Page 23 - Corvallis, OR Historic Preservation Plan

Historic Preservation Plan

Early-Growth in Corvallis (1850-1879)

J.C. Avery was an early local resident who had traveled to California in
search of gold but then returned to open the settlement’s first store.
In 1851, Avery platted the Town of Marysville, which would become a
part of Corvallis. Later that year, William Dixon platted Dixon’s Addition
to the north end of Marysville. These two areas generally make up
what is known as downtown Corvallis today. Marysville was renamed
Corvallis in 1853.

Beginning in 1851, regular steamboat service ran from Corvallis to
Oregon City, and by the time Oregon achieved statehood in 1859,
Corvallis’s population was nearly 500. In the ensuing decade, the
population more than doubled to 1220. As would be expected with
this population growth and its location as a regional transportation
hub, a full range of commercial businesses and services developed
during this time. These included general stores, grocery stores, hotels,
liveries, hardware stores, saloons, tailor, dentists, lawyers, and a
bookstore. Early industry consisted of sawmills, a gristmill, a tannery,
a carding mill, a brickyard, wagon makers, a sash and door factory,
and breweries. Agricultural activities grew in grain, cattle, lumber, and
orchard products. These decades would also see the establishment of
three local newspapers.

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2nd St. (c. 1873)

Final: November 15, 2017 17