| INTRODUCTION:
Willakenzie Grange Hall, a vernacular-style meeting hall, is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion A for its association with the Grange Movement in Lane County, Oregon. Having local significance in the area of Social History and Agriculture, the building represents the combined efforts of a local grassroots organization to promote the welfare of society and to actively support farmers’ interests and individual rights. Today, Willakenzie Grange Hall is listed as a City of Eugene Historic Landmark and stands as a reminder of the once-dominant agricultural community that occupied the region since its earliest pioneer settlement. Built in 1913 to serve as a meeting hall for Willakenzie Grange #498, the building retains six of the seven recognized aspects of historic integrity including location, design, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association. Integrity of setting has been lost due to the conversion of the original surrounding farmland to residential and commercial construction. The property’s period of significance begins in 1913 with the building’s construction and ends in 1958, the fifty-year threshold, reflecting continuing activities and influence of the Grange from the organization’s founding to the present.
THE NATIONAL GRANGE MOVEMENT:
Formally known as the National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, the Grange is the nation’s oldest national agricultural organization with grassroots units established in 3,600 local communities across thirty-seven states. With over 300,000 members, the Grange provides service to rural areas on issues such as “economic development, education, family endeavors, and legislation designed to assure a strong and viable rural America.” Similar to the unions that were formed to represent industrial workers during the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, the Grange was formed in 1867 to protect farmers from railroad companies, warehouse owners, merchants, and other businesses who threatened to take advantage of them.
The inspiration to form such an association came in 1866 when President Andrew Johnson commissioned Oliver Hudson Kelley – then a clerk in the agricultural bureau in Washington, DC – to provide a survey of agricultural conditions in the post-war South. On his travels, Kelley witnessed the plight of countless disheartened, apathetic, and frustrated farmers scattered throughout the devastated South. This tour, along with his experience farming the Minnesota prairie, awakened Kelley to the “utterly helpless condition of the farming interest, not only of the South, but of the whole country…The farmers were scattered, divided in opinions, almost indifferent to their condition, and without any means of expressing or enforcing their views as a body. It seemed clear to Kelley that if a remedy was to be found for the evils that he encountered, it must be in the associated and harmonious action of the farming class.”
As a member of the Masonic fraternity, Kelley believed that a “Secret Society of Agriculturists” would bring countless advantages to farmers and agricultural workers throughout the country, not the least of which was a restoration of “kindly feelings among the people.” As a result, Kelley, along with six other government officials who shared his beliefs, founded the National Order of the Patrons of Husbandry in December of 1867 as a fraternal organization designed to unite and give voice to the country’s scattered and unorganized farm population. Together, the seven founders elected officers, composed the order’s constitution, and soon developed a meeting ritual that would be carried out at all future assemblies of the order.
At a time when America was struggling with the burden of post-war reconstruction, the newly formed Grange (as the order came to be known, derived from the Latin granium, meaning “farm”) enabled farmers north and south to join together to speak out on issues important to the common welfare of rural America. This was especially needed in the later years of the nineteenth century as the new technologies of the Industrial Revolution had quickened the pace of industry and had increased the number of capitalists and railroad monopolies that threatened to exploit private farmers.
Shortly after the first official meeting of the National Grange in January of 1868, the first subordinate grange, Potomac Grange No. 1, was formed in Washington DC as a “practice grange” for the emerging ritual work. In April of that year, founding father O. H. Kelley set off on a journey to spread news of the virtues of grange membership to farmers throughout rural America who had yet to hear of the organization. Largely through Kelley’s efforts and the advocacy of independent farmers’ newspapers, local granges were formed first in Eastern and Midwestern states, and later in the West and Northwest. By September of 1873, the total number of subordinate granges had reached 6,062; less than a month later the number had reached 6,914, prompting J.D. McCabe, a contemporary chronicler of the movement to write, “The number of Granges in the United States is increasing so rapidly that it is hard to give an accurate statement concerning them;” however, “the number of members may be safely estimated at about half a million.” After a decline in membership in the 1880s, nationwide grange membership leveled off and has since fluctuated between 150,000 and 300,000 members.
From the outset, the Grange was designed as a three-tiered organization that would effectively provide private farmers with an official channel through which to communicate with outside influences on local, state, and national levels. A local, or subordinate, grange was traditionally formed through a charter issued by its respective state grange. In turn, each state grange reported its business to the National Grange located in Washington D.C. In 1874, county, or Pomona, granges were added to the organization in order to facilitate the far-flung administrative duties of state granges. Although this multi-tiered structure was in place from the earliest days of the organization, subordinate granges were usually established prior to the initiation of county or state granges in areas where the Movement was just beginning.
Since the beginning of the organization, grange halls across the country were used not only as meeting places for local grange chapters, but also served as community centers where social, educational, and charity events regularly took place. Most granges also opened their doors to local community groups and organizations in an effort to foster a spirit of cooperation within the community. As a result, the Grange organization was of major significance within isolated rural communities where local grange halls stood alone as places for social interaction and as a headquarters for community service projects.
