This corner lot was originally the home of Jeremiah and Nancy Despain, early settlers and developers of Pendleton, and Despain Avenue and Despain Gulch are named in their memory. Their house stood here from 1874 until it was torn down in 1915 to make room for the Haw Building. While the Despain home still stood, outdoor advertising was painted on the east side of the exterior wall of the neighboring Rohrman Building, and that wall and its original painted advertising later became part of the Haw Building's interior. In 1917 the Independent Garage operated here under Paul Hemmelgarn and his son Carl, who had also owned the Pioneer Bottling Works a block west until prohibition shut that business down, after which they entered the auto mechanic trade. Over the next 70 years the building changed hands many times, but a major 2009 remodel, partly funded by a Pendleton Development Commission Façade Restoration Grant, preserved its original appearance. Built in an early industrial style of reinforced concrete with plaster walls and concrete floors on the first floor, the building was designed so cars of the era could be driven to the second floor and into the basement for repairs, and it remains essentially unchanged, with original first-floor windows preserved.