The Monteith National Register District
The Monteith District, located on the west side of
downtown Albany, is named after Walter and Thomas Monteith, the founding
fathers of Albany. After arriving in Oregon from New York in 1847,
these two brothers bought squatters rights to a claim held by Hiram
Smead for $400.
The Monteith brothers completed the first frame house in Albany in 1849 and much earlier history centers around the Monteith House. Albany's first indoor sermon was preached in the house, Indian treaties were signed there, and in 1856 political leaders met there to establish the Oregon Republican Party. The Monteith House, now restored, is open as a museum.
During the mid-1800's, the Monteith's and the Hackleman's were literally and politically on opposite sides of the fence. Residents of the Monteith District were mainly Republican merchants and professionals with Union sympathies. The Hackleman District residents to the east were mainly working class Democrats who sided with the Confederacy. They even went so far as to plant a hedge separating the sides of town near Baker Street.
In 1851, the Monteith family built and owned the Magnolia Flouring Mills along the Calapooia River. With the mill in operation, the first boat ever to travel the upper Willamette River, the "Multnomah", arrived in Albany, thereby increasing Albany's shipping potential for the manufacturing and farming industries.
The Monteith Historic District was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in February 1980. Thirteen distinct architectural styles grace the fifty city blocks of the District. Included are Federal, Craftsman, Classical Revival, Gothic Revival, Italianate, Queen Anne, French Second Empire, Stick, Eastlake, Colonial Revival, Rural Vernacular, Transitional Box, Bungalow, American Renaissance, and eclectic hybrids that combine elements of these styles.
