Historical Features
Bend has a relatively short modern history, but a much longer Native American history, going back thousands of years, as evidenced by the archaeological resources found along the river. While most archaeological resources have likely been destroyed within the urban area, there are a significant number of sites around the city that have been identified.
United States government scouts, such as John C. Fremont, and government survey teams explored Central Oregon in the 1840s and 1850s, but it was not until the 1870s that the first permanent settlement was established in the area. By 1877 a land claim was filed for the “Farewell Bend” ranch, located at the dramatic 90 degree bend in the Deschutes River just south of what is now downtown. A post office for the Farewell Bend settlement was applied for in 1886, and granted that year under the name of Bend.
In its earliest days, Bend was a small trade center for the agricultural and ranching operations to the east and north. Shortly after the turn of the century, East Coast developers formed the first irrigation companies in the area, and construction was begun on several large canals and dams needed to take water out of the Deschutes River to irrigate the high, dry desert. The main canals are still in operation today, and snake through Bend as they carry water to agricultural lands as far away as Madras, 40 miles to the north.
The City of Bend was incorporated in 1905, with a population of about 500 persons. In the next decade, two events changed the direction of Bend for the next half century. In 1911 the Oregon Trunk Line Railroad coming south from the Columbia River was completed to Bend. The railroad created a new lifeline to move people and products in and out of Central Oregon. Four years later, two large Minnesota lumber companies, the Shevlin-Hixon company and the Brooks-Scanlon company, announced plans to build large sawmills on each side of the Farewell Bend stretch of river.
The railroad and lumber mills created an explosion in Bend’s population and increased the number of residents to more than 5,000 persons by 1920. These same forces led to a tremendous growth in commerce and housing that is still evident today in much of downtown and older residential areas west and south of downtown. As a result, many of the historic buildings and structures listed in the city’s inventory of historical buildings and places are direct products of the boom period of the first part of the 20th century.
The Bend area history is recorded by the Deschutes County Historical Society. This organization maintains and operates the Des Chutes Historical Center in the old Reid School building at the south end of downtown. The Historical Society assists the city and county in their efforts to assess, record and preserve historic and cultural sites within the urban area. Such efforts are important because:
■ public awareness of Bend’s historical and cultural background has been and will continue to be an important source of knowledge, pride, education, and enjoyment for visitors and residents;
■ rapid growth and development make it imperative that the city’s historical and cultural resources be identified and protected; and
■ properly restored and utilized historical and cultural resources enhance the economy of the area.
Oregon Administrative Rules describe how local historic resources are to be evaluated, and the rules establish certain standards for historic resources of “statewide significance” and property owner notification. Table 3-1 on the next two pages lists the historic structures and sites that played a part in the growth and development of the Bend urban area.
Table 3-1 Inventory of Historic Sites in the Bend Urban Area |
|
HISTORIC STRUCTURES |
LOCATION |
H. E. Allen House |
875 Brooks Street |
Bend Athletic Club Gymnasium✶ |
520 NW Wall Street |
Bend Railroad Depot |
1160 NE Division Street |
Bend Water & Light Co. Powerhouse/dam |
Foot of Vermont Street |
Bend Woolen Mill |
1854 NE Division Street |
Charles Boyd Homestead✶ |
20410 Bend River Mall Drive |
Cozy Hotel |
327 NW Greenwood Avenue |
Deschutes County Library Building✶ |
507 NW Wall Street |
Delaware Grocery |
845 NW Delaware Avenue |
Downing Hotel |
1033 NW Bond Street |
Trinity Episcopal Church✶ |
469 NW Wall Street |
First Presbyterian Church |
157 NW Franklin Avenue |
A.L. French Home |
429 NW Georgia Avenue |
Hoover’s Universal Garage |
124-128 NW Greenwood Avenue |
Steidl and Tweet irrigation dam |
Division St. near Yale Avenue |
Kenwood School |
701 NW Newport Avenue |
Keyes House |
912 NW Riverside Boulevard |
Liberty Theatre |
849-851 NW Wall Street |
Lucas House |
42 NW Hawthorne Avenue as further identified as Lot 11 and 12, Block 28 of the Bend Subdivision. |
Thomas McCann House✶ |
440 NW Congress Street |
Mountain View (Mayne) Hospital |
515 NW Kansas Avenue |
August Nelson Building |
838 NW Bond Street |
Niswonger House |
44 NW Irving Avenue |
O’Donnel Building |
921-933 NW Wall Street |
Old Clinic |
731 NW Franklin Avenue |
Old Bend High School Building✶ |
520 NW Wall Street |
O’Kane Building✶ |
115 NW Oregon Avenue |
George Palmer Putnam House |
606 NW Congress Street |
Pierson Blacksmith Shop |
211 NW Greenwood Avenue |
A. J. Tucker Blacksmith Shop |
200-202 NW Greenwood Avenue |
James E. Reed House |
45 NW Greeley Avenue |
Reid School✶ |
129 NW Idaho Avenue |
Evan A. Sather Home✶ |
7 NW Tumalo Avenue |
Sawyer House |
434 Drake Road |
St. Francis Catholic Church |
494 NW Lava Road |
Shevlin-Hixon Executive House |
545 NW Congress Street |
N.P. Smith Pioneer Hardware Building✶ |
935-937 NW Wall Street |
Spheir Building |
901 NW Bond Street |
Stover House✶ |
1 Rocklyn Road |
Old U.S. Post Office✶ |
777 NW Wall Street |
John I. West Building |
130 NW Greenwood Avenue |
Wright Hotel✶ |
215 NW Greenwood Avenue |
Nels and Lillian Andersen House |
63291 Nels Anderson Road |
SITES DESIGNATED WITH PLAQUES |
LOCATION |
1813 Rock |
129 NW Idaho Street |
Bend School Landmark |
Drake Park |
A.M. Drake Homesite |
Drake Park |
Foley Landmark |
Pilot Butte State Park |
Johns Landmark |
Drake Park |
Oregon Trunk Freight Warehouse Site |
Railroad tracks & NW Division |
Pilot Butte Inn Site |
1133 NW Wall Street |
Shevlin-Hixon Mill site |
Shevlin Center near dam |
Central Oregon Pioneers’ Landmark |
Pioneer Park |
Weist Homesite Landmark |
1315 NE Third Street |
Brooks Scanlon Craneshed Site |
721 SW Industrial Way |
✶ Sites on the National Register of Historic Places |
The items in Table 3-1 represent the city’s official list of historic places compiled by the city and county, and approved by the Oregon Land Conservation and Development Commission. Any land use action or building modification to the historic structures on the approved list must be reviewed and approved by the joint city/county Historical Landmarks Commission, a citizens committee established in 1980.
Additional information and evaluation of historic sites is contained in resource material available at the city and county planning departments, the Des Chutes Historical Center, and in rules adopted by the state Land Conservation and Development Commission.