N. P. Smith Pioneer Hardware Store facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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N. P. Smith Pioneer Hardware Store
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Wall Street frontage
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| Location | Bend, Oregon, USA |
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| Built | 1909 |
| Architect | Nichols P. Smith |
| Architectural style | Western false front |
| NRHP reference No. | 84002980 |
| Added to NRHP | 1984 |
The N. P. Smith Pioneer Hardware Store is an old building in Bend, Oregon, United States. Nichols P. Smith, a businessman from Bend, built it in 1909. This two-story building first had a hardware store downstairs. The Smith family lived in an apartment upstairs.
You can find the building on Northwest Wall Street in downtown Bend. It has been used as a business place ever since it opened. Today, the Smith Hardware Store is the only wooden building left in downtown Bend. It is very important to Bend's history. Because of this, the Smith Pioneer Hardware Store is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Contents
Who Was Nichols Smith?
Nichols Paul Smith was 34 years old when he came to Central Oregon. He helped survey the land for the town of Bend. Alexander M. Drake, who owned the Pilot Butte Development Company, hired him. Smith worked as a surveyor and carpenter. He helped build the Bend community.
He built a house near the Deschutes River. This area is now called the Drake Park Neighborhood Historic District. In 1903, Smith and his wife, Cora Bell, opened their first hardware store. It was on the east side of Wall Street in downtown Bend.
Smith's New Store and Business
In 1909, Smith built a new store across the street from his first one. He added an apartment upstairs so he could live close to his business. Smith's new store sold many things for homes. This included stoves and butter churns. He also sold building materials, farm tools, and hunting and fishing gear.
When automobiles started appearing in Bend, Smith was the first to sell gasoline. In 1911, the Great Northern and Union Pacific railroads came to central Oregon. This started a building boom in Bend. Smith's business did very well. He retired from the hardware business around 1930.
Smith's Community Involvement
Besides being a successful businessman, Smith was also active in his community. He was a member of Bend's volunteer fire department. He also oversaw the building of the city's downtown sidewalks.
Smith was the local leader of the Democratic Party. He served on the election board for many years. He also worked as a bailiff for the Deschutes County Court.
History of the Building
Nichols P. Smith built the N. P. Smith Pioneer Hardware Store and its warehouse in June 1909. This was only four years after the city of Bend was founded. The building first had a hardware store on the ground floor. Smith and his family lived in the apartment upstairs.
The building was like many others built in Bend in the early 1900s. It was simple and useful. The hardware store stayed open until 1930. Since then, other businesses have used the building. Smith's daughter, Marjorie Smith, was still living in the upstairs apartment in the 1980s.
Building Restoration
In 1983, the front of the building was fixed up and made to look new again. Workers removed the aluminum and plywood that had been added over the years. This showed the original front, which was still in great shape.
Window sills, corner boards, and the cornice molding were replaced. Then, the original horizontal wood siding and restored trim were repainted in their first colors.
The N. P. Smith Pioneer Hardware Store is a great example of an early commercial building in Bend. It was one of the city's first stores. Today, it is the oldest wooden building still standing in downtown Bend. Because it is so important to Bend's history, the N. P. Smith Pioneer Hardware Store was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 5, 1984.
Building Design
The Smith Pioneer Hardware Store is on the west side of Wall Street. It is between Oregon Avenue and Minnesota Avenue in downtown Bend. It is a two-story wooden building. The main store is 20 feet wide and 75 feet long. There is a warehouse in the back that is 20 feet wide and 70 feet long. The whole property is 25 feet by 150 feet.
A newer brick building is next to the store on the north side. On the south side, there is a narrow path. This path leads to an open staircase that goes up to the second-floor apartment. The back of the warehouse opens onto an alley called Brooks Street.
False Front Architecture
The Smith store is a good example of a western false front building. These simple business buildings usually had two stories. They had a tall, flat front and a square top. A gabled-roof (sloped roof) was often hidden behind this false front.
Like Smith, many owners ran a store downstairs and lived upstairs. Many false front buildings were built in Bend between 1900 and 1910. However, the Smith hardware store is the only one left in downtown Bend.
Storefront Details
The front of the store was originally covered with six-inch horizontal wood siding. It had vertical wooden trim at the corners. The main entrance to the store was through two recessed doors in the middle. However, these double doors have been replaced. Now there is a single glass door with tall windows on each side.
Two large display windows are on either side of the entrance. Each window has four glass panes. On the second floor, there are two double-hung windows that look out onto the street. The building's front originally had a wooden cornice that stuck out 20 inches. This was later replaced with a molded stucco cornice. The building has a flat roof that slopes gently towards the back.
Inside the Building
The ground floor of the Smith building is for businesses. It was first a hardware store. Inside, the walls are covered with two-inch tongue-and-groove wood panels. The floor is made of 1-by-4 tongue-and-groove wood planks.
Originally, there were shelves built into one wall along its full length. The old light fixtures had glass shades and hung from the ceiling. The door knobs, locks, and other hardware were made of brass. Over the years, the original tongue-and-groove ceiling was covered by a new ceiling. New lights have been put in. The original shelves have been replaced, and the floor is now carpeted.
Upstairs Apartment
The owner's apartment upstairs has a living room, dining room, kitchen, and two bedrooms. The walls and floor were finished with the same tongue-and-groove wood as downstairs. However, the walls in the bedrooms are now covered with wallpaper. Other rooms have plasterboard. The floors are now carpeted.
The wood trim includes eight-inch baseboard molding. There is also four-inch framing around the doors and windows. The kitchen has cabinets built into the walls. There are ventilation transoms (small windows) above some inside doors. Like downstairs, the light fixtures have glass shades and hang from the ceiling. The door hardware is made of brass.
There was once a large open porch on the second floor next to the living area. Around 1915, this porch was enclosed. It was turned into more living space. This change added a third bedroom, a family room, a bathroom, and some storage space to the apartment.
