurry material. While these alterations happened in the mid-twentieth century, two major renovations, one in 1997 and one in 2018/2019, have restored much of the character and feeling of the original building by using historic documentation and photographs to restore the building’s historic appearance. These restoration efforts included restoring the interior layout of the floorplan to reflect the original floorplan, scraping and sanding the plain face blocks on the exterior to remove as much fibrous material as possible to restore the blocks to their original appearance, and restoration of five concrete columns, dentil frieze, two concrete belt courses, the stepped parapet, and the two entries. Plans to rebuild the tin cornice are in place. Overall, the Beauchamp Building retains its character defining features and its integrity of feeling, location, setting, workmanship, and association, and remains a representative example of pre-cast concrete block building. Further, the maintenance and restoration efforts that removed modern materials meet the requirements of the MPD as they restore the historic appearance, are compatible with the building’s original design, and the storefront facades no longer are covered in modern materials.
(Chronological, descriptive history of the property from its construction through at least the historic period - preferably to the present)
The commercial building at 395 N. 3rd Avenue, Stayton, Marion County, Oregon, constructed in 1913 for C.A. and Louise Beauchamp, is locally significant under National Register Criterion A, in the area of Commerce, as contributing to Stayton's historic main street development. The Beauchamp Building is one of several concrete block buildings constructed on the west side of 3rd Avenue between 1908 and 1916. Built to house a pharmacy, a specialty store and a dancehall, spaces were also rented for a variety of services. The success of this business in a modern, fireproof building, in its northern location, reflects a comprehensive change in Stayton’s commercial development. The Beauchamp building anchored and helped define the business district and movement of the downtown core to the north, and aided in the commercial ascendency of Stayton from a village to a town. Additionally important is Louise Beauchamp’s development as a pharmacist from 1908 to 1928. In the early 1900s only two percent of pharmacists were women and most of these women worked in hospital pharmacies. Women in the retail environment were rare and even discouraged up and through the 1930s, and Louise’s story plays an important part of Stayton’s Commerce history. The Beauchamp Building is also nominated for its local significance under Criterion C, for Architecture, as an example of a pre-cast concrete block building. The Beauchamp Building is a two-story, pre-cast concrete block building, which occupies its original site and is a nearly intact example, in a group of similar early twentieth century commercial buildings erected between 1908 and 1916. Nine concrete block buildings from this period still exist along a three-block portion of 3rd Avenue. While similar in massing, the facades of these buildings exhibit a remarkable variety of surface detail and ornamentation. The Beauchamp is the only building in Stayton to be all plain-face pre-cast concrete block. The simplicity works well as not to distract from the rest of the composition: the glass, the dentils, the concrete belt courses, and unique Mission Spanish Revival stepped parapet. The Beauchamp is a painted building; the colors used have helped highlight the character-defining architectural details, historic feeling and association. The period of significance, from 1913 to 1946, encompasses the building construction, the Beauchamp’s management of a business in Stayton’s burgeoning commerce history, the development of Third Avenue and the sale of the building to another pharmacist, just before Clarence Beauchamp passed away. Additionally, the Beauchamp Building meets the general and property-type registration requirements under the Historic Downtown Areas of Stayton, Oregon Multiple Property Designation (MPD). In regard to the general requirements, the building fits into the MPD’s period of significance (1885-1955), retains character-defining architectural details, reflects the original workmanship and design intent, occupies its original location, exists within an appropriate setting, and retains historic feeling and association. For the property-type requirements, as already demonstrated, the pre-cast concrete building has observable block patterns and ornamentation and the storefront facades are not covered with modern materials.
