Photo Description
One of oldest photos of Sumpter before the boom. The view looks NW across Mill St. between Auburn St. and Granite St.
Brooks Hawley note: The foreground, the east side of Mill Street, is the area of Sumpter's first sawmill, Young and Rimbol's, with a corner of the mill showing to the extreme right. Notice Tom McEwen's sign on his livery barn. The barn with four sided roof to the right of the sign is also his. From other pictures, the sign says: "Tom McEwen, Bales, Hay & Livery Stable, Grain for Sale". But a picture in a souvenir Morning Democrat of May 20, 1898, shows J. N. Jones replacing Tom McEwen's name. The article says J. N. Jones bought the stables Sept. 1896. The middle square is 40 x 100 feet and can stable 60 horses.
Many of these buildings were replaced by other buildings during the boom of 1899-1900. There were no brick buildings until 1899. Likely this picture was taken after the railroad reached Sumpter Oct. 3, 1896, so it may already show some growth from the previous period but suppose Sumpter was not so much smaller than this in the 1870's and 1880's. I don't know of any pictures of Sumpter before 1895.
Roscoe Doane made these identifications to Hawley in March 1963: Anna Miller's house with picket fence, later Mrs. George Tedrowe, aunt of Roscoe, SW corner of Sumpter and Mill Street, Bergman's brick grocery store later there. Extreme left on negative shows more, as far back as Griffin Hotel, Tom McEwen's feed barn behind (besides the barn at center), Jim Duckworth house, light colored, NW from Miller house, north side of Sumpter Street. Amell house NW corner of Sumpter and Mill streets, two story. Guy Harris house to left of Amell house, his wife was oldest of Amell children. Big building behind Harris house, with darker roof, might be Healey Hall or Arsenault Restaurant, on south side of Granite Street. Charles Duckworth's Red Front Store showing to right of Amell house, north side of Granite Street, NE corner of Granite and Center Street, later brick building there housing W. R. Hawley's store, by 1900 or 1901. Case or Sturgill house may be to right of Red Front Store.
Text courtesy of the Baker County Library website
