Mammen

The last building on this block, currently Red Cross Drug at 1123 Adams Ave. in La Grande, but known on the National Register of Historic Places as the Sommer Building at 1119 Adams, was constructed in 1891 by Aaron Sommer. It replaced a two-story wood-frame general store, built in the late 1880s, and destroyed by the fire of July 1891 which devastated many other downtown structures.

The new building, constructed by Sommer, was an imposing two-story structure of red brick with a Queen Anne-style decorative frieze and cornice. There were many windows on the second floor and large display windows on the Depot side of the lower level. The current building at the northwest corner of Adams and Depot bears no resemblance to the original.

The Sommer Building soon became a beehive of activity for downtown La Grande. A variety of businesses occupied the first floor. The 1893 Sanborn map indicates that a tailor, a jewelry shop, a dry goods and clothing shop, a meat market and a saloon were located on the first floor. The original tailor in the tailor shop is unknown but by 1885 this was the home of Paul Lederle and his daughter Pauline’s cleaning and tailoring business.

The other shops were J.H. McLaughlin’s jewelry store, Ash Brothers’ clothing store, Wallace and O’Toole’s meat market and an unknown saloon. By 1903 the jewelry shop was also gone and Paul and Pauline shared adjoining rooms with the Western Union Telegraph office.

The second floor housed offices for numerous medical and legal services. Among them were Willard W. Hindmen and John W. Knowles, both lawyers, and Dr. Fred E. Moore, an osteopath. Over the years they were joined by dentists J. L. and L. D. Reavis, and attorneys C. H. Finn and F. S. Ivanhoe and many others.

By 1910, O. E. Silverthorn’s Drug Store occupied the corner space of the first floor of the building where Ash Brothers’ store had been. Mr. Silverthorn offered much more than a cure for what ailed you. He carried multiple other items including razors, fountain pens, goldfish and Bibles, plus a “home remedy treatment for whisky and beer habit.” And if that wasn’t enough he offered cantaloupe sundaes at his soda fountain that was open every night until 11 o’clock. In May of 1922, Glass Drugs replaced Silverthorn’s Drug Store.

The Sommer building over the years has undergone a number of renovations. In September of 1922 The Observer reported that “The interior and front of the store have been completely renovated and present a modern, efficient and pleasing appearance.” Into this newly created space recently vacated by the Ash Brothers’, and offering clothing placing men of La Grande “on a par with the best dressed men of London and New York” was Westenhaver and Gilbert Mens’ Store, which had moved from 1309 Adams.

Some of the second floor occupants of that era were Drs. Ralston, Hill, Richardson,Woodell and two of my favorite people, Dr. Margaret and Dr. Joe Ingle.

Some time between 1922 and 1942 the building took on its current facade with the white bricks and a much more subtle cornice and frieze than the original.

The original Sommer Building was constructed following the fire of 1891. In May of 1966 fire struck again. This time the structure was saved.

The building provides the place, but the people provide the heart and soul. So who were some of these people?

Aaron Sommer, who built the building, was born in Alsace in 1836 and came to La Grande in 1862 settling into old town. When the railroad came into La Grande, like many others, Sommer realized that property near the railroad would be a good investment. So after the fire of 1891 he constructed the building at the northwest corner of Adams and Depot just a block away from the railroad station. He later constructed the Sommer Hotel.

Oliver Edward Silverthorn was born in Muscatine County, Iowa, in 1854. In 1884 he married Mary Harrod. In the early 1900s the couple started moving west, finally settling in Oregon in 1902. In 1922 he left the Sommer Building and moved to 1210 Adams where he and Lynn Wright formed the Silverthron-Wright Drug Store. At this time George H. Glass opened his drug store in the Sommer building location.In the earty 1930s Silverthorn moved to Halsey, where he died in 1933.

Paul Lederle was born in 1846 in Baden, Germany. He immigrated to the United States in 1867. By 1880 he was married to his wife, Lizzie, and they were living in Topeka, Kansas, with their six-year-old daughter, Pauline. Paul was working as a tailor. In 1889 Lizzie died and by 1894 Paul and Pauline had moved to Pendleton. The next year they moved to La Grande and went into business.

Pauline was 21 and already on her way to becoming a tailor. Around 1903 Paul suffered a debilitating stroke, causing paralysis and loss of speech, and was taken to the St. Anthony Hospital in Pendleton. He never returned home and died in 1916. About year before Paul died, and 20 years after being in the Sommer building, Pauline moved her thriving business into the Sommer Hotel.

Keep looking up! Enjoy!