JULY 1, 2016, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A11
PLACE: Architecture, age
lend to significance
(Continued from Page A1)
Photo courtesy of the Keizer Heritage Center
Willard Savage, son of William and Alwilda Savage, with the Keizer View Dairy truck in 1932. The
Savages owned the property and home on Verda between 1914 and 1948.
The people made Verda
house a home
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
The Donation Land Claim
Act is likely what brought
members of the Pugh family
to Oregon.
Enacted in 1850 by the
U.S. Congress, the govern-
ment offered 320 acres of land
to every unmarried man and
640 acres to married couples
willing to settle the Oregon
Territory. Claimants were re-
quired to live on and cultivate
the land for four years before
becoming the outright own-
ers.
The Pugh family camped
on the Tualatin plains when
they arrived in 1846, spent
their first winter in Scio and
migrated to Keizer where
John Pugh (March 20,
1820-August 31, 1854) staked
a claim that included what is
now known as the cow pas-
ture in the heart of Keizer.
At the time, Pugh’s property
stretched from Chemawa
Road Northeast to Green-
wood Avenue Northeast.
He married Sarah Ann
Claggett in 1854.
They would eventually do-
nate 1.5 acres of land, where
the Schoolhouse Square
Shopping Center now sits, for
the construction of the town’s
first school. The first teacher
was Nina McNary.
The home that currently
sits on the property at 4845
Verda Lane N.E. is believed
to have been constructed af-
ter 1860 when a devastating
flood hit the area. Neighbors
reportedly told the Pughs to
build on high ground and
large rocks were hauled from
the Santiam River to make
the foundation.
After John’s death, the
house and 300 acres were sold
to Benjamin and Mary Hall.
It is possible that the home
was either reconstructed or
remodeled during this period.
The property changed twice
more before William and Al-
wilda Savage purchased it in
1914. They named their farm
Keizer View Dairy, and milk
was delivered in the family car
– first a 1923 Star and, later,
a 1929 Chevrolet van. A large
volume of the milk produced
by the dairy went to Chema-
wa Indian School.
After raw milk fell out of
favor, the land was used for
pole bean farming. Joseph and
Rosalie Herber were living in
South Dakota when they de-
cided to respond to the Sav-
ages’ ad looking for someone
to run the dairy.
The Herbers brought their
first child and rented the land
for five years before buying it
in 1948. The family stopped
milk production when the
price of equipping the farm
for pasteurization proved too
costly.
Roaslie continued to live
on the property until her
death in 2007.
The Pughs landed in Scio
after completing the Oregon
Trail in 1845, and moved to
the Keizer area in 1850. The
Pugh family ended up in
possession of four donation
land claims and around the
Chemawa-Verda-Dearborn
corridor. John was a son of
the family patriarch and took
possession of the land in
question likely due its ability
to withstand flooding – much
of the property is located on a
rising incline.
By 1884, census reports
suggest John Pugh was living
in the “South Salem Precinct”
and the home was sold to
Benjamin Franklin and Mary
Hall. An expert consulting on
the ODOT report suggested
that the home on the property
most likely dates to the Hall
era.
Architectural features of
the home, specifically “a
gable-front-and-wing” in the
classical revival style, led to the
belief that it couldn't predate
1850 and likely not 1860.
After some changes in
ownership, William
and
Alwilda Savage began renting
the property in 1910 or
1911 and established the
Keizer View Dairy. In 1914,
the Savages purchased the
property. The Savages moved
on by 1943 and began
renting the property to Joseph
and Rosalie Herber, who
purchased the property in
1948. The Herbers sold off
their dairy stock and focused
on vegetables and beef cattle.
Rosalie lived on the property
until her death in 2007.
TRIGGERING AN
INVESTIGATION
Hearings to rezone the
Herber property, to allow
apartments to be built there,
would likely have come and
gone in the usual way if not
for a public records request
from Keizer resident Eamon
Bishop inquiring about the
ODOT report.
“That request directed our
Member spotlight
Keizer Heritage Foundation
The Keizer Heritage Founda-
tion, Inc. was formed in October,
1988 to move and restore the old
1916 Keizer Schoolhouse and con-
vert it into a multicultural center and
museum, serving Keizer and sur-
rounding communities.
Today the Keizer Heritage Center
does just that. We are proud to asso-
ciate with the Keizer Heritage Center
as members of the Keizer Chamber
of Commerce.
In a recent conversation with Anna Scheler, Publicity and Events Manager, I learned of the
rich culture stored in the Keizer Heritage Museum, the vast array of events hosted at the Center
and about the little gem of a public library housed in the old schoolhouse.
Visit local artifacts from area historians and local families. Exhibits are rotated—there’s a
Lego collection at the museum right now! Are you looking for an old McNary High school chum?
Visit the McNary room in the museum, you might just ind information about them there! Are
you looking for a one-of-a-kind gift? Visit the Art Gallery for work by local artisans or just stop
to admire their work. And, with summer here, stop by for an easy-read in the library. For only
$10 a year you and your family can enjoy the public library.
