A beautiful 19th century home, one of the few remaining houses on the Oregon Trail in Washington County, has been demolished just days before its future was to be discussed at a City Council meeting.
Monuments have done everything they can to preserve the historic building, but developers used the long weekend to demolish the house before an official decision could be made about its preservation.
The Wilkes House was demolished Friday to make way for a new water treatment plant being built to support the proposed 30-acre residential and commercial development Sunset View at West Banks.
The historical society and the Friends of the Wilkes House had requested that the water treatment plant be built elsewhere so that the historic house and the old trees surrounding the property could be preserved.
A beautiful 1870s home, and one of the few remaining Oregon Trail homes in Washington County, has been demolished, just days before its future was to be discussed at a City Council meeting
Wilkes House was demolished Friday to make way for a new water treatment plant
The water purification plant is not expected to be built for another five to eight years
The property’s owners, Lone Oak Land and Investment Company and Wolverine Financial, had also offered to donate the farm to the Banks Historical Society so it could be relocated.
“It’s heartbreaking how quickly 150 years of pioneer heritage from the Oregon Trail can be torn down without any immediate need,” said Jennifer Allen Newton, a volunteer at the Banks Historical Society. Live in Oregon.
Newton said she had hoped the one-acre farm would be saved, but she was left with no choice but to watch as an excavator leveled the 154-year-old, two-story building.
“None of this had to happen today. The city doesn’t take possession for months. The water treatment plant isn’t scheduled for five to eight years,” she said. “We got some media attention on July 3; the owners filed for a demolition permit on July 3. And they demolished the house on July 5. That’s incredibly fast.
“All we wanted to do was put the plans on hold until we could get all the interested parties together to discuss how the city could use this property if they took possession of it. This could have been stopped if the interested parties had wanted to. Instead of taking responsibility, everyone is dismissive and finger-pointing, and over 150 years of Oregon Trail pioneer history is now in shambles,” Newton told the Beaverton Valley Times.
The preservation group did not directly oppose the new development known as the city’s Westside development project, but did want the Wilkes House site to remain untouched.
An excavator razed the 154-year-old, two-story building to the ground on Friday
The driveway to the house was closed off when the demolition took place
The house had been standing for 154 years when it was finally razed to the ground on Friday
There was hope that some of the old trees surrounding the site could also be saved
The house was dilapidated from the outside and needed some maintenance
Here you can see one of the bathrooms of the historic house
The interior of the house was a lot less historic with gaudy wallpaper and linoleum
Last year, the Banks Historical Society paid $900 for an inspection to ensure the Wilkes House was structurally sound.
It was in 1845 that the Wilkes family headed west on the Oregon Trail. Peyton and Anna Wilkes are considered the first permanent European American settlers in the Banks area, according to Newton, who wrote the history book “Banks: A Town on the Move.”
“The Wilkes family lived in harmony with the Atfalati people,” Newton said, based on oral histories and Native American artifacts found during the archaeological survey.
Jabez Wilkes, Peyton and Anna’s son, lived in the family’s log cabin until the early 1870s, when he had the house built with a gable roof.
Last month, the grassroots Friends of the Wilkes House launched the Save the Wilkes House campaign GoFundMewhich raised $3,000. The money will be used to preserve the historic site as a city park, community cultural center and museum.
Preservationists had fought to save the historic structure, but developers used the long holiday weekend to demolish the house
The house was demolished before a formal decision could be made about its preservation.
The Wilkes House, built in the early 1870s, is considered one of the oldest site-built pioneer buildings in Banks, Oregon
Members of the demolition crew are seen at the site on Friday
The property’s owners have entered into an agreement to sell the land to developer David Weekley Homes, including the deed to the Wilkes House property to the city.
The Banks City Council was expected to discuss the Wilkes House at a meeting next Tuesday, but that has now been postponed.
“The city does not own the property or the Wilkes House and will not own the property until the west side developer satisfies certain conditions in the development agreement and deeds the property to the city,” Mayor Stephanie Jones said in a statement Wednesday.
“As we understand it, the owner of the property offered to give the building to the local historical society for free, on the condition that they move the building to another location. As far as we know, that did not happen.”
In 1845, the Wilkes family headed west on the Oregon Trail. Peyton and Anna Wilkes are considered the first permanent European American settlers in the Banks
The Historical Society had hoped that the house could be converted into a museum and that the land surrounding it could be turned into a park.
The house can be viewed shortly before its final demolition
The house stood for over 150 years and was demolished within hours
Nicole Possert, executive director of Restore Oregon, a national conservation organization, lamented the home’s eventual destruction.
“What a tragic day of loss for all of Oregon and our collective heritage,” Possert told The Oregonian.
“This property represents so many layers of history and heritage, from the Atfalati band of the Kalapuya people to the pioneer settlers who founded the community of Banks. Demolition during the long, July 4th holiday weekend was unnecessary when the City Council had a work session scheduled for next Tuesday to potentially work together on a long-term solution.”