Bethers, George W., House

The house of box construction built in 1873 for George W. Bethers, pioneer settler in the Mary's River drainage westerly of Corvallis, in Benton County, Oregon, occupies an oak-shaded half-acre parcel on a hillock at the northeast corner of Eighth and College Streets in Philomath. The property lies two blocks west of Philomath College, the historic focal point of the community that was platted by members of the United Brethren Church in support of their academic enterprise.

As remodeled in the vernacular Rural Gothic mode about 1900, the house is a brisk, two-story, side-gabled rectangular volume of plank, or box construction rising from hewn sills, which originally rested on brick piers. The ground plan dimensions of the core volume are 24 x 26 feet. By the turn of the century, a ten-foot kitchen attachment was added to the northwest corner, and a porch extended across the balance of the rear face. Eventually, the porch was enclosed, and other lean-to attachments enlarged the footprint of the rear section. The building exterior is clad with horizontal drop siding. The historic front elevation, facing south toward College Street, is distinguished by a steeply-pitched central cross gable, or wall dormer, which is pierced by a diamond-shaped window with a molded frame. The exterior is trimmed with classical cornice and unadorned frieze, plain corner boards, and window frames with architrave molding. The formal fenestration pattern has been modified with the addition of several later openings. Typically, window openings are fitted with one-over-one double-hung sash. A brick chimney with a corbelled cap, which by 1900 straddled the roof ridge slightly off-center, was the replacement for an earlier central chimney.

In the remodeling of 1900, the house was encircled on the south and east sides by an eight-foot wide, single-story veranda with turned posts, and a picture window was added to the south front. It was at this time also the front wall dormer and boxed cornice, drop siding, and several windows were introduced, the chimney rebuilt, and the floor plan modified to create an entry stair hall. The stairs on the west wall were relocated to the front corner, where winder steps were added to the bottom landing. The turned Newel post and banister still are intact. Sliding parlor pocket doors with raised panels make up another noteworthy feature of the remodeling.

By the turn of the century, as is documented in historic views, a carriage shed, or barn stood off the northwest corner of the house, and there were other small accessory buildings to the north. The shed still stands in the northwest corner. When originally constructed ca. 1900, the volume was 16 feet square. Subsequently, a shed addition was added to the east elevation which enlarged the footprint to 16 x 24 feet. The gable-roofed shed has a north-south longitudinal axis with an opening on the south end. It is clad with horizontal drop siding matching that of the house. The carriage shed contains two window assemblies from the house that antedate the 1900 remodeling. The sash, fitted with four lights over four, is in poor condition but constitutes a record of the original house. Because the carriage shed has no foundation and is severely deteriorated, it is not expected to be standing in the long term. Nevertheless, it is contemporary with the property's final evolutionary development in the historic period and is counted as a contributing feature.

The present owner, Scott Ramsey, who acquired the property in 1995 to prevent its being cleared for redevelopment, is embarked upon rehabilitating the house to the 1900 configuration, which, since it is documented by photograph, represents the earliest phase of modification for which restoration would not be speculative. In recent years, the shingle-covered roof was replaced with corrugated metal. This and a number of other later alterations will be reversed. Among the structural improvements completed is the addition of a rock-faced concrete perimeter foundation. While the house was modified after the departure of the two principal historical figures with which it is associated, and conveys today its configuration of about 1900, it is nonetheless important as a tangible link to George W. Bethers and William Wyatt. Both figures were instrumental in the development of the Marys River settlement by members of the United Brethren Church. However, because the unaltered United Brethren college building of 1867 also is importantly associated with the local organization of the United Brethren Church and its institution of higher learning, and because previous National Register review comments specifically advised limiting the premise of the nomination, the house is not now proposed for nomination under Criteria A or B in the areas of exploration/settlement and religion. The information relating to historical themes is retained, however, as a matter of documentation.

