Historic Hood River
Laraway House 1.0
Notes
We’ve seen the W.F. Laraway House at 214 Front Street several times before, but I never noticed this earlier image without an expansion to the north. You can compare it with this later image to see the difference. The house appears on the 1905 Sanborn map without the addition, and in the 1909 Sanborn map with the addition. This means Laraway must have acquired the house before 1909, which is earlier than I thought.
Note there is no utility pole in this earlier view, so perhaps this was before electric or telephone service on this block. Also note there is some confusion about the address of this house. Many Laraway photos show the “214” number clearly above the front door, and one image shows the number “190” above the front door. Today is it numbered “212” which matches the 1916 Sanborn map. In the Oregon Historic Sites Database it is called the “T. J. Cunning House” after its first owner, who built it sometime before 1905.
nels
And a real boardwalk…
Arthur Babitz
With muddy streets I’ll bet a wood sidewalk was really appreciated. About 1913 the core downtown got asphalt streets and cement sidewalks.
Arlen L sheldrake
love the front porch!!
L. E.
I don’t know if this little bit means anything. The June 30, 1904 Glacier says Laraway bought the D. A. Turner house and lot on the east side of town.
When were HR homes able to install indoor plumbing? That would eliminate the outhouse in the yard and make more building room. Many old homes turned the pantry off the kitchen into the bathroom. But probably many homes had to make an addition for the bathroom.
Libby Bickford
I always heard that house had a turntable built in back to turn around the car. I presume because it’s a narrow lot.
Pat A
Jim Laraway told me about the turntable in the garage when I met him last October. It made entering the roadway much safer than backing into it.