Eugene as we know it began in 1846, when Eugene Skinner built his original cabin between the Willamette River and Skinner’s Butte. What we think of as a place, after all, often begins with home.
With over 160 years of history, Eugene and Springfield are not only preserving historic properties and areas, but breathing new life into legacy properties with renovations.
For example, the Tree Tops Renovation, now underway by Arbor South Architecture and expected to be completed in 2028, will restore a 1910 University of Oregon Chancellor residence. In addition to structural, exterior, and energy efficiency upgrades, the renovation will transfrom Tree Tops into seven suites. Plus, new walking pathways through the grounds will realize the welcoming outdoor landscape in George Otton’s original 1911 design.
A sense of home is integral not only for us personally, but for a community’s identity and personality. How we use our houses might change over the years, but our need for home and for us to feel at home in our communities remains a constant.
That sense of home as personal haven and part of a city’s social fabric comes to life in three historic local areas: the Shelton McMurphey Johnson House and the Mims Houses in Eugene, and Springfield’s Washburne Historic District.
In the late 1800s, Eugene was only home to around a thousand people, but industrial activity was prominent. The nearby Willamette River hummed with transportation and trade, especially from riverside timber mills and grist mills. Steam from the river’s waters generated electricity, and a nearby quarry provided useful materials.
But the heart of the growing city? The railroad tracks running west to east along the southern side of Skinner’s Butte.
“Back then, the train represented wealth, new industries, new activity, new people,” says Leah Murray, executive director of the Shelton McMurphey Johnson House (SMJ). “It was exciting, and you wanted to be close to the train.”
That proximity of the SMJ to the train tracks was no accident, Murray adds. After moving from Salem to Eugene in 1873, Thomas Winthrop Shelton had a vision in mind when he bought 320 acres.
“He fell in love with Eugene, wanted to see the community thrive and grow,” says Murray. “He built his house facing the train station so that when people came through this backwater, they could see the house and realize there was money here.”
The railroad symbolized prosperity to some Eugenians. To others it represented hope to find something better in life. At the time, Black settlers in Eugene would not have been allowed to stay at properties such as the SMJ. Many of them, including jazz great Louis Armstrong and eternal vocal queen Ella Fitzgerald, found room and board nearby.
Willie Mims was a young adolescent when his parents, Annie and C.B. Mims, moved from a Black community of tent houses on the north side of the Willamette River, into what would become one of Eugene’s most historically important properties.
“That’s the first time I remember having a front lawn in Eugene,” Willie Mims recalls.
Born in Texas in 1936, Mims and his parents moved to Eugene in 1947.
“He’s probably the last living resident from across the bridge,” says Sally Mims. Willie and Sally have been married for over 50 years.
The Mims were among several Black families drawn to the Pacific Northwest in the 1940s, when World War II and the post-war years presented opportunities for better jobs.
“There was opportunity, but that only lasted as long as the war lasted,” says Sally.
Willie’s family has owned the High Street property, known as the Mims Houses, for about 76 years. They are the oldest and longest Black-owned properties in the City of Eugene.
“Originally when they purchased, it was the poor section of town,” says Sally. “Nowadays they have historical significance.”
Local laws of the time prohibited Black people from purchasing real estate or living inside city limits. C.B Mims worked around the laws in coordination with his employer, Osborne Hotel owner Joe Early, using a practice common in the U.S. South: Early, who was white, bought the property, then sold it to Mims.
“Sometimes things happen because of the kindness of other people,” says Sally. “The Mims Houses represent kindness, sharing, a lot of hardship, and survival. They provided shelter for a lot of railroad porters, entertainers such as Louis Armstrong, others going through town who couldn’t find anyplace else to stay.”
One house served for years as a guest house, providing boarding for Black University of Oregon football players in the 1950s who had nowhere else to stay in town.
“The coach could recruit, but the dorms weren’t an option,” says Willie.
Now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Mims Houses retain their overall exterior period character. Inside, there’s now solar power and an HVAC system. The 330 High Street house is one of two Gothic cottages of that style in Oregon.
