The town of
Lebanon is a perfect example of why I made these
PLACES
pages a major part of my website. I had never been to Lebanon before
2006, and I discovered that much of its history had disappeared in the
last few years. The 1909 Lebanon High School, Santiam Elementary, and
the Motor-Vu Drive-In were already gone. While I was working in Lebanon,
the Hasty Freez was demolished almost before I realized it and I
realized a PLACES page about Lebanon had to be done. I caught the old
Lebanon Supermarket just in time, and soon the old Grant Street Bridge
will undoubtedly come down once its replacement is finished.
The Lebanon
I saw was quite different from the Lebanon of a few years ago, and not
all the changes were bad. The restorations of the Elkins Flour Mill and
Santiam Travel Station were completed and the Kuhn Theatre had reopened.
Lebanon will surely see even more changes in the years to come. This
page serves as a snapshot of Lebanon in the year 2006.
The area now known
as Lebanon was initially called Peterson’s Gap, named after Asa
Peterson, one of the earliest settlers in Oregon who took a land claim a
few miles southwest of where the town is today. Jeremiah Ralston and his
wife Jemima arrived here in 1847 and Jeremiah opened the first store in
Lebanon at what is now the corner of Main & Oak Streets. Ralston began
platting the town and named it Lebanon after his birthplace, Lebanon,
Tennessee, and because the cedar trees along the South Santiam River
reminded him of the cedars of Lebanon in the Bible. The name was
initially controversial, and for a time the town was also referred to as
Pinhook, but by the time the post office was established in 1851, the
name of Lebanon had been accepted. Ralston had the first seven blocks
platted in 1855, and platted all additions to the ton until 1887. The
town was incorporated in 1878.
Excavation of the
Albany-Santiam Canal from the South Santiam River at Lebanon to Albany
began in 1872. It did not connect directly to Lebanon initially. The
Lebanon-Santiam Canal, originally called the Lebanon Ditch, was
excavated in 1891 and 1892, winding through the town to make use of
existing sloughs as much as possible.
Lebanon’s first
newspaper, the Lebanon Express, was established in 1887. It remains in
print today. Lebanon had two other early newspapers as well. Lebanon
first gained electricity in 1889 and telephone service in 1890. The
first paper mill began operating in 1891 and the first water system,
using wood water mains, was built in the 1890s. The wood water mains
were replaced by cast iron in 1937. Gas service came to Lebanon in 1930.
The Lebanon State Airport was built in 1941. The
Linn-Benton
Community College was established in 1966.
Lebanon is now the
home to the largest single-story building in Oregon. The new
Lowe’s
distribution center, scheduled to open in 2007, will take up 34 acres
and contain 1.4 million square feet of floor space.
1. Ralston Square Park
925 Park Street
After arriving in
1847, Jeremiah and Jemima Ralston built a home at the corner of Park and
Maple Streets. The house was demolished in the 1950s. This block also became the site of the Lebanon Creamery
Company at the corner of Oak & Grove Streets in 1912. The creamery
building moved in to a larger building in 1928 and the 1912 building
went on to house, among other things, a bowling alley, dancing arena and
the home of the Lebanon Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 3572. The
creamery building was demolished in 1978.
Today this block is
a 2.49 acre city park called Ralston Square, dedicated December 23, 1974
in memory of Hugh Kirkpatrick, civic leader and Mayor of Lebanon from
1927 to 1932. The dedication plaque bears the names of Richard H. Renn,
Mayor of Lebanon in 1973 & 1974, Lebanon City Council Members Betty M.
Collins, Dr. Arthur G. Denker, Eldon B. McClain, Kenneth O. Swanson,
Lyle R. Winters and Charles D. Zeek, City Attorney Warren C. Gill and
City Administrator Robert E. Noren.
The park contains a
gazebo dedicated in remembrance of Stephen William South. South was born
February 6, 1945 and became the
City of Lebanon’s Community & Economic
Development Director. He passed away on September 3, 1987. This gazebo
was dedicated to him “for exemplary dedication to the enhancement of
economic development in the community.”
