Buildings

In 1847, Oregon Trail pioneers Peyton and Anna Wilkes and their children laid claim to 634.49 acres of land and carved a homestead out of the wilderness, becoming the first permanent Euro-American settlers in the area. Most of the City of Banks today sits on the Wilkes’ original land claim.

The Wilkes family built a cabin near the junction of what is today Cedar Canyon Road and Highwy 47, by the West Fork of Dairy Creek. Over the next several decades, the Wilkes family welcomed many other pioneer families to the area, which was referred to as the community of Wilkes, Wilkes Point and later Union Point.

In the early 1870s, Peyton and Anna’s son Jabez Wilkes built a stately, two-and-a-half story home on the site next to the original cabin. Peyton and Anna lived here for the last decade of their lives. With its gabled roof and bull’s eye window, it was long considered the most beautiful home in the community.

The Wilkes’ sold this part of their claim to the Schulmerich family in 1897, and the house was known for much of the town’s history as the Schulmerich House. 

ADDENDUM: In 2024, the Banks Historical Society launched an effort to save the historic Wilkes House, which was slated to be torn down for the construction of a city water treatment facility in five to seven years. The home was in need of renovations, but still beautiful and structurally sound. It was deemed eligible by the State Historic Preservation Office for application to the National Registry, given its significant history, architecture and value to the community. The proposal of the Banks Historical Society was to seek grants to restore the home and turn it into a museum and city park. Sadly, on July 5, 2024, the private owners of the property had it demolished, just days before a scheduled meeting with the City Council to discuss the house’s fate. 

A growing community…

The growth of the community began decades before its official incorporation in 1920. Below are some of the historical buildings and homes, as the town was being formed and growing in the early 1900’s. We owe a debt of gratitude to Flora Munford, photographer and wife of the town doctor and owner of the Banks Pharmacy, for most of the earliest images of Banks.

 

Main Street in Banks, about 1910/12. Building on left: Blacksmith shop, Kinton and Schumerich Grocery, Powne and Jenson Grocery w/ dry goods, Dance Hall. Buildings on Right: Millers Hotel and Bar, Banks Herald, Washington County Bank (with pillars under tall oak at end of street). Pharmacy of Dr. William B. Munford
Residences in Banks in 1908.
1909 – Banks Methodist Episcopal Church
Existing house built in 1895 at Greenville, Oregon, by Banks’ first mayor, William Moore. In 1905, the Moore house was moved two miles North to its present site on Market Street in Banks.

Other nearby areas…

1909 – Herman Ostermann at Centerville Store in Cornelius.
1909 – Schefflin area.
1909 – Centerville Store – John, Herman, Mary, Helena.
1907 – Banks Pharmacy
Railroad Depot in Manning.
Washington County Bank on Main Street in Banks, OR. Banks interior with Otto Galaway and Wheelock Marsh. The Washington County Bank opened for business in 1909 as the first bank in banks. The three men who were the largest investors became the bank’s first offices, namely, Nathaniel I. Burnett (b1848-d1913), president (was a prominent resident of Greenville); Lewis Frederic Carstens (b1861-d1911) vice-president, and William Otto Galaway (b1184-d1954) cashier.