THE GRANGE MOVEMENT IN OREGON
Since its earliest years of settlement, Oregon has been an agricultural state with private farming enterprises scattered throughout. From individual county fairs in the 1850s to the inception of the Oregon State Fair in 1861, Oregon farmers saw advantages in the practice of gathering together to share ideas, concerns, and advice. For this reason, dense agricultural areas like the Willamette Valley saw the formation of farmers’ clubs beginning in the early 1870s. The number of such clubs in Oregon began to decline, however, by the mid-1870s when the Grange Movement began to gain momentum throughout the state.
By the winter of 1872-73, the Grange Movement had reached the agricultural communities of Oregon, due in large part to the efforts of W.J. Campbell of Clackamas County. In January of 1873, Campbell succeeded in establishing the first subordinate grange in Oregon in Marshfield (present-day Clackamas), Clackamas County. Campbell and other early Oregon grangers actively organized other grassroots granges throughout the length of the Willamette Valley. After thirty-seven subordinate granges had been established in the state, the Oregon State Grange met for the first time in Salem on September 24, 1873. From that time until today, the State Grange has been responsible for overseeing the membership, activities, and formation of subordinate and Pomona granges throughout the state. Because State Grange policies originate at the subordinate and Pomona levels, the State Grange is often considered to be uniquely expressive of Grange thought and sentiment throughout the entire state.
In 1874, one year after the formation of the Oregon State Grange, the number of granges in the state increased rapidly so that by 1875, Oregon boasted 175 subordinate granges spread throughout 22 counties. After a brief decline in the 1880s, statewide grange membership rose and fell according to changes in population, agriculture, and the economy. Aa result, from that time through the first half of the twentieth century, new subordinate granges were chartered in the state while older chapters fell dormant.
The influence of the Grange in Oregon can be seen in its successful petitions to regulate transportation in the state, first with legislation passed regarding the use of locks on the Willamette River in 1877 and again with enacted legislation pertaining to railroad companies in 1887. Grangers throughout the state supported local agricultural organizations, like the Sheep Breeding Association, as well as the public school system and other educational groups.
Regardless of the granger population throughout the state, Oregon granges have always been very active in lobbying their local and state legislatures. Their petitions focused on issues important to agriculture, education, and social welfare. Since its inception, the Oregon State Grange has petitioned state and national legislatures on issues as diverse as women’s suffrage, the direct election of senators, and rural free delivery. The State Grange was also active in establishing the Oregon Agricultural College in Corvallis, an institution that has grown into today’s Oregon State University and its associated Extension Services throughout the state.
THE GRANGE MOVEMENT IN LANE COUNTY AND EUGENE
Historically, Lane County's economy was largely based on agriculture. The Willamette Valley, in particular, was known as one of the nation’s most productive farming regions. Crops – such as wheat, vegetables, and hops – were hearty and plentiful because of the moderate climate and fertile alluvial soil that farmers in the valley relied upon. Initially, the valley’s early pioneer settlers were purely subsistence farmers, but by the 1860s area farmers also began marketing their produce in surrounding communities. The arrival of railroad transportation in the 1870s and 1880s introduced Lane County farmers to expanded markets and prompted an increase in production; however, the railroad’s high freight costs and fluctuating prices led Lane County farmers to begin forming local grange organizations in an effort to protect themselves from railroad companies whose high prices threatened to reduce or even eliminate the profit farmers received from marketing their produce.
By 1875 Lane County boasted seventeen subordinate granges, second only to Linn County’s twenty-six. The first grange established in the county was Springfield Grange (no longer active), chartered in 1873 in Springfield, Oregon. Less than two years later, Eugene City Grange (no longer active), the first in Eugene, was also established. By the time Willakenzie Grange was chartered in 1913, Lane County had nearly 3,000 individual, owner-operated farms – more than ever before in the county’s history. This increase in private agricultural enterprise in the early-twentieth century brought about an increase in county-wide grange formation and membership; as a result, the construction of Willakenzie Grange Hall came at the height of grange activity in the area.
From the beginning, subordinate granges like Willakenzie have admitted men, women, and youth over the age of fourteen as full members on equal terms. Each member votes to elect local grange officers and to decide the grange’s role in community matters. Subordinate granges promote activities designed to develop leadership, improve life in the community, and expand civic, professional, and educational opportunities for all members of the community, as well as providing emergency relief for community members affected by illness, fire, or natural disaster.
WILLAKENZIE GRANGE:
Since the first Euro-American settlement in 1847, the fertile valley between the Willamette and McKenzie Rivers was a popular destination for a steady stream of settlers. The first public school in the area, the Bogart School House, was constructed in 1854 for local farmers’ children, and by 1860, most of the remaining land in the valley had been claimed by farmers growing wheat, hops, walnuts, and flax. By the turn of the century, the region was known to be an important agricultural center for the nearby city of Eugene.