Ralston Square
serves as Lebanon’s Outdoor Theater for Youth and the Arts. A monument
in the park, dedicated in May 1988, lists those who contributed to the
theater movement.
A flagpole in the
park was presented by the
American LegionSantiam Post #51
and the Linn
County Voiture 891 of the
40/8. The flagpole was dedicated on October 6,
1991, in honor of Frank W. Groves, 94 years old at the time, for his
“lifelong contributions to our country and the city of Lebanon in the
promotion of Americanism and community service.
The park also
contains a rose garden, which is cared for by the Lebanon Garden Club as
part of the
City of Lebanon’s Adopt-A-Park Program.
In the fall of
2005, the
City of Lebanon
purchased a former gas station at the corner
of Oak & Park Streets. This property was the only remaining part of the
city block that was not yet part of the park. The service station
building will be renovated into a covered picnic structure or visitors
center for the city. Much of the paved area will remain to serve as a
parking area for the park. In the summer of 2006, the city purchased a
vacant lot at the northeast corner of Park & Maple Streets, just north
of Ralston Square. This property will eventually be used to expand the
park.
2. Lebanon Pioneer Cemetery
200 Dodge Street
Lebanon Pioneer
Cemetery was established by the First Methodist Church in 1850, when
thirteen-year-old Sarah Settle became the first to be buried here, on
land donated by Jeremiah Ralston. Ralston and his wife Jemima were later
buried here as well. The cemetery contains the remain of 310 people,
though only 79 markers remain.
The cemetery’s
history includes a lot of ups and downs. As early as 1889, letters were
written to the local newspaper, the
Lebanon Express, about the condition
of the cemetery. Improvements were made in 1898, but in 1931 the
cemetery was again in poor condition and there was talk of making it a
public park. In the early 1950s, an attempt was made to condemn the
cemetery property in order to extend Park Street north through the
cemetery. It was determined that existing Oregon State Law would
prohibit the plan, and the attempt was given up in 1954.
Eventually, with
the plan to condemn the cemetery having failed, the First Methodist
Church sold the cemetery property to the
City of Lebanon for one dollar.
In 1966, the Lebanon Junior Women’s Club took over a project to
refurbish the cemetery, and students from Lebanon Middle School made the
wooden signs at the northeast and northwest corners of the cemetery.
Today, the cemetery is maintained by volunteers and the
City Parks
Department. It was placed on the
National Register of Historic
Places on March 5, 1998.
3. Santiam School Park
50 North Third Street
Lebanon’s first
school was started in 1852 in a log cabin on Main Street, across from
what is now Academy Square. A small wood-frame structure was built in
1853, leading to the establishment of Santiam Academy by the Methodist
Episcopal Church on January 18, 1854 by an act of Oregon’s territorial
legislature. The school grew quickly, leading to the need for a larger
school building. Jeremiah Ralston, an original trustee of the Santiam
Academy, donated five acres of land on August 6, 1857. Morgan Kees,
another original trustee, donated another five acres on November 4,
1857. Before the land was donated, a two-story school building had been
built on the site.
Santiam Academy
operated until 1904, by which time public schools had made the Santiam
Academy unnecessary. The Methodist Church sold the building to the
Lebanon School District, and it remained standing until it was
demolished in 1936. Some of the materials were used to build a Girl
Scout building at Queen Anne Elementary (closed in 2002).
In 1944, the
Lebanon School District built a new elementary school on the site of the
old Santiam Academy. The new school was called Santiam Grade School.
When the school opened in January, 1945, it consisted of four
classrooms, an office and a restroom. Two more classrooms were added
later in the year, a multipurpose room in 1952, four more classrooms and
a restroom in 1953, and a gymnasium in 1978.
Santiam School
closed in June, 1982 as the population of Lebanon declined. The school
was used for daycare and preschool, and the gym was rented out for use
by the Boy Scouts and
Boys & Girls Club. In 2002, the school was
demolished and the grounds turned into a 5.37 acre park. The gymnasium
remains for use by community organizations.
There are plans to
build a 25,000 square foot Emergency Operations Center on this site to
house the police department, city courts and information systems.
