Drake Park Neighborhood Historic District

About this property

The Drake Park Neighborhood Historic District is located adjacent to Drake Park near the historic downtown area in Bend, Oregon, United States. Because of the unique and varied architecture in the Drake Park neighborhood and its close association with the early development of the city of Bend, the area was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005. The Drake Park Neighborhood Historic District is located in Bend, Oregon. It includes 17 city blocks with 83 individual residential lots. The streets that constitute the boundaries of the district are Riverside Boulevard on the north and west next to Drake Park; Tumalo Avenue on the south; Broadway Street on the southeast; and Franklin Avenue on the northeast corner. The district is 3,623 feet (1,104 m) above sea level. The area is relatively flat, sloping gently to the west towards the Deschutes River which runs through Drake Park. Large Ponderosa Pine trees are scattered throughout the district. Many retaining walls and other landscape elements in the neighborhood are made of local basalt fieldstone. In 1910, Alexander M. Drake, owner of the Pilot Butte Development Company, subdivided the land that is now Drake Park Neighborhood Historic District into residential lots. The area was laid out south of a curving boulevard that followed the Deschutes River. Lots in the subdivision originally sold for $100 to $250, equivalent to $3500 to $8600 today. In 1921, 11 acres (45,000 m2) along the river, adjacent to the subdivision, were sold to the city of Bend to create Drake Park. That same year, State Street was the third street in Bend to be paved. The spacious lots were considered highly desirable because they were close to Drake Park, which runs along the east side of the Deschutes River. In addition, many home sites had choice views of the Cascade Mountain peaks. The area was only a block away from Bend's downtown business district so the city hall, public library, and local Catholic, Methodist, and Episcopalian churches were within easy walking distance. The district was also within walking distance of the Brooks-Scanlon and Shevlin-Hixon lumber mills. As a result, the Drake Park district quickly became the preferred neighborhood for the city's most prominent businessmen. Over the years, residents of the district included many prominent business and civic leaders who contributed to the development of the city of Bend and helped make it the commercial hub of central Oregon. The residents included owners and managers of the city's large lumber mills; owners of downtown businesses, hotels, and other enterprises; and professional men and women. In addition, many of the city's mayors, city council members, and Deschutes County commissioners lived in the neighborhood.

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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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