Oregon Historic Sites Database

Search Menu

Site Information small logo

Oregon Historic Sites Database

Scanned Document Links

Inventory Form
Inventory Form
NR Nomination

LOCATION AND PROPERTY NAME
address:120 1st St historic name:Fairview City Jail
Fairview, Multnomah County current/other names:1915 Fairview City Jail
assoc addresses:
block/lot/tax lot:
location descr:Located in Handy/Nechocokee City Park; Fairview Avenue; Ne-cha-co-kee Park twnshp/rng/sect/qtr sect:1N 3E 27
PROPERTY CHARACTERISTICS
resource type:Building height (stories):1.0 total elig resources:1 total inelig resources:0
elig evaluation: eligible/significant NR Status: Individually Listed
prim constr date:1915 second date: date indiv listed:05/23/2016
primary orig use: Correctional Institute orig use comments:City Jail
second orig use: Museum
primary style: Utilitarian prim style comments:
secondary style: sec style comments:
primary siding: Concrete: Other/Undefined siding comments:
secondary siding: Cast Iron
plan type: architect:
builder:Citizens of Fairview
comments/notes:
Associated City Hall demolished HRR completed 4/11/2012 (IJ). May be eligible under Criterion A. ADDITIONAL INTERESTED PARTY: East County Historical Organization, Dodi Davies, PO Box 946, Fairview, OR 97024
GROUPINGS / ASSOCIATIONS
Not associated with any surveys or groupings.
SHPO INFORMATION FOR THIS PROPERTY
NR date listed: 05/23/2016
ILS survey date:
RLS survey date: 04/11/2012
106 Project(s)
SHPO Case Date Agency Effect Eval
01/10/2001
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)
The 1915 Fairview City Jail sits on the southern edge of Ne-cha-co-kee Park within the city limits of Fairview. The jail house is a simple, rectangular, concrete building, 10 x 20, with 8 high walls painted with a grey paint. There are open barred windows on the west, north, and east sides of the building. The south-facing front side has a heavy steel door with a padlock. Inside are two cells of equal size on either side of the building and an empty aisle between them. Entry to each cell is through a somewhat ornate iron gate which was furnished with a padlock. At one time each cell contained a cot and a toilet, but these items no longer exist. The jail house, when built, was also furnished with electricity, but that is no longer hooked up.
HISTORY
(Chronological, descriptive history of the property from its construction through at least the historic period - preferably to the present)
The 1915 Fairview City Jail is significant under Criterion A, in the area of Government, at the local level, because it represents the deep pride of a growing and governed city, and the need felt by its residents to organize and regulate themselves. With the coming of the railroad and then automobiles, the citizens found themselves entering into a progressive era with many changes. After their city was incorporated in 1908, the people built a City Hall, made many city improvements, and passed a flurry of anti-vice ordinances. Although Fairview remained a quiet town with little crime, the new ordinances needed a means to enforce them. One of the punishments stipulated in these new laws was the threat of jail. Therefore, discussions led to the planning and subsequent building of a jail house. The jail represented the commitment of the citizens to maintain order, and their desire to build a town with rules and a sense of direction. The jail was located just north of the 1912 Fairview City Hall, which proudly stood as a testament to the stability of the citizens of Fairview and to their vision of coming together as a law-abiding society. Though the 1912 Fairview City Hall was abandoned in the early 1960s and razed in 1979, the little jail house remains. It is the only extant structure left within Fairview relating to city government, and is the last original correctional facility remaining in all of Multnomah County. It is in good condition, is loved by the community, and remains on its original building site (part of the original platted Fairview Town site) in what is today a public park. It stands as a reminder to current and future residents of Fairview of their heritage and how past generations worked to build a stable and lasting community. It currently serves as a museum.
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:Gresham Historical Society, OR Historical Society Other Respository:
Bibliography:
Chilton, W. R. editor. Gresham- Stories of our Past- campground to city. Gresham: Gresham Historical Society, 1993. City Council Records, Fairview, 1915. Dodd, Douglas W., and Peter J. Edwards. Fairview Cultural Resource Inventory and Historic Context. Portland, OR: Portland Historic Research, 1992. McArthur, Lewis A. Oregon Geographic Names, 4th ed., revised and enlarged by Lewis L. McArthur, Portland, OR: Oregon Historical Society, 1975. Nesbit, Sharon. “Only a few naughty residents were housed in Fairview jail.” The Gresham Outlook 21 August 1975: sec. 5: 13. Rees, Helen G. Fairview on Duck Lane. Portland, OR: by the author, 1988. Stone, William. A History of Fairview. 3rd ed., expanded by Nancy (Stone) Hoover, Multnomah County: Nancy Hoover, 2011. Wozniacka, Gosia. "From brawling saloon keepers to strolling tourists." The Oregonian 27 Sept. 2007: Metro East Neighbors.