Rivalry pushed Main Street 10 blocks from downtown

By Cathy Ingalls

Albany Democrat-Herald

Albany is now part of the Oregon Main Street downtown revitalization program, but the actual Main Street in Albany is more than 10 blocks to the east.

So why is Albany's Main Street so far away from the old city center?

It can be traced to a three-family rivalry that became more intense with the American Civil War, according to Albany historians and material available at the Albany Regional Museum.

The Monteiths, Hacklemans and Burkharts were among the town's early settlers.

The Monteiths wanted the main part of the city to develop just south and east of the confluence of the Calapooia and Willamette rivers, while the Hacklemans and Burkharts preferred a settlement farther to the east, where many of them lived, said historian Jerry Brenneman.

Buildings sprang up in both places, with the Monteith supporters picking First Avenue for its main street and the other two families selecting Main Street for a center of their own.

"It will be a mystery forever as to why the Hacklemans and Burkharts chose the name Main Street for that part of town," said historian Richard Milligan.

Residents became even more stridently supportive of their sections of town during the Civil War, Brenneman said. The east contained more Southern sympathizers than what is now the downtown area. The eastern half even opened a school called Dixie.

Another historian, Glenn Harrison, said that for a while, residents to the east called their part of town New Albany, starting about 1850, and later the area was called Takenah.

"The east side then got the state legislature to name the whole town Takenah in 1854, and then two years later the Monteiths got it changed to Albany," he said.

Brenneman believes that the rift between the east and west was put aside for the most part when both sides worked to bring the railroad to Albany, which would benefit everyone.

Main Street thrived until after World War II, when many people moved to outlying parts of town.

Brenneman recalls what Main Street looked like in the 1940s, when he was growing up.

He remembers a drug store with a soda fountain, two grocery stores, a cleaners, a gas station and motel, a car dealership, a wrecking yard, a big cannery, and the Linger Longer Tavern, which is still there.

"There was a big house belonging to the pastor of the Lutheran church where the 7-Eleven is now," he said. "And Whitaker Paint & Wallpaper started as a hardware and paint store."

A few businesses continue to operate on both sides of Main, but the downtown remained the more active commercial hub until a number of stores moved to the Heritage Mall area.

Main St. Project

Through the Oregon Main Street Program, the city of Albany gets no grant money but will receive resources, expertise and networking assistance to help with revitalizing the downtown, preserving its unique identity, and creating opportunities for economic development.

The city will get a "tool kit" that contains a "road map" for how to resurrect the downtown using volunteers and donated money.

Anyone wishing to become involved in the project can contact Kate Porsche, the city's urban renewal coordinator, 497-6228.