Friends Polytechnic Institute Preceded Deaf School in Highland

Earlier this week the Mill published an interesting and not often seen image of the Friends Polytechnic Institute. It has significance across several dimensions.

Friends Polytechnic School
in Highland (WHC 81.9.1.12)

In addition to George Fox, Chemawa, Nye Beach, and the Oregon Land Company, in Highland Bert Hoover's uncle, Dr. Minthorn, also was a partner in the Friends Polytechnic Institute. His significance is often swallowed up by his relation to President Hoover, and the capsule biography at the Hoover-Minthorn House is typical of that, but he was involved as a principal organizer and manager of a lot of institutional and land development in and around Salem. He is certainly worth more attention, and we might come back to him.

June 1st, 1889

After announcing it in 1891, the building seems to have been completed in September of 1892, though all its finish work might have taken a little longer into the fall.

December 3rd, 1891

Not long afterwards they started planning a streetcar extension to it. You can get a general sense for the extent of development in this 1890 birdseye view of Salem. 

Some of the details on the map are projected or idealized, and it is not 100% accurate.  A streetcar runs up Commercial street and turns east on Highland. But a few years later the newspaper describes the line as running up Broadway instead. Still, the map shows the distance from downtown and a gap in development between what we now think of as Highland and Grant. The area of the Institute, is labeled Highland Park, just north of Locust.

The Institute at top center, via The Mill
(WHC 1986.017.0004)

This 1892 map also shows the streetcar on Commercial, turning onto Highland. You can see the Institute just at the top of the map.

March 9th, 1894

September 5th, 1894

The School District talked about renting some of it, and even with lots of advertising in Salem, the Institute never seemed to have got going with sustainable enrollment and revenues. Probably it was too far from downtown, even with a streetcar connection.

The Bitsman suggests it was sold to the State around 1910 for the Deaf School, and demolished probably in the 1920s. (News of its demolition was not obvious in the papers, and if I turn up more, I'll update.)

August 6th, 1931

So the Institute has a place in the history of Minthorn's projects, in the history of Salem schools and institutions, in the history of Oregon Quakers, and the history of Highland and its development. Probably there are more.

Addendum

There is more on insitutional history. The Polytechnic building had a brief place, for a year or two, in the history of Hillcrest. (Previously on that, see here and here.)

June 5th, 1913

It was still standing in January of 1921, but did seem likely to be demolished soon:

It is a flimsy, all wood, unplastered, poorly lighted structure, difficult to heat, and a great fire risk....It leans nearly six inches out of plumb....A third of its leaky tin roof was blown off in the recent wind storm...and nearly the whole building has been soaked....The plates on which the posts supporting the roof trusses rest are badly decayed.