Lebanon #10: Dr. Joel C. Booth House

486 Park Street

Dr. Joel C. Booth House on November 22, 2006

Dr. Joel Clarence Booth, B.S., M.D., was a Quaker born on July 22, 1872 on a farm in Jasper County, Iowa. He completed his medical studies at the University of Oregon and served in the Philippines, the Spanish-American War and World War I. Booth moved to Lebanon in 1896. He started out as a horse & buggy doctor and practiced medicine for 50 years in east Linn County. By the early 1900s, he and his brother were leading local physicians. After World War I, Booth commanded the National Guard Hospital company headquartered in Lebanon, and eventually rose to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. Booth had the idea to build an armory for the Lebanon’s National Guard company. Booth was director of the board of the Lebanon Hospital and promoted the construction of the Lebanon General Hospital in 1936 and the building that replaced it in 1952. He was president of the Lebanon National Bank until it closed in the Depression. Booth was elected to the Oregon State Senate as a Republican for three terms between 1931 and 1946, and served a term as mayor of Lebanon in 1937-1938 while also serving as a bank president, surgeon, and state senator. Booth promoted community and recreational projects and was active in numerous organizations. Booth Park, Lebanon’s first municipal park & playground, is named after him.

The Colonial Revival style Booth House was built for Dr. Booth around 1906. The architect was most likely Albert I. Crandall of Lebanon and the house was probably built by John and Louis Crandall, also of Lebanon. Dr. Booth lived in the house for 42 years. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 1, 1980.

Continue to 11: Louis A. Crandall House…