New Signage Downtown Reveals History of City Buildings

If you’ve taken time to stroll through Downtown Newberg in the past few months, you’ve likely seen the new placards placed throughout town that share the history of six different buildings in Newberg. The signs were brought to Newberg thanks to the hard work of the Newberg Area Historical Society who, for the past two years, have been gathering research and working with partners to create the new additions.

Two City of Newberg buildings, City Hall, and the Carnegie Library were given placards to provide those walking through downtown an insight into the history of the structures.

The placard outside of Newberg City Hall reveals that Newberg’s incorporation as a city occurred in 1893, but it wasn’t until 1902 that the City government occupied a space in the Fire Department building located at the southwest corner of First and Howard streets. A fire destroyed the building in 1912. The new City Hall building, constructed in 1913 held the fire department, government offices, rented office space, community meeting space, and eventually, the police department including the jail. In 1993, a fire in an adjacent building damaged City Hall. After being abandoned for a few years, the building was renovated and the original foundation was strengthened. The City purchased the adjoining burned-out structure and in 2000 City Hall held a grand reopening. The building is now fully occupied by government offices.

The placard outside of the Newberg Public Library presents the history of the building starting in late 1907 when a group of local women began campaigning for a public library. Originally located in the YMCA and then above the newspaper office, in 1910, the Newberg Library Association received $10,000 from Andrew Carnegie to build a library. The original 4,000 sq. ft. building was finished in 1912. Ken and Joan Austin later purchased and donated the land adjacent to the library. A bond measure passed to quadruple the library space. The current library building was completed in 1985. The Newberg Public Library is one of only eleven surviving Carnegie libraries in Oregon.

The placards were created with the help of many partners. The bases of the signs were made by a Newberg High School welding class, and the tops were designed by Brandon Waybright, an Art and Design professor at George Fox University. Research was conducted by Barbara Doyle and Chuck Zickefosse with Britta Stewart and Rachel Thomas editing and making arrangements with manufacturers. The engraving was done by Cascade Laser and the signs were installed by the City of Newberg Public Works department.

To learn more about the placards placed throughout town, visit the Newberg Area Historical Society’s website.