Barclay, Dr. Forbes, House - Oregon City, Oregon
Posted by: 
BruceS
N 45° 21.453 W 122° 36.333
10T E 530894 N 5022746
Former home of early physician in the Pacific Northwest, the house is now located on the grounds of the John McLoughlin House a unit of the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site.
Waymark Code: WM6541
Location: Oregon, United States
Date Posted: 04/04/2009
Views: 5
Built in 1849. "One of a handful of houses in Oregon from the 1840s, the Barclay House in a minimal Classical Revival with a full-width porch. It is 1-1/2 stories, side gabled, and eaveless. Its most prominent feature is the porch with square, full-height, chamfered columns with simple capitals. The front door is flanked by side lights and topped by a transom. The windows are 12/12 wood double-hung with thin muntins and sash. The rectangular
building rests on a foundation of mortared stone.
Forbes Barclay was a Scottish-born physician (1812-1873), employed by the Hudson's Bay Company in 1839 and sent to Fort Vancouver on theColumbia River in 1840. He met and married Maria Panbrum there in 1842. He built this house in Oregon City just prior to his retirement fromHudson's Bay Company and settled in the town for the remainder of his life. He served as physician for local settlers and townspeople, and served as Clackamas County coroner, City School Superintendent, Oregon City mayor, and city councilman. The house is reported to have cost$17,000, a high price attributed to the shortage of labor in the area due to the discovery of gold in California. In 1974, this property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places." - Oregon City Historic Resources Survery Form