1885 Egbert House, Trevitt's Addition - The Dalles, OR
N 45° 36.075 W 121° 11.222
10T E 641386 N 5051343
This multi-family dwelling has some extensive painting on the exterior, giving it the "look" of features it does not possess.
Waymark Code: WMHRXK
Location: Oregon, United States
Date Posted: 08/10/2013
Views: 20
I noticed the extensive paint on this dwelling as we were visiting The Dalles recently. The first part that caught my eye was the wagon train mural on the side, which I though was pretty nice, and then I saw the fantastic detail work on the front side, and stopped to take a second look! My eyes were fooled at first, thinking there really was a bay window, and fancy trimwork, but it quickly became apparent that an artist had done a very, very good job creating some Anamorphous Street Art on this dwelling! It is a REALLY good job! I even noticed some painted birds, and a cat!
Here is some additional history about the house and the neighborhood:
This structure was built in 1885 and is situated in the Trevitt Addition of The Dalles, which is roughly the neighborhood bounded by 2nd, Liberty and 6th Streets plus Mill Creek in The Dalles. The Historic District includes 250 acres, 51 buildings, 2 structures, 1 object and was added to the National Register in 1995. This house is called the Egbert House and it was built in 1885.
In 1850, most of the land that now comprises the city of The Dalles was part of the U.S. Military Reservation for Fort Drum (later renamed For Dalles in 1853). Fort Dalles was abandoned in 1866 and the property was placed under the authority of Jacob Fritts for the purpose of liquidation, in 1873. In 1877 the property was place under the authority of the U.S. Dept of Interior, with an area platted in 1881 for the The Dalles Military Addition. Between 1855 and 1860, Victor Trevitt purchased a triangular parcel of land, and much of this is currently called the Trevitt's Historic District.
This was a significant time for Wasco County, with many early pioneers taking up residence and establishing commerce and building homes. The Trevitt Addition was one of the first areas platted inside the new "Dalles City" which was created in 1855. Trevitt also took a land donation claim about 15 miles southeast of The Dalles in June 1855 (159.40 acres). The old Sandy-Dalles wagon road crossed directly thru his addition in town, roughly following west 4th Street and west 3rd place. The first flour mill was set up in this area, around 1866 by Robert Pentland. Trevitt sold two lots to the Catholic church which built a wooden structure soon after. For the next several decades, numerous dwellings and business were built in the Addition.
The Egbert House has very little preserved history other than at the time of the nominiation of area to the National Historic District program, it was owned by Evelyn J Egbert. While I was unable to find any records that showed who the actual builder was, the National Historic District nomination form indicates the home was built in the year 1885. I was able to locate ancestery data that showed that Evelyn J Egbert was married to Homer E Egbert (born 3/23/1911) who is listed in the 1936 The Dalles directory as a salesman for theCascade Baking Company, and later the Holsum Baking Company where Homer's brother Curtis A Egbert was a baker. The parents of these two brothers was George (a custodian) and Haddie. According to the Obituary for Evelyn, she and Homer owned their own bakery called "Egberts Tasty Bakery" from 1956 to 1972.
The photographs of this building that were included in the Historic District nomination packet show the paint was on the home at the time those photos were taken, also (about 1995).
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