City Hall

Corvallis City Hall stood on the southeast corner of Fourth and Madison Streets from 1892 to 1956 as a grand brick and stone building with an imposing belltower that housed the City Council Chambers, city offices, a grand ballroom, and ground-floor space for the horses and horse-drawn equipment of the Volunteer Fire Department. The department, organized in 1888 with all male members, was supported by the Ladies of the Coffee Club, formed in 1883 to provide hot coffee and sandwiches for firefighters, and the club also sponsored an annual Mid-Summer Dance as a benefit for the department. On July 29, 1913, the Gazette-Times announced that eligible young men were invited to the dance, though the tango, turkey trot, bunny hug, and grizzly bear dances would be banned unless demand was insistent. By November 1913, new second-floor sleeping quarters had been prepared for the firemen, with space for five double beds, a bathroom with shower and tub, nine built-in lockers, and a writing table. A brass sliding pole let firemen reach the horse-drawn equipment in about 19 to 30 seconds, and discipline was strict, with lights out by 10 p.m., no card playing or smoking, and all men up by 7 a.m. At that time, Corvallis's 5000 residents were protected by 75 volunteers under Fire Chief Thomas Graham, using horse-drawn equipment valued at $10,000. The building was sold in 1956 and demolished for a department store, after which the city government moved to a building at the northwest corner of 5th and Madison Streets that had been owned by the Federal Government during World War II and used as a U.S.O Headquarters, while the Fire Department moved to the northwest corner of 5th and Van Buran Streets into a new building designed for mechanized equipment and more modern sleeping quarters.

Corvallis, Oregon · United States