Historic Walking Tour - J. C. Avery Building

Significance

The J. C. Avery Building, although altered to a great extent, is historically significant as Corvallis' oldest commercial building. The building is also associated with J. C. Avery, Corvallis' founder. Built in the 1850's, the building once served as a supply headquarters for miners heading south to the gold fields. The J.C. Avery Building is one of only three commercial buildings in downtown Corvallis to predate 1880. Since the 19th Century, the function of the building as a hardware and implement store has not changed. 

Physical Description 

Originally, the J.C. Avery Building was a one-story, rectangular, brick commercial building with dimensions of approximately 25' x 75'. The following description is based on Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps and old photographs. Neither source provides information on the building prior to 1884. The main facade of the building featured three arculated bays, each with a double leaf door. Each door leaf had 8 or 10 lights divided by muntins above a molded recessed panel on the lower half of the door. Ornamentation was simple, consisting of a dentil course below the frieze, and a brick water table. The building style is derived from the Classical Revival style of architecture. Several warehouses have been attached to the south elevation at various times. In 1876, A. Cauthorn attached a warehouse in this location. In 1891, R.M. Wade and Company attached the currently existing warehouse. This addition is a wood frame structure. The main facade of this warehouse originally featured two long, narrow, rectangular windows, divided by muntins into at least four large lights, flanking a wide "garage-like" opening. Above this opening, there is a transom composed of four lights. The roof terminates with a bracketed wooden cornice on the main facade. As early as 1895, this warehouse was sheathed with corrugated iron. A shed-like attachment, which still exists today, was added to the south elevation of the warehouse between 1890 and 1895. Another shed had previously existed in this location. 

The J. C. Avery Building has been altered substantially through the years. An extension of 25 feet was made to the rear of the building some time before 1912. Several skylights have been added. The bricks have been painted numerous times. The original main facade has been completely altered. Today, large fixed sash metal framed display windows extend the length of the east elevation and extend a small distance on the north elevation. The entry is centrally located on the main facade and recessed between display windows. Brick veneer is employed below the display windows. A cornice of unknown vintage hides the dentil work along the frieze. Perhaps the only original detail on the main facade is a small portion of the brick water table. The large display windows were installed in the 1970's. The warehouses have also been altered substantially; the only remaining original feature being the bracketed cornice on the main facade. The east elevation of the warehouse and adjacent shed have been sheathed with T-111 plywood siding. The window openings have been covered and a garage door of recent manufacture has been installed. Metal siding clads the south elevation of the shed. Some corrugated metal still remains on the warehouse.

Historical Background 

This building was built for J. C. Avery, the founder of Corvallis, probably in the mid-1850's. 

J. C. Avery was born in Lucerne County, Pennsylvania on June 9, 1817. After moving west to Illinois in 1839, J. C. Avery crossed the plains to Oregon in 1845, taking a claim at the juncture of the Willamette and Mary's Rivers. He had married Miss Martha Marsh in 1841 and she joined him here in 1846. In the winter of 1850, he laid out the town of Marysville (Corvallis). 

By 1857, an advertisement appears in the Occidental Messenger, a Corvallis newspaper, indicating that J. C. Avery and Company were located in a fireproof brick building at the corner of 2nd and Adams Streets. (In the early 1850's, Avery had a store, probably wood-frame, on the southwest corner of 2nd and Washington.) J.C. Avery and Company sold dry goods, clothing, boots, shoes, provisions, groceries, domestic produce, hardware, cutlery, iron, steel, axes and tools. Many of these goods were sold to miners heading south to the gold fields. In 1857, E. Holgate and D.G. Clark were partners in Avery's business. 

In May of 1891, R. M. Wade and Company leased this building. R.M. Wade and Company is believed to had several agricultural implement stores in the state, including stores at one time in Salem, McMinnville, and Portland. Mr. William Currin, a nephew of R. M. Wade who had managed R. M. Wade's Corvallis store almost continuously since its establishment in 1891, took sole possession of the business in 1911. The business, known as Currin Agricultural Implements, carried such goods as hardware, vehicles, and farming implements. In 1917, the firm became known as Currin and Spurlin Hardware. Floyd Spurlin was a nephew of Mr. Currin. William Currin died in 1922 and in 1924, Mr. Spurlin went into partnership with Arthur Lilly; the business name changing to Spurlin and Lilly. Mr. Lilly sold out in 1937 and Mr. Spurlin's daughter and son-in-law, Virginia and Charles Robnett and Riley and Bernice Newman entered into a partnership. The name of the business changed to Spurlin and Robnett's. In 1962, the name was changed to Robnett's Hardware when Virginia Robnett, after the death of her husband, Charles, and father, Mr. Spurlin, took her son Jerry and daughter Donna into partnership. In 1977, the store was sold to Jerry Robnett and his wife Julia. The business was incorporated in 1978. 

Sources Consulted

• Corvallis Gazette, March 17, 1876.
• Corvallis Gazette, October 23, 1880.
• Corvallis Gazette, May 1, 1891.
• Corvallis Gazette, September 11, 1891.
• Daily Gazette-Times Progress Edition "Telling of Benton County and Corvallis, Oregon", in the Corvallis Gazette-Times, October 16, 1911.
• Fagan, David D., History of Benton County, Oregon, A.C. Walling, Portland, 1885.
• Occidental Messenger, Corvallis, Oregon, Sept. 26, 1957.
• Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, 1884-1927.
• Robnett, Virginia, "History of Robnett's Hardware", manuscript in the possession of the Robnett Family, no. date.