Academy Square is
part of the 10 acres donated to the Santiam Academy by Jeremiah Ralston
and Morgan Kees in 1857. The plaques that commemorate the land donations
and the establishment of Santiam Academy are here.
After Santiam
Academy closed, the Methodist Episcopal Church turned the land over to
the
Lebanon School District
in 1904. In 1909, the school district built
a new school on what is now Academy Square. The new Lebanon School
opened on September 6, 1909. A large brick building on a concrete
foundation, with electric lighting,
running water and central heating,
the new school was considered modern in every way. Lebanon grew quickly,
and the new school ended up becoming only a high school by the 1940s as
new elementary schools were built around the city. South and North Wings
of classrooms were added in 1947 and 1948 respectively, and the exterior
was dramatically changed to match the modern additions. A gymnasium was
added on the back of the building in 1950, and an outdoor swimming pool
was built in 1951.
A
new high school
was built in 1959, and the old high school became Lebanon Junior High
School in 1959. Another gymnasium was built next the old gym in 1976,
and a new building with a cafeteria, kitchen and music rooms was built
in 1977 and the outdoor pool was removed. The school was renamed Lebanon
Middle School in the 1980s.
In 1996, it was
discovered that the original 1909 building could no longer be used. The
building was closed, including the two wings of classrooms, and portable
modular classrooms were brought in to make up for the lost space. By
2002, a
new middle school had been built and the old building was
demolished. During the demolition, a time capsule from 1909 was
discovered within the cornerstone of the old building. The two
gymnasiums and the cafeteria building were left in place. The property
was traded to the city as part of a three-way swap that also included
the
Lebanon Hospital.
The building that
housed the cafeteria and music rooms was renovated into a new home for
the Lebanon Senior Center, which opened on March 28, 2005. The
gymnasiums are in limbo, as they have suffered moisture and mold damage
due to leaks in the roof. The city has claimed that there is too much
damage to save gyms, but members of the community believe they can be
repaired. Since 2004, they have been trying to raise the money to repair
the gyms.
There are plans to
build a 20,000-square-foot public library at Academy Square to replace
the existing library building.
The Elkins Flour
Mill was built between 1871 and 1878 by millwright Thomas J. Hannah. It
is one of the oldest industrial buildings remaining in the Willamette
Valley. The three-story building features heavy timber framing, shiplap
siding and mortise & tenon construction: handhewn timbers fastened
together without nails. The mille was operated by William and Joseph
Elkins.
The Elkins Mill
sits on 6.03 acres that were eventually owned by the James River
Corporation. In 1994, the
Linn-Benton Community College acquired the
property, and passage of a bond measure in 2000 provided for the
restoration of the Elkins Mill and construction of the adjacent
44,000-square-foot East Linn Workforce Development Center. The
restoration was completed in 2003, and included a 2,500-square-foot
annex next door to the mill to serve as a visitor’s center. The Elkins
Mill was placed on the
National Register of Historic
Places
on June 9,
1995.
This building was
built in 1886, and most of the main floor is currently occupied by
Stainthorpe’s Music. The upper floors features a kitchen, banquet hall &
auditorium. A second floor window features the symbol of the Freemasons,
suggesting that the second floor may have been a Freemason hall. The
Freemasons are still active in Lebanon, as Lebanon-Brownsville Lodge
#44, though their lodge is currently at 725 Second Street.
7. John & Lottie Ralston House
481 South Main Street
John M. Ralston was
the son of Jeremiah and Jemima Ralston, one of their seven children.
John Ralston became a partner in the Bank of Lebanon with James Cowen,
and went on plat additions to Lebanon in the 1880s. He built this house
on the corner of Main and Vine Streets for himself and his wife Lottie
in 1887. The house was placed on the
National Register of Historic
Places on March 5, 1998.
8. Hiram Baker House
515 East Grant Street
The Hiram Baker
House was built in 1895. Baker served on the Santiam Academy in 1905.
The Hiram Baker House was placed on the
National Register of Historic
Places
on June 6, 1996.