The Keizer Heritage Center is run by volunteers. JoAnne Beilke is the building manager and
coordinates events for the center. With a beautiful gazebo on the premises and a venue for your
wedding or meeting, don’t miss out on the opportunity to host it here. The Center has become
the cultural heart of the Keizer community. Money raised including room rentals, help to inance
on-going maintenance and renovation of one of Keizer’s few historic building.
This year is the building’s centennial; the foundation has two upcoming events connected
with celebrating this occasion. The irst one is Back to School Night with Wine Tasting (for all
those who are kids at heart) on August 18th. The other is a Keizer School Reunion (November
12th) for anyone who attended classes in the schoolhouse. The foundation is also looking for
photos or other memorabilia from Keizer School Alumni.
There’s lots to see and do at the Keizer Heritage Center. Contact JoAnne Beilke for more
information.
Keizer Heritage Center
JoAnne Beilke
Event Coordinator/Building Manager
980 Chemawa Rd. N.E.
503-393-9660
keizerheritage.org
July luncheon and new oficer installation
Tuesday, July 12, Log House Gardens at Willow Lake
6075 Ulali Dr. N.E. Suite 102 | 503-393-9111 | keizerchamber.com
Ad space donated by the Keizertimes
attention and effort specifically bit of distance between what's
to the paper trail. In hindsight, been done and what it would
it would have been nice to take for the home to be listed
have been more attune to on the national register.”
the underlying issue, but it’s
The report also concluded
under standable
that
greater
attention
was Anyone can apply
given to the
nasty implications to have the home
than
on
the recognized on the
nuance of related
i n f o r m a t i o n ,” National Registry of
said
Nate Historic Places, but the
Brown,
Keizer
c o m m u n i t y owners can block the
d e v e l o p m e n t application.
director.
Brown
said
city officials only
discovered the report after that the home merited
filing the agenda for the city elevated significance because
council meeting and it meant Keizer lacks other sites of
the issue had to be addressed historical significance within
on the spot during the June 20 city limits.
meeting.
A QUESTIONABLE
ODOT had to commission
FUTURE
the report, which was filed
Even with the preliminary
with the Oregon Parks and report on the books, the road
Recreation
Department ahead is a bit murky.
(OPRD), because federal
“If
(a
redevelopment
funds were being used to project) uses all private money,
install the roundabout at the there are no restrictions on
intersection at Chemawa the home being torn down. If
Road Northeast and Verda it's all private funds on private
Lane Northeast.
property, they can do whatever
“As part of that project, they like within Keizer's
there is a federal law that zoning code,” Johnson said.
requires agencies using federal
The state law only applies
funds – in the case the Federal to publicly-owned properties
Highway Administration – to and the federal law applies
figure out how the project to anything that is federally
may or may not affect historic funded, permitted or owned.
properties,” said Ian Johnson, a That's not to say that some
historian with OPRD.
part of the project might
The report concluded that return and result in a full
the roundabout construction investigation.
would not impact the
“If the developers were to
potentially historic home, but get a federal grant or if they
that the home itself might had to get a federal permit,
qualify for designation on the such as covering a stream
National Registry of Historic with a parking lot, they would
Places.
have to get a permit from the
That designation comes Army Corps of Engineers,
with several requirements, the which would trigger a full
least of which are the home investigation,” Johnson said.
must be 50 years old and
Anyone, property owner or
maintain the majority of its not, can also apply to have the
historic appearance, Johnson home considered for inclusion
said. Other potential qualifiers on the national registry.
include association with
“However, the owner
historic events and trends, may object and block the
historic persons, historic nomination,” Johnson said.
architecture or the ability to
Moreover,
there
are
yield research (typically the questions about the condition
latter is reserved for site of of the home.
archaeological significance).
“As far as the condition, we
“The house in question don’t have specific evaluation
meets the requirements of information just observations
association with historical from what has been seen from
events
and
historical the doorway, such as missing
architecture and, possibly, flooring and plaster, and
historic persons,” Johnson said. complaints from the tenants
At this point, the ODOT about various issues,” Brown
report is the bare minimum said.
required to answer the
In the recent past, the
questions of the roundabout's property has been the subject
impact on the property. To of complaints to the city
advance to the next stage, a including infractions such as:
more thorough study of the burning, solid waste disposal,
home’s traits and its historical chicken and turkey care,
significance would be needed parking, housing codes and
and a series of public hearings illegal habitation.
would be held on regional and
Brown is meeting with
state levels.
the rezone petitioners to
“In this case, they did some hammer out the details of
initial investigation that found how to assess the home’s
a full investigation could be historical significance, and has
done,” said Johnson, who reached out to State Historic
agreed with those conclusions Preservation Office to figure
when he signed off on the out the process moving
report. “There's still quite a forward.