Historic Hood River
Davidson Building
5-28-2013
Notes
The Davidson Building was built on Cascade in 1905, and still looks much the same. It housed the offices of Davidson Fruit Company, as well as the Hood River Glacier (left rear), J.H. Heilbronner & Co., brokers in orchard land, (east side). The Light and Water Company offices were on the second floor.
It is said that Mr. Davidson refused to build his new office building until the city agreed to form a fire brigade. The HRFD shares its birthday with this building.
That may be Horatio Davidson himself in the doorway to his office.
Here’s a recent view of this building.
spinsur
Beautiful building. Nice boardwalks! Gotta luv that streetlight. Can anyone tell (Arthur), behind the burn pile smoke (?) in the lower left, what’s coming off what appears to be a sloped chute from the precurser (?) to the Union Building? Looks white, ice scraps or ?
nels
Many of these pictures seem to show that people in those put a high value on trees, working roads around them, leaving them near buildings, etc. Maybe the air conditioning value with the shade on hot days was the reason. A previous picture showed oak trees in the middle of the road going west out of the downtown.
l.e.
Looks more attractive in this photo than it does now.
It think Horatio’s sister Ella Mae, who has contributed many photos to this site, lived upstairs in this building for a few years.
l.e.
What is the stone that was used in this building?
Lesa
The photographer, William D. Rogers came with his wife Daisy to Oregon cir. 1898, from Minnesota. He died in Portland in 1947, but they are both buried at Idlewilde. Three of their sons were, Oak, Rex, and Cree Rogers.
Arthur
I can add a likely date for the photo: February 1906. Behind the man in the door is a partial calendar page. While we can’t read the year, the month has 28 days and starts on Thursday. That happened in 1906, and not again until 1917, when the streets would have be paved.
Lesa
Correction, William D. Rogers b.1869 in Minnesota, came with his father, Eliseph C. Rogers, and his grandfather, Daniel D. Rogers, & their families, to Hood River Valley in the spring of 1878. His grandfather was one of the early pioneers of Hood River Valley, building its first grist mill, near Phelps Creek. This according to the Hood River Glacier, Oct 1896. Daniel D. Rogers Obit.
They are buried at Idlewilde.
Lesa
William D. Rogers, according to the Hood River Glacier, Nov 1896, married Miss Daisy Sutton, at the home of her parents, in Salem, Oregon, Nov 10, 1896. Daisy died in 1929 and is buried at Idlewilde.
Arthur
spinsur, it looks like a burn barrel behind the building. You can also just make out the wooden Davidson building we saw in https://www.hoodriverhistorymuseum.org?showimage=501. I can’t make out detail on the white pile behind the building. Looks like it might be rocks or snow.
I’ve modified the notes to add a link to a current street view.
Bill Seaton
In my childhood days, I knew this as the building where John Duckwall had the offices for his fruit company.
l.e.
I drove by the building today. I see that the ridges I thought were stone are actually decorative concrete.
In today’s recent view, following the bird poop up the side of the building, there must be a bird nesting in that black pipe at the top of the corner.
Not that that bit of information has anything to do with history.
Lesa
I.e. it may be not historical, but it is hysterical, and highly observant.
Jeffrey Bryant
Although it is not the Oak tree pictured here, I thought the following article was interesting:
The Hood River Glacier, January 31, 1907, page 7
Another of the oaks that obstructed the increasing traffic in the main streets of the town was sacrificed this week, this time the one standing near the corner of Fourth and Cascade avenue.