9. Courtney Block
712-722 South Main Street
The Courtney Block
was built in the year 1900 according to the records on the
Linn County Assessor’s website. It may have been built earlier than that. It appears
to be largely in its original condition.
10. Dr. J. C. Booth House
486 Park Street
Dr. Joel C. Booth,
B.S., M.D. started out as a horse & buggy doctor and practiced medicine
for 50 years in east Linn County. He served in the Spanish-American War
and World War I, was elected to the Oregon legislature for three terms
and as mayor of Lebanon. He had the idea to build an armory for the
Lebanon’s National Guard company, and helped establish the
Lebanon General Hospital
in 1936. Booth Park, Lebanon’s first municipal park &
playground, is named after Dr. Booth. The Booth House was built around
1906, and was placed on the
National Register of Historic
Places
on
April 1, 1980.
The Santiam Travel
Station is the former Southern Pacific Railroad depot in Lebanon. The Albany-Lebanon
Railroad was completed in September 1880, and a depot was built north of
Sherman Street. In October 1880, the railroad was taken over by the
Oregon & California Railroad. On May 12, 1887, the Southern Pacific
Railroad took over the Oregon & California Railroad. A new depot was
built in 1908, to Southern Pacific’s design number 23. This is the depot
that is now the Santiam Travel Station.
In 1910, the
Southern Pacific began building across the South Santiam River to
connect to another line to Detroit and Idanha. This line would be cut
back to Gates, just past Mill City, with the completion of the Detroit
Dam in 1952. In 1930, the Oregon Electric built a line from Lebanon
south to Sweet Home and Foster. This line was completely disconnected
from the rest of the railroad, and the Oregon Electric used the Southern
Pacific’s line between Albany and Lebanon to access it. The Oregon
Electric became part of the Burlington Northern Railroad in 1970, which
became the Burlington Northern Santa Fe in 1995.
In 1984, the
Southern Pacific depot in Lebanon closed. It had been many, many years
since passenger trains had served Lebanon, but the depot had still
served as an office for an agent to handle freight business. In March of
1993, the Willamette Valley Railway leased the line from Albany to Mill
City from the Southern Pacific (now
Union Pacific), and in May of 1998, the line to Sweet
Home was purchased from BNSF. The railroad has operated as the
Albany & Eastern
Railroad since 2000.
The Lebanon depot
is one of two Southern Pacific No. 23 depots in Oregon remaining in its
original location. It was placed on the
National Register of Historic
Places on June 13, 1997. It was renovated into the Santiam Travel
Station through a two-phase project funded by the
City of Lebanon, the
Oregon Department of Transportation and the Federal Transportation
Efficiency Act for the 21st Century. Phase I of the project
took place from July 1998 to February 1999, and consisted of foundation
work, a new roof, plumbing, siding, paint, an HVAC system and lobby
restoration at a cost of $554,000, $122,000 of which came from the city.
Phase II was completed from February 2003 to October 2003, and consisted
of site improvements like landscaping, sidewalks, an ADA ramp, a deck, a
bicycle rack, benches & parking, and converting the freight section of
the depot into a finished public meeting space with three meeting rooms,
a kitchen and restrooms, at a cost of $528,000, $69,000 of which came
from the city. With the completion of Phase II, the Santiam Travel
Station was dedicated on October 22, 2003. The Santiam Travel Station
also got a new coat of paint in October 2006. It is now cared for by the
Lebanon City Parks Department, and is used as a council chambers and
community center.
13. Farmway Feed & Seed
280 West Sherman Street
This old
Purina
Chows feed mill is located directly across the railroad tracks from the
Santiam Travel Station, and while I don’t know when it was built, it
probably dates from about the same time as the depot. Notice the old
painted sign and the stacked stone foundation. It was originally known
as Scroggin Feed and Seed, and was more recently known as Farmway Feed
and Seed. Today, the structure is owned by
Linn County.
14. Railroad Bridge
This railroad
bridge carried the Southern Pacific Railroad, now the
Albany & Eastern
Railroad, over the South Santiam River to continue on toward Mill City.