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:University of Oregon
Historical Society:Oregon Historical Society; Marion County Other Respository:
Bibliography:
Bailey, Barbara Ruth, Main Street, Oregon Historical Society publication, 1982-pp. 81-82. Bailey, op. cit. p. 95 observes that the beginning of masonry construction is a significant signal of town prosperity and the occasion of civic pride. Correspondence with Gregg Olson, University of Oregon Historian Daily Capital Journal, Salem, Oregon 24 May 1912. Dougherty, Phil, Pharmacy in Washington: A History, www.historylink.org/File/9453, 04/27/2019. Flynn, L.J., "A Resume" The Pacific Coast Architect, 3.1 (1912). Henderson, M. (2002). American Women Pharmacists, New York: Pharmaceutical Products Press, pp.24-46. Higby, Gregory and Stroud, Elaine, American Pharmacy, American Institute of History of American Pharmacy, 2005. Historic Oregon Newspapers, University of Oregon at www.oregonnews.uoregon.edu: Capital Journal (Salem, OR), Daily Capital Journal (Salem, OR), The Daily Journal (Salem, OR), The Stayton Mail (Stayton, OR), Stayton Standard (Stayton, OR), The Sunday Oregonian, (Portland OR). Historical Atlas of Marion and Linn Counties, Oregon, Edgar Williams & Co. 1978, pp. 25-26. Lau, Ernst, The Waterways of Stayton, Santiam Heritage Foundation, 2002. Jones, Mathilda Siegmund, History of Stayton, Marion County Historical Society, Vol. 1, 1955. National Register of Historic Places, Historic Downtown Area of Stayton, Multiple Property Documentation, 31 May 2006. Newspapers.com: Albany Democrat (Albany, OR), The Capital Journal (Salem, OR), The Daily Journal (Salem, OR), Oregon Daily Journal (Salem, OR), The Oregonian (Portland, OR), Statesman Journal (Salem, OR). Obituary of C.A. Beauchamp, Daily Capital Journal, 27 March 1946. Obituary of Louise Beauchamp, Statesman Journal, 8 October 1963. Obituary of Marilyn Odenthal, Statesman Journal, 2 August 2015. Oral Interview with Stayton Resident Betty Adams, 1 January 2018. Oregon Historical Sites Database. Retrieved from: wwworegon.gov/oprd/HCD/OHC/docs/marion_stayton_shorthistoriccontext.pdf The Pacific Coast Architect, March 1913, Volume 4, Number 6, pp. 278, pp. 335. Rice, Harmond Howard, Concrete Block Manufacture; Processes and Machines, New York: J. Wiley & Sons, 1906. Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps of Stayton Oregon 1921, 1931 "Statement of Historic Context Stayton” Oregon Parks and Recreation 2018. "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-6XC3-MQ4?cc=1325221&wc=9BWH-T7M%3A1030550601%2C1030809801%2C1031357101 : 5 August 2014), Oregon > Marion > ED 136 Salem Precinct 4 Salem city Ward 4 > image 6 of 10; citing NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.). "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GRV2-9FM8?cc=1727033&wc=QZZW-TZK%3A133639701%2C135614601%2C135837301%2C1589091729 : 24 June 2017), Oregon > Marion > Stayton > ED 231 > image 10 of 28; citing NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.). "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GRNT-YJ5?cc=1488411&wc=QZJY-C6J%3A1036471901%2C1036668101%2C1038413301%2C1589335615 : 14 December 2015), Oregon > Marion > East Stayton > ED 330 > image 1 of 12; citing NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.). "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9RC8-Q7?cc=1810731&wc=QZF7-S6P%3A648804701%2C648805702%2C649776401%2C1589282400 : 8 December 2015), Oregon > Marion > Stayton > ED 25 > image 2 of 10; citing NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002). "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9RC8-Q7?cc=1810731&wc=QZF7-S6P%3A648804701%2C648805702%2C649776401%2C1589282400 : 8 December 2015), Oregon > Marion > Stayton > ED 25 > image 2 of 10; citing NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002). "United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-L17B-NG?cc=1968530&wc=9FCM-K6D%3A928309601%2C928411701 : 14 May 2014), Oregon > Marion County no 1; A-Straw, Vernie A. > image 286 of 4238; citing NARA microfilm publication M1509 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.). "United States World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9GF-D9M4?cc=1861144&wc=SPSB-4WL%3A1420021801 : 9 April 2016), 100770146 > image 1245 of 2053. Citing NARA microfilm publications M1936, M1937, M1939, M1951, M1962, M1964, M1986, M2090, and M2097 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).