Sam Brown House - Gervais, Oregon - U.S. Route 99 - The Pacific Highway on Waymarking.com

The Sam Brown House, located on the French Prairie, just east of the Gervais city limits, would have been a notable sight for travelers on U.S. Highway 99E, traveling through the mid-Willamette Valley. Located just outside the city limits of Gervais, this house has had a role in the history of transportation through the area.

Built in 1857, the house is believed to have been the first house to be built in Oregon that was designed by an architect. It was built for Samuel and Elizabeth Brown and served as stage coach stop. It remained in the Brown family for three generations. The house is also nicknamed "The Willows" and at the time of it's nomination for historic status in 1974, the owner was listed as Mrs. Sam Brown II.

A prominent feature of the house is the Greek temple-style front-facing center section, with a portico supported by two untapered columns. The Brown family reportedly had the house built to the specifications of Mrs. Elizabeth Brown, who desired a home that reminded her of a Southern house. A barn just south of the house displays the words "The Willows, 1921, Sam H. Brown."

Samuel Brown was born in Pennsylvania in 1821, later moving to Indiana, where he worked as a carpenter and cabinet maker. At age 21 he moved to Missouri, where he married his wife, Elizabeth. In 1846, the Browns, with the young son, came by wagon train to the west coast, joining Jesse Applegate on the southerly route from Idaho toward Oregon, but instead diverting into California, where he built a mill on the Feather River. Ultimately he turned to gold prospecting and was successful, gaining a fortune of $20,000 and then moving to Oregon where they filed a donation land claim. They built this house and Brown became a state senator from 1866 to 1872. Their son Samuel Brown II also served in the Oregon legislature and was a Republican candidate for Governor of Oregon in 1934.

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Excerpt from 1957 USGS 7.5" series map, Gervais Quadrangle

State: Oregon Nearest City: Gervais Type: Americana - Motel, diner, roadside attraction, etc.

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