It was built in 1910, and remains, except for the ravages of time,
basically was it was when it was built. The west
approach consists of a
long wooden trestle needed to reach the height of the main spans. The
trestle intersects the access road to the boat launch at Gill’s Landing,
and the railroad crosses over the road on a short deck girder span that
may have been added later. The main crossing of theriver is made by two
through truss bridges which are at the same elevation as the eastern
shore.
15. Magnetic Flagman Signal
Berlin Road Grade Crossing
At the east end of
the railroad bridge across the South Santiam River, the railroad crosses
Berlin Road, and at this crossing a vintage signal called a magnetic
flagman, or wig-wag, stands guard. Once a common grade crossing signal
before the modern crossbuck became a standard and flashing lights and
gates were mandated, these signals were first made in 1910 and were
installed through the late 1940s. The single red light swings back and
forth when a train is near, simulating the motion that a flagman would
make with his lantern. This
Model 3 lower-quadrant signal, made by the Magnetic
Signal Company of Los Angeles, California, is one of only a handful remaining in
Oregon, which
has more than most other states. This
signal and the others, may have very little time left, as
the Oregon DOT
plans to
replace all remaining wig-wags with flashing lights and gates.
This video shows the signal in operation.
16. Garland-Bach-Meyer Building
748 South Main Street
The
Garland-Bach-Meyer Building was built in 1910. It has had many uses,
including Lebanon’s courthouse and a
J.C. Penney’s store from 1919 to
April 11, 1987. It’s most recent use was as a
Curves center.
17. 36 West Sherman Street
This one-story
building was built in 1910 and features an elegant storefront with
arched windows. It is currently home to several businesses, including
Jan’s Books, David’s Sports Cards & Collectibles and Lorene’s Café.
18. Lebanon Evangelical Church
90 East Vine Street
This church on the
corner of Vine and Park Streets was built in 1910 as the Methodist
Evangelical Church. This was the church that had established the Santiam
Academy and Pioneer Cemetery, and was the church that many of Lebanon’s
early citizens belonged to. Today, it is the Lebanon Evangelical Church.
The metal structure on the Park Street side of the church is an elevator
that was added in 2006.
19. First Presbyterian Church
145 West Ash Street
Lebanon’s First
Presbyterian Church was established in 1881. This church building was
built in 1912 and is still home to its intended congregation.
20. Lebanon Hotel
661 South Main Street
The Lebanon Hotel
was built in 1913. It originally had a mansard roof with dormer windows
giving it another story of height. This can be seen in the photo at the
top of the
Lebanon Genealogical Society's
Lebanon in the Early 1880s page. This structure was removed at some
point, leaving the building with its current appearance. The hotel is no
longer operating, and the lobby was turned into a coffee shop in 2005,
although many historical parts of the lobby were preserved, including
the woodwork, staircase and functional switchboard. The main floor is
home to several other businesses as well.
21. Gem Theater
644 South Main Street
According to the
records on the
Linn County Assessor’s website, this building with an
arched entrance next to the Kuhn Theatre was built in 1940, however
historical photos show this arched entrance here before that, with a
sign reading “Kuhn Theatre” hanging in front of it, before the current
Kuhn Theatre was built. The arch can also be glimpsed in the background
of the photo at the top of the
Lebanon Genealogical Society's
Lebanon in the Early 1880s page.
Cap Kuhn is known to have built two theatres on
Main Street. The second was built in 1936 and still bears his name, but
there are newspaper records of a Kuhn Theatre as far back as 1918, and
photographs show it as being here. After the new Kuhn Theatre opened
next door, the original theatre became the Gem Theater. Perhaps the
original building was demolished and the arched façade left in place for
a new building to be built behind it, but this sure looks like an old
theater.
22. City Hall
925 South Main Street
This municipal
building was built in 1928. It originally faced Maple Street and housed
the fire department, jail and city recorder. Portions of this building
may date from before that, but it is hard to tell. The fire department
moved out in the 1970s, and the police department took their place.
