PlacesPages: Historic Downtown Salem #20: Durbin, Watkins-Dearborn & Alejandro's Buildings

Sunday, December 28, 2014

Historic Downtown Salem #20: Durbin, Watkins-Dearborn & Alejandro's Buildings

315-333 State Street, 110-120 Commercial Street NE

Durbin Building, Watkins-Dearborn Building & Alejandro’s Building on September 4, 2006.

Brothers Solomon and Isaac Durbin first came to Oregon in 1845. In 1853, they opened a two-story wood frame livery stable called Durbin & Company at the corner of Commercial and State streets. The brick Durbin Building (pictured above on the far right) was constructed between 1860 and 1870. In the early and mid-1880s, T. B. Wait's Hardware & Farm Machinery was located in the Durbin Building. J.T. Fryer bought the Durbin Building in 1887. By the 1890s, the building had become a saloon with offices on the second floor. H. Hirschberg, a banker and large real estate holder from Independence, Oregon, bought the Durbin Building in 1894 and owned it until 1911, when Joseph Adolph and George E. Waters both purchased an interest in the building. Joseph Adolph and his brother Samuel operated a business on Commercial Street called Adolph Brothers, which included soft drinks and billiards.

State Street side of the Durbin Building on September 4, 2006.

Around 1920, Adolph and Waters altered the building, covering the exterior walls with a light-colored brick and squaring the rounded window heads and constructing an addition to connect it to an 1870s-era two-story building on the east. By the mid-1930s, Joseph and Samuel Adolph had joined Samuel’s brother-in-law Edward Rostein in a venture that eventually became Salem Drug Company, occupying the first floor of the Durbin Building, with Dr. F. C. Jones's dental office on the second floor. By 1939, Dr. Harry Semler’s dental and optical offices occupied the second floor, with Karl’s Shoes on the first floor. George Waters died in 1940 and Joseph Adolph died in 1942. In 1958, Dr. Harry Semler purchased the property from Margaret Waters, wife of George Waters, and Rex and Alden Adolph, sons of Joseph and Lillie Adolph.

Watkins-Dearborn Building on September 4, 2006.

Next to the Durbin Building is the Watkins-Dearborn Building at 110 NE Commercial Street. This two-story Italianate-style brick building was built in 1870. William H. Watkins sold the building to Richard H. Dearborn in 1875, who used it for his harness-making business until about 1910. By 1912, it was home to J. P. Feilen's Holland Bakery. The building was likely incorporated with the Durbin Building next door when it was remodeled in the 1920s. In 1931 Edward Rostein and his brother-in-law Samuel Adolph opened their real estate and general insurance offices in the Watkins-Dearborn Building. Their offices remained in this building until Rostein retired in 1963.

Alejandro’s Building on September 4, 2006.

The Alejandro's Restaurant building at 120 NE Commercial Street was originally built around 1870. Durbin’s Livery was located here in 1884. By 1888 it housed the Minto & Lowe Livery. A hardware and stove shop was located here in 1890. The building houses YMCA rooms in 1895. Buren & Hamilton Furniture was located here by 1904. An electric painting company and photo shop was located here in 1926. The building was remodeled after 1939 with a stucco finish, and housed Salem Hardware in the late 1950s. The building was remodeled in the 1990s with arched second floor windows and a brick veneer on the first one-and-a-half stories, leaving the previous stucco above.

Additional Links:
Durbin Building at Salem Online History
Watkins-Dearborn Building at Salem Online History
Alejandro's Restaurant Building at Salem Online History