Historic Walking Tour - Harding Building

Significance

The Harding Building is the original cornerstone of the 3rd Street business district. Of the four large commercial buildings located on the corner of 3rd and Madison streets, the Harding Building is the oldest, most intact, and most interesting from an architectural point of view. 

Nolans Department Store, in this location from 1910 to 1959, was one of Corvallis' largest and most popular department stores. Locally owned, Nolans operated in Corvallis for seventy-five years. The construction of the Harding Building in this location marks the beginning of the expansion of the business district to 3rd Street, which eventually replaced 2nd Street as the core area of downtown Corvallis. 

Physical Description 

The Harding Building is a two-story, rectangular, brick and concrete commercial building with approximate dimensions of 100'X75'. The building, which includes a full basement, has approximately 20,000 square feet of space. Red brick, laid in a stretcher bond, was originally used for the exterior walls with light-colored brick used for contrasting detail work. Today, the brick has been painted using a monochrome paint scheme. Original construction plans called for the use of "Newberg" red brick, although the type of the brick actually used is uncertain. Concrete is used for the exterior walls on the first story of the north and west elevations. 

Exterior wall treatment consists of brick pilasters, adorned with recessed panels and corbelled capitals, which divide the south and east elevations of the building into five bays. The south elevation features three windows to a bay, while the east elevation has only two windows to a bay. Windows are recessed and have a flat arch opening with radiating brick voussoirs and keystone and a sill composed of header bricks. Original windows were composed of a transom sash above a one-over-one double hung sash window. These windows were recently replaced with wood frame windows of a similar design composed of three lights divided horizontally by muntins. Several brick dentil courses are located below the parapet and a corbelled brick water table with a cement cap is located between the first and second story. The parapet sees the continuation of the pilasters previously broken by the dentil course. Between the pilasters, the brick parapet is embellished with horizontal recessed panels. 

At the time of construction, the stretch of 170 feet of plate glass display windows was considered the magnificent feature of the building. Above, ''prism'' glass was used for lighting purposes. Today, aluminum frame fixed sash display windows replace the original display windows. Also intrusive is a course of vertical ribbed aluminum siding below the windows. The prism windows have been covered by T-1-11 siding. The interior of the building features a mezzanine level in the west 1/4 of the building. Iron posts are used as interior supports.

Historical Background 

The Harding Building was built for Mr. Gus Harding in 1910. E.E. McClaren of Portland, also responsible for the 1911 revamping of Corvallis' Jullian Hotel and the 1909 Corvallis Presbyterian Church design, was the architect. A Seattle firm was awarded the construction contract; and Buxton's Mill, a local concern, executed the millwork. The building was originally described as thoroughly modern with no building outside of Portland having finer show windows. 

The first occupant of the Harding Building was Nolan's Department Store. The first store operated by J.M. Nolan was established in Albany, Oregon in 1877. In 1884, Mr. Nolan moved to Corvallis locating his general merchandise business in the Fisher Block and taking on Thomas "Pete" Callahan as a partner. Shortly before the turn of the century, the business moved to Second and Madison Streets, next to the First National Bank. 

Nolan's business, known as J.M. Nolan and Son by 1910, moved into the new Harding Building in September of 1910. A grand opening was held on November 3, 1910. The new J.M. Nolan and Son's Department Store had 20,000 square feet in this location and was at the time the largest business establishment in Corvallis. An interesting feature of Nolans Department Store was the establishment of a "bargain basement" as early as 1911. Mr. Nolan visited the Marshall Field Store in Chicago that year and copied this idea. (Gazette-Times, Corvallis Oregon Apr. 13, 1911.) 

The Harding Building was Corvallis' first major commercial building to locate on 3rd Street, one block west of the established business district. Nolan's Department Store advertised that "it paid to walk a little farther". The "Nolan Corner" eventually became the center of retail trade in Corvallis. Nolan's Department Store remained in this location until 1959. 

Today, three retail shops occupy the space on the first floor. 

Sources Consulted

• Bouquet, Arthur, An Autobiography, privately published, Corvallis, Oregon, March, 1963. 
• "Central Planing Mill Celebrates 50th year of Buxton Operations", in Corvallis Gazette-Times, May 10, 1951, page 14.
• Corvallis Gazette-Times, July 1, 1910, p. 3.
• Corvallis Gazette-Times, Sept. 9, 1910, p. 3.
• Corvallis Gazette-Times, Sept. 23, 1910.
• Corvallis Gazette-Times, Oct. 28, 1910.
• Corvallis Gazette-Times, Jan. 15, 1917.
• Corvallis Gazette-Times Weekly, April 1, 1910.
• Daily Gazette-Times, "Progress Edition Telling of Benton County and Corvallis, Oregon", Oct. 16, 1911.
• "Harding's Building", in Gazette-Times Weekly, March 11, 1910.
• "Much Building in Prospect", in Corvallis Gazette-Times, Jan. 7, 1910.
• "Nolan's Store Here for 53 Years", in Corvallis Gazette-Times 75th Anniversary Issue, July 24, 1937.
• "Opening was Great Event", in Corvallis Gazette-Times Weekly, Nov. 4, 1910.
• Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps
• "Tom Nolan Tells of Old Store Days", in Corvallis Gazette-Times, May 4, 1924, ?. 1, 6.

Historic Photo/Source Location:

• Benton County Historical Museum Collection #98319
• Benton County Historical Museum--Harriet Moor Accession
• Oregon Historical Society #14908
• Corvallis and Benton County Illustrated, 1912, p. 8.
• John Smith Collection, B.C.H.M., Vertical file, H-I-J.
• Harland Pratt Collection #3112, #6001
• Corvallis Gazette-Times, Oct. 28, 1910.
• Corvallis Gazette-Times Progress Edition, Oct. 16, 1911.