Today, this is Lebanon’s City Hall and
Police
Department. There is a small
park located adjacent to City Hall. A seismic evaluation in 1994 found
that the City Hall building does not meet earthquake requirements, and a
visual analysis in February 2006 found significant structural
deficiencies and determined that the build was not designed for the
weight it is currently supporting. Additionally, municipal courts on the
second floor are not handicapped accessible. There are plans to build a
new building on the site of the Santiam School to house the police
department and municipal courts.
23. Lebanon Creamery Company Building
853 South Main Street
This building was
built in 1928 to replace the creamery building located at what is now
Ralston Square Park. In 1929, the Lebanon Creamery Company moved into
the new concrete building. The business was sold to Curley’s Dairy in
1950. Today, the building is the home of the City of Lebanon’s
Community
Development Center.
24. First National Bank of Lebanon
809 South Main Street
This bank was built
in 1930 as the First National Bank of Lebanon. It is still in operation
today, as a Wells Fargo branch.
25. Lebanon Public Library
626 Second Street
Lebanon’s first
hospital was established in a house in 1913. This building was built in
1936 as the
Lebanon General Hospital, as can still be seen wearing
through on the cornerstone. The building became the
Lebanon Public
Library in 1952 after a new hospital was built. A small park is located
next to the library. The park contains a plaque placed in 1932 by the
Linn Chapter of the
Daughters of the American Revolution and the Oregon
Pioneers in memory of Frederic Homer Balch, who was born on December 14,
1861 and was the author of “The Bridge of the Gods.”
The park also
contains a drinking fountain placed by the Lebanon Garden Club on 1974.
26. Kuhn Theatre
668 South Main Street
This second
Kuhn
Theatre was built in 1936 by Cap Kuhn. It has closed and reopened
several times. After being closed for many years, it reopened in
December 2005 showing first-run movies after an extensive restoration.
In 1940 the Evans
Plywood mill opened just north of Cheadle Lake. By the early 1950s, the
plant was owned by Cascade Plywood. The plant made a brand of plywood
called Weldwood. In 1952, Cascade Plywood opened a new hardboard plant
on the site and began producing a composite board called Lebanite, which
was named after the town. Both facilities were purchased by U.S. Plywood
in 1962, which became part of Champion International in 1967. The
plywood plant closed in 1985. The Lebanite hardboard plant was sold to
Georgia Pacific in 1987. The plant was sold to RE Services in January
2000 and renamed Lebanite Corporation. The plant shut down on August 1,
2003. It reopened on November 6, 2003 as Oregon Panel Products, LLC, but
shut down again, this time permanently, in April 2004.
A Lebanon city park
opened in 1966 was named Weldwood Park after the plywood product. The
park was renamed Bob Smith Memorial Park in 2005 after a former Lebanon
mayor who served for 16 years in the 1980s & 1990s and had helped
acquire the land for the park in 1966.
28. Downing Building
600 South Main Street
The Downing
Building was built in 1941. It is currently home of
Club Hipnotiq.
29. Former Senior Center
585 Park Street
This
building was built in 1946. It is owned by the
Lebanon Elks. It was home of the
City of LebanonSenior Center since the mid-1970s until the new Senior Center
opened at Academy Square in 2005.
At some point, the second-floor
windows had been replaced with windows much smaller than the originals. In late 2006, these small windows were replaced with larger windows that
more closely match the buildings original windows and greatly improved
it appearance.
This large building
was known as the Park Theatre. It has not been an active theatre for
many years, though the marquee is still more-or-less in place. The
Lebanon Chapel met in the theatre from 1975 to 1980, when built a new
church and school on South Main Street. The theatre currently houses an
antique store and hair salon.
32. Hasty Freez
1507 South Main Street
Since 1952, the
southeast corner of Main and Milton Streets was home to a small
cinder-block building that was the Lebanon Hasty Freez, a small drive
through selling ice cream and burgers. For its last 26 years, it was
owned by Loren D. Holt and his children Loren W. Holt and Lorie Davis-Toepfer.