In May of 1913, Will Ayres and Frank Harlow – both area farmers and sons of early settlers – decided that a local grange would benefit the growing agricultural community in the Willamette-McKenzie river valley. Ayres and Harlow invited area families to attend a meeting at the nearby Bogart School House where a grange was organized consisting of sixty-four initial members. These first members chose the name “Willakenzie,” after the two rivers that flowed through the area. The grange’s first order of business was to secure a meeting place of its own. In September, a .86 acre lot adjacent to the Bogart School House was purchased from Mrs. Catherine M. Bogart for $250. Three grange members, George Smith, Ira Calef, and C.A. Rice, were appointed to draw up plans for the new meeting hall. Their plans called for a simple, two-story rectangular building measuring 32’ x 64’. At the same time, a Building Committee, consisting of Will Ayres, Frank Harlow, and C.A. Rice, was organized to begin construction as soon as possible. By November of 1913, less than six months after the grange was first called to order, Willakenzie Grange housed its first meeting.
Shortly after the hall’s construction, a horse shed and two outhouses were built on the lot, none of which are extant today (although historic photographs indicate that the horse shed was located in back of the building on the north end of the lot). In 1935, grangers planted big-leaf maple trees along the north and west sides of the lot, most of which are still alive today. Twenty-four of the charter grange members who were instrumental in the construction and early maintenance of Willakenzie Grange Hall are buried at the Gillespie Butte Cemetery in Eugene.
As an organization, Willakenzie Grange has always been known for its local civic and educational efforts, and its participation in regional events like the annual Lane County Fair – an event that had been operating since 1884 in conjunction with the Lane County Agricultural Society. Through resolution and parliamentary procedure, members have voiced concerns and ideas for the development and maintenance of many nearby roads, bridges, parks, schools, and businesses. As a result, much of the area has adopted the Willakenzie name, and several members have gone on to do well in public service - including Oregon State Senator, Wayne Morse. Willakenzie Grange is also celebrated throughout the area as the originator of the Producers’ Public Market in Eugene. Established in 1915, the Producers’ Public Market (known today as the Lane County Farmers’ Market) has since become a Eugene tradition and a key piece of the city’s cultural heritage.
Since its earliest days, Willakenzie grangers have offered their hall as a meeting place for neighborhood associations, Boy and Girl Scout troops, the local Red Cross, and other community groups in an effort to realize the Grange’s mission of social well-being and to foster a spirit of charity and cooperation within the community. Since its inception, Willakenzie Grange has hosted countless poetry recitals, choir concerts, food drives, educational lectures, and music, art, and craft competitions, and has also served as a location for food distribution and for area voters to cast their ballots in local, state, and federal elections. Until it was deconstructed, the outdoor fireplace provided hot food to accompany many of these events. Current grange members plan to reconstruct the fireplace so that it can again serve as the WWII memorial and community cookout center for which it was originally intended. While official Grange meetings are open to members only, the many social activities and events held at Willakenzie Grange Hall have always been open to the general public.
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS:
The parameters of this analysis consist of previously surveyed and inventoried historic grange buildings in Lane County, Oregon. Currently, Lowell Grange Hall in Lowell, Oregon is the only grange hall in Lane County that is individually listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Unlike Willakenzie, however, Lowell Grange Hall was originally built as a school in 1914 and was not used as a grange hall until 1940. Willakenzie Grange Hall, on the other hand, is a purpose-built grange hall that was built by local grangers to carry out the unique agricultural and civic missions of the National Grange organization.
West Point Grange Hall in Coburg, Oregon is part of the Coburg Historic District and is similar to Willakenzie in its size and its Craftsman-vernacular style; West Point Grange Hall, however, was not constructed until 1939, a full twenty-six years after Willakenzie area grangers built and began meeting in their own hall. In addition, as an organization, Eugene’s Willakenzie Grange existed at least two years prior to the formation of West Point Grange in Coburg.
In addition to Lowell and West Point, the only other grange hall in Lane County that is on record with the Oregon SHPO is Lorane Grange Hall in Lorane, Oregon, built c. 1910. Constructed in a vernacular style, the building contains one notably newer addition, but otherwise possesses a high degree of integrity. Like Lowell, however, Lorane Grange Hall was originally used as a schoolhouse before it was adopted by the local Lorane Grange. While at least twenty-five grange halls (historic and not) exist in Lane County today, no others have been identified by the Eugene City Planning Office, the Lane County Planning Office, or the State Historic Preservation Office.
Today, Willakenzie Grange Hall is one of two remaining grange halls incorporated within the city of Eugene proper (the other is Four Oaks Grange), and is the closest grange hall to the city center. As such, the building stands as an important reminder of the area’s oft-forgotten agricultural heritage.
CONCLUSION:
Willakenzie Grange Hall is locally significant under National Register Criterion A for its association with the Grange Movement in Lane County. The building is significant in the area of Social History and Agriculture, as it represents the seat of an organization that once served as the social and recreational cornerstone of a rural community and has been the heart of area farmers’ and agricultural workers’ meetings for decades. The building continues to function as a grange hall today, ninety-five years after local grangers first constructed it. As of June 2008, the Grange boasted an official meeting number of 1,921. |
