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Inventory Form

LOCATION AND PROPERTY NAME
address:36930 Happy Hollow Rd historic name:Post House
Summit, Benton County current/other names:Strout House
assoc addresses:Summit Star Rt, Eddyville-Blodgett Hwy
block/lot/tax lot:
location descr: twnshp/rng/sect/qtr sect:11S 7W 6
PROPERTY CHARACTERISTICS
resource type:Building height (stories):2.0 total elig resources: total inelig resources:
elig evaluation: eligible/contributing NR Status:
prim constr date:1875 second date: date indiv listed:
primary orig use: Single Dwelling orig use comments:
second orig use:
primary style: Gothic Revival prim style comments:
secondary style: sec style comments:
primary siding: Horizontal Board siding comments:
secondary siding:
plan type: architect:
builder:
comments/notes:
GROUPINGS / ASSOCIATIONS
Survey/Grouping Included In: Type of Grouping Date Listed Date Compiled
   Benton County RLS Survey 2009 Survey & Inventory Project 2009
SHPO INFORMATION FOR THIS PROPERTY
NR date listed: N/A
ILS survey date:
RLS survey date: 09/30/2009
106 Project(s): None
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)
One story half-hip roof porch across width of main façade. Two entry doors on the main façade; champered porch posts and decoratively sawn brackets on porch. Decoratively sawn porch railing still remains on west side of porch. One story rear wing. Overhanging eaves; enclosed rafters. Cornice-style window heads. Cornerboards, rake and frieze boards. Situated on a lower hillside above the town of Summit, the Post-Strout House fronts east, parallel to the main road. The house is located to the west side of the railroad tracks and is accessed by a gravel drive of Happy Hollow Road. Single story, rectangular addition added to the north elevation and wooden deck. Skylights incerted into roof on both the original and new addition. Also and addition of projecting bay windows on the west elevation. 2nd story balcony on west elevation. - Summit - Historic District potential.
HISTORY
(Chronological, descriptive history of the property from its construction through at least the historic period - preferably to the present)
Written by Mary Weber & Kathy Schutt in 11/5/1984: The Post-Strout House, with the integrity of its location, setting, and exterior design intact, is significant as possibly the oldest building in the town of Summit. Architecturally, the house has some unusual design elements. The house was probably built for William and Katie Post. William Post platted the town of Summit in 1885. The house is situated next to the route of the Corvallis to Yaquina Bay railroad. The location of the house may be related to the construction of the railroad. The town of Summit, which once served as a railroad camp, was the highest point on the railroad route. The house is also located on the former route of the Corvallis-Yaquina Bay Wagon Road. Portions of this wagon road are still visible in the Summit area. William and Katie Post came from Missouri to Oregon in 1876. In 1884, the Posts acquired title from the U.S. government to a quarter section of land in the western portion of Benton County. In 1885, William Post platted the town of Summit in this location. In was also in 1885 that the railroad from Corvallis to Yaquina Bay was completed. The Posts probably had this building built in the mid or late 1880's. Uncertainties also surround this building's early history. The house's large rectangular volume, the interior arrangement, and the double entrance, all suggest that the building may have originally functioned as a hotel or boarding house. Historic records to document this have not been located. In 1896, William Post sold this property to Katie Post. In 1897, Katie Post apparently remarried Charles Hansen. Edward and Storme Strouts received title to this property from the Hansens. Ed Strouts was a section foreman on the railroad. The Strouts family used a portion of the house to board railroad crews. The Strouts owned this house until recent years.
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:
Benton County Deed Registry. Browning, Elsie Bennett, "Oregon, Benton County Marriages, 1851-1922", E.L.S. Brown, Salem, Oregon, 1981. Gast, Barbara, Personal Communication, 1984. Phinney, Mark, "Interview with James E. Post, Historical Records Survey Oregon-Benton County, Works Projects Administration, 1938. Plunkett, Alma, Interview, Nov. 15, 1984.