The original exterior siding (half-inch thick, rough-sawn lap siding) was removed in 1900 and replaced with the existing drop siding. Some of the old material was reused on the interior. Inside, the perimeter walls were furred out with rough-sawn 2 x 4s which were nailed with a cover of horizontal shiplap. Partition walls of the interior were strengthened by a layer of horizontal 6 x 3/4-inch boards similar to shiplap. To obtain a smooth surface for wall treatment, interior walls will be finished with sheetrock in the current rehabilitation.

The turn-of-the-century wall reinforcement represents an interesting, practical technique for achieving shear strength and improved insulation. The early weatherization measure, a commonplace requirement of later occupants of box-constructed dwellings, went hand-in-hand with the fashionable, space-expanding amenities of the veranda and wall corner. The historic period of significance of the nominated property, thus, is drawn from the building's date of construction in 1873, continues through the successive periods of occupation by Bethers and Wyatt, and terminates in the historic adaptive remodeling of 1900.

George W. Bethers (1821-1878), a native of Ohio, was a member of the Oregon Conference of the United Brethren Church, an evangelical denomination, and an incorporator of the academy that the church sponsored at Philomath to provide Christian training for ministers and the liberal education of men and women from 1867 onward. Bethers was an overland pioneer of 1848 who with his wife, the former Kezia Newton, settled a donation land claim in the valley of the Mary's River near its confluence with the Willamette, westerly of present-day Corvallis. It was Bethers' appeal to the United Brethren Church in his native state in 1849 that brought a missionary train of 95 settlers to the Willamette Valley in 1853 with the object of organizing a conference. The south district coalesced solidly around Bethers, and it was at this settlement that Philomath College was opened fourteen years later. While the United Brethren opened other schools, such as Sublimity College, they were short-lived. By 1929, Philomath College closed permanently, no longer able to compete for enrollment with State schools such as the Agricultural College at Corvallis. Philomath College was the only United Brethren college on the West Coast. Bethers was a trustee of the college for several years before his death in 1878. His son, George Jr., was educated at Philomath College and subsequently taught at the school. At the end of the Second World War, in 1946, the United Brethren merged nationally with the Evangelical Church to form the Evangelical-United Brethren Church. Bethers' importance in Benton County and Willamette Valley history was a catalyst for the United Brethren church organization in Oregon which, in turn, inspired the founding of a college and the platting of Philomath townsite.

The other noteworthy occupant of the house was William Wyatt, a contemporary of Bethers and a neighbor who acquired the property in 1880 after Bethers had died. Wyatt lived in the house until 1888. He was an overland pioneer of 1847 who staked his claim at the Mary's River settlement in 1850. From the time of his conversion at a revival meeting in 1858, Wyatt was a member of the United Brethren Church. A native of Birmingham, England, he settled in Illinois before coming overland to Oregon via the southern immigrant route, or Applegate Trail. Wyatt prospered in farming and real estate, and his financial support was key to firmly establishing the Christian college at Philomath.

Public comments

When the Bethers House was considered by the State Advisory Committee on Historic Preservation during its public meeting on February 14, 1997, May Dasch, a Philomath resident and Linn-Benton County historian, expressed her support for listing the Bethers House in the National Register. A copy of her statement is appended to this record. The gist of her remarks was that, thus far, Philomath Academy is the only nationally registered property in Philomath, and it is a central feature of the town. But the town, because of its proximity to Corvallis, is experiencing rapid development, and there is no historic preservation ordinance in place at present. Listing the house would draw public attention to the importance of the community's cultural heritage. Ms. Dasch observed that the Bethers House property, situated on its knoll within view of the historic college building, had been slated for redevelopment for multi-family housing before the current owner acted quickly to preserve it as his own single-family residence.

Subsequent to the state review board's unanimous finding of National Register eligibility, the Philomath City Council considered the pending nomination and, during its meeting on April 28, 1997, moved unanimously to approve the nomination. The City's endorsement, written by City Manager Randy Kugler and dated April 29, also is appended to this record.