Talent, OR 97540 (former) - U.S. Post Offices on Waymarking.com

Hanscom Hall, erected in 1906, was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1996 as a fine example of the last original commercial building to survive a devastating fire that destroyed most of the commercial district in 1911. For a number of years this building served as the town's post office while it went through a rebuilding period. The majority of this building's life served as the town's cafe until 1972. It currently is home to Hermeticus Book Shop.

The following text is taken from the National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form that mentions Hanscom Hall's role as a temporary post office for Talent:

Hanscom Hall, later known as the Talent Cafe, has been adapted for use as a creative arts studio and gallery by the current owners, but the interior reflects its traditional organization. A partition was added eight feet from the front entrance to define a shop window display space. The principal commercial space retains its 12-foot ceilings. There has been a general modification of interior surfaces with later coverings. At the back of the commercial area is a living section dating from the post War era and a storage and bath section. Throughout most of its history, the building housed a confectionery or cafe. For a time, from at least 1911 to about 1925, it also served as the post office.

On 31-January-1911, in the midst of this booming economy and population growth, downtown Talent suffered a major fire that destroyed virtually all of the commercial area west of the Pacific Highway at its intersection with Wagner Creek Road. In quick succession the blaze spread to the bank, to the barber shop, the Conway store and the Wolters Building and was only prevented from enveloping the buildings of the Talent Drug and Furniture companies and the Bell Hotel. .. by heroic work on the part of the volunteer fire fighters. (Medford Mail Tribune, 31-January-1911, 1:8).

Talent's business community responded immediately to the fire and work on rebuilding the commercial center was begun. New buildings of "fireproof" concrete and brick characterized this second phase of development, replacing the earlier wood-frame businesses destroyed by the fire.

Immediately following the blaze Hanscom Hall, located opposite the primary fire location, remained the largest commercial building in the community. As new buildings were in progress the hall apparently served as the location for a variety of temporary uses in addition to continuing as both a cafe and the town's post office.

Type of structure:: Stand alone re-enter Zip Code here:: 97540 Current Status:: Retired

Visit Instructions:
To post a log to an existing U.S. Post Office waymark, you will need to post a picture of the front of the building, with the name of the post office in the background if that is possible.

A description of your Post Office is required, such as when it was built, history, outstanding or unique features, population of the city or town, just do a quick internet search and find an interesting bit of information about the city or town and add it to the long description, to make it more interesting. Even just adding in the population of the area can give others an idea of how many people this post office serves. This description should be at least three sentences.

If your Post Office has any unusual or unique features that you feel others would enjoy viewing, additional pictures are always welcome.
Including your gps device in the picture is not necessary, but wouldn't be cause for disapproval, as long as all other details of your log are acceptable.

Recent Visits/Logs:

There are no logs for this waymark yet.