The green house in front is understood to be the oldest house in Eugene on its original building site. The property is also known for the millstone there, from the local grist mills. The popularity of those mills among area farmers built the momentum to name Eugene the Lane County seat.
“The Houses provided sanctuary for travelers and new arrivals of color as a place to stay,” says Sally. “There was an act of kindness that resulted in the Mims purchasing the property. They returned that kindness in sharing that shelter with others.”
The legacy of the Mims Houses lives on locally in other ways. Developer Brian Obie designated a 12-guest multi-use room in the Gordon Tavern as the C.B. Mims Sanctuary.
“He did that as an honor, a recognition, to the Mims Houses providing shelter and sanctuary,” says Sally. “It’s a reminder of what possibilities there are.”
The Mims continue to work with local organizations to improve the property and extend its legacy. Long Tom Watershed Council is improving part of the landscape’s stormwater drainage. Rainbow Valley Design and Construction is assisting on architectural projects, including the addition of a public gazebo for events on the grounds.
“We are also working with a new nonprofit, Black Pioneer Families of Lane County,” says Sally. “Amongst them are our descendants of families from across the bridge. We are trying to keep that continuity going.”
Across the river, while downtown Springfield continues a long-running revitalization, it can be hard to believe that in its early days, downtown ran 24 hours a day.
Originally a farming community, by the late 1800s, Springfield had become a mill town.
“Industry started happening here, and with timber resources, water, flour mill activity, a downtown grew to support people living nearby,” explains Jenna Fribley, architect, designer, and co-founder of Campfire Collaborative.
“You had workers who might have a midnight lunchtime, people needing to shop, go for a meal at all times a day. Willamalane used to have nighttime recreation leagues,” she adds. “Historically, downtown was a 24-hour, happening place.”
The vibrancy wasn’t limited to downtown or the mill. Workers, professionals, civic staff, and others began building not just homes, but a neighborhood, in what is today Springfield’s Washburne Historic District.
“It started as millworker housing,” says Fribley. “It used to be this interesting urban fabric of what it means to have industry, a commercial corridor, and a neighborhood so close together.”
Fribley is also part of a team whose forthcoming book about the history of Springfield, including Washburne, is expected to hit the shelves this summer.
“Originally it was going to be a small project. Now it’s over 350 pages,” says Fribley. “We’re compiling a more comprehensive and inclusive history than anything previously published”
Most buildings in Washburne were built between the 1890s and the 1940s, during the area’s lumber boom. Much of the rough-cut lumber, lumber, windows, siding, and shingles in those homes came from Springfield mills.
“We talk a lot about missing middle housing, but middle housing used to be common,” notes Fribley. “Neighborhoods had more variety of home size. We had tiny mill cottages, carriage houses, duplexes, in addition to larger Craftsman-style homes, all in the same neighborhood.”
The Washburne area also housed Lane County’s largest flour mill, a cheese factory, creamery, hospital, and specialty shops.
“Washburne is very walkable,” Fribley says. “It’s nice to stroll through, and it’s convenient to downtown.”
By 1984, the Springfield Historic Commission and Washburne Neighborhood Association got the neighborhood recognized as a local Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987. The Springfield History Museum offers a free map for self-guided tours and, searchable online archive that includes historic photos of the Washburne area.
Today, the Washburne Historic District encompasses 20 full blocks, five partial blocks, and more than 200 structures.
“Springfield is fortunate in that it still has historic buildings,” says Fribley. “It feels rooted in something.”
The SMJ, Mims Houses, and the Washburne Historic District: They are different places with different stories. Each represents home, and something deeper: a sense of place in the broader community that we continue to seek and treasure today.
Each place has deep roots extending from initial construction through the here and now. Every home and neighborhood is a symbol for something deeper. That same sense of place and welcome come to life when renovations such as Tree Tops maintain legacy and history, but revitalize a historic home to serve the community’s current needs.
“It represents optimism,” says SMJ’s Murray. “What we try to represent is the importance of marking history and remembering its impact on what we do now. History isn’t just in the past. We live it every day. We came from somewhere. We should recognize that. We are always looking to make a bigger impact in the community because that’s important.”
