Blue Garden in Dallas, Oregon

827 South Main Street

This commercial building was originally built in 1875, with apartments on the second floor and the Jennings Lodge Masonic hall on the third floor. It was the only downtown building in Dallas to survive the fire of 1888. The Blue Garden originally opened as a mercantile in 1890 by Charles Bilyeu and Wiley Gardener, who named it after their own last names. Later it became the Blue Garden Confectionery & Luncheon. The neon sign was installed in 1924. The Blue Garden was purchased by William and Elsie Sanders in 1938, who renovated it and added the Garden Spot Lounge for live music and dancing. After Bill died in 1958, Elsie and their sons Jack and Keith ran it. It was a filming location for the 1986 Warner TV movie Promise featuring James Garner and James Woods. The Blue Garden closed in March 1991 and was briefly a Mexican restaurant called Chapala. It was purchased by Larry and Lue Weyer in July 1992 and reopened as Lue's Blue Garden in January 1993. Lue’s Blue Garden was open through the late 90s, and then became a Chinese Restaurant before closing for about 15 years. It was purchased by Bob Collins on June 10, 2015. The restored neon sign was turned on again on February 15, 2016 and the Blue Garden reopened in May 2019. Collins died shortly after and his daughter Michele Collins took over. The Blue Garden closed on March 16, 2020 and was sold to Ward's Auctions by April 2020.