Although this building contains all the appearances of a former bank, a survey
confirms its prior life as the Philomath State Bank. This bank was also known as First National Bank in 1961. The article highlights the history of this former bank as well as a nearby building which was once home to the post office and tells us:
Philomath was only 30 years into its incorporation when Dr. Charles Newth decided in 1912 that what his fledgling city needed was a fireproof concrete building at 1321 Main St.
So he built one. Soon, the building housed the post office.
The new Philomath State Bank — also solidly concrete — opened its doors around the same time a few steps to the west. It boasted a fancy silver-and-gilt walk-in vault made by the Mosler Safe Co. out of “Hamilton, O. & Portland, Ore.”
In the century that followed, both buildings housed the services that every growing town needs: The bank remained there until 1964, then the building housed many restaurants. More recently, it was the site of law and real estate offices.
Newth’s building also was a newspaper office and various small businesses, ranging from a dentist office to a chocolate shop.
On Saturday, to celebrate the 100th birthday of the two significant sites, their current owners are sharing the histories of their buildings. They are hosting an open house to display timelines, old photographs and to share anecdotes with anyone who has a connection to the buildings.
“We have some gaps in the timelines,” said Marcia Gilson. She and her husband, Charlie, bought the former bank building about 10 years ago. It is open weekends as the Wine Vault, the tasting room for their Pheasant Court Winery. During the week, the building is leased by Nancy and David Dowrie, the owners of Creekside Coffee.
“You don’t have to be 90 years old to help us fill in some blanks in our timeline,” Marcia Gilson said Wednesday.
Although she knows what kinds of enterprises were in the bank building up to 1977, she is hoping that residents who remember more recent history will stop by to share their memories.
They will have some high-tech tools on hand, just for this purpose.
A video camera will record recollections, and a scanner will be available to quickly make digital images onsite of any old photos that visitors bring by.
Janis and Steve Larson are familiar with their building’s recent past. As of July, they have operated their Furniture Restoration Center at 1321 Main St. for 31 years.
Janis Larson was decorating a Christmas tree on Wednesday as part of her preparation for the open house Saturday. She said that 95-year-old Stan Lowther, who had heard about the planned open house, stopped by her store to share some personal history.
“He came in here and asked me if the old sawdust boiler was still here,” she said.
It isn’t. But when Lowther was 16, it was his job in the predawn hours before school to fire up the furnace and to make a batch of chocolate centers for the chocolate shop that was located in the building in 1934. The shop’s owner came in later to hand-dip the chocolates. When he was 20, Lowther bought the shop and operated it with his wife for 10 years.
That is exactly the kind of story that the Larsons and Gilsons are hoping to hear on Saturday.
“One woman who worked at the bank promised to stop by,” Gilson said.