In 2005, the Oregon Department of Transportation
began working on the
intersection, as Main Street serves as U.S. Highway 20, and Milton
Street is part of the truck route through town. The work included
eliminating the Hasty Freez’s Main Street driveway and rounding off the
intersection to give trucks more room to turn, leaving the building
within 3 feet of the street. ODOT would not offer enough money to
replace the building, or move it and bring it up to code, leaving the
business no choice but to close on August 9, 2005. The building was
demolished in 2006, but the neon sign, which was restored in 2003 at a
cost of $7,000, remains in place. Until the business closed, the sign
was available to rent for personal messages.
Another Hasty
Freez is located in nearby Albany, Oregon, at 665 Lyon Street SE. It is
owned & operated by Tony Pope, who took over the business from his
father in 1990, who bought the business in 1969 from Vince Simington.
The business opened on March 22, 1952 as Tastee Freez. The name was
changed to Hasty Freez after the original owner was confronted the
Tastee Freez franchise in the midwest, which the Albany store had no
connection with. I do not know if there was ever any connection between
the Albany and Lebanon stores, but it seems likely.
33. Muchas Gracias
1500 South Main Street
Across the street
from the Hasty Freez is a Muchas Gracias restaurant built at about the same
time, with another impressive neon sign. Muchas Gracias is not the
original owner, however.
34. Lebanon Supermarket
1475 South Main Street
The former site of
the Lebanon Supermarket was built in 1962. It went on to house other
businesses before being demolished in July 2006.
35. Grant Street Bridge
The first Grant
Street Bridge here was a covered bridge. It was replaced in 1916 by a
steel bridge. The current bridge was built in 1963. The 1916 bridge was
demolished in 1966. Joy Williamson painted a mural on one of the bridge
piers in 2001.
The bridge has
cracks in the approach spans, and the piers in the river are showing
scour problems. The
City of Lebanon received a grant in February 2004
from the Oregon Department of Transportation to replace the bridge.
Construction of the new bridge started in 2006 and is scheduled to be
completed in the fall of 2007. Presumably, the existing bridge will be
demolished. Whether or not the mural on the pier will be preserved
remains to be seen.
36. Gill’s Landing
1400 East Grant Street
Gill’s Landing is a
6.23 acre park consisting of a boat launch, picnic area, RV park and
campground. It is dedicated to the memory of Warren C. Gill, who lived
from 1912 to 1987. The dedication plaque reads:
Warren’s life was
devoted to country, state, community and family. A retired Coast Guard
Commander, he was awarded the Legion of Merit, Navy Cross and Purple
Heart. Warren served in the state House of Representatives and state
Senate. A lifetime Lebanon resident, he was City Attorney for 17 years.
An avid boater, Warren served on the State Marine Board for sixteen
years. He was strongly committed to developing safe and enjoyable
boating facilities in Oregon. In 1972, Warren was instrumental in
developing this boat ramp in cooperation with the city of Lebanon. Gill
Landing provides public access to the South Santiam River for the use
and enjoyment of all boaters in Linn County.
37. American Legion Flagpole
480 South Main Street
The flagpole at
Santiam Post #51 of the
American Legion was dedicated “as a memorial to
all veterans who served our nation in time of need” in 1973. It was
rededicated on May 30, 1980.
38. River Center
3000 South Santiam Highway
This
94,321-square-foot building was completed in 1992 and opened as the
first
Wal-Mart
store in Oregon. The store closed July 19, 2005, with a
new Wal-Mart Supercenter ready to open the following day. The building
was sold to the Lebanon Chapel, who renovated it into the
River Center
with a large auditorium, a Community Resource Center, and future space
for the Lebanon Christian School to move into.
39. Mural Park
847 Main Street
Mural Park is on the site of the old
Lebanon Post Office. It contains a totem pole, with murals painted on
the walls of the surrounding buildings. The totem pole was erected on
September 10, 1993. The current murals were painted by Joy Williamson,
Brenna Zedan, Kristen Wright and Julie Hite in 1998 and 1999.
40. Wal-Mart Supercenter
3920 South Santiam Highway
This 188,000
Wal-Mart Supercenter opened on July 20, 2005. It is built on the site of
the Motor-Vu Drive In. The Motor-Vu Drive In was built in 1952 by Tadd
Nelson. It was sold in 1975
