The Dallas Downtown Historic District in Polk County is among Oregon’s latest entries in the National Register of Historic Places.
Oregon’s State Advisory Committee on Historic Preservation recommended the district’s nomination at their February 2024 meeting. The National Park Service—which maintains the National Register—accepted the nomination on May 24, 2024.
The Dallas Downtown Historic District is listed in the National Register of Historic Places because of its local significance in the area of commerce under National Register Criterion A for its association with broad patterns of history and its representation of the economic development of the city of Dallas. Near the center of the historic district is the Polk County Courthouse (completed in 1900), a building that exemplifies an era when agriculture and timber led to Dallas’ unprecedented economic vitality.
The Dallas Downtown Historic District is also listed in the National Register of Historic Places because of its local significance in the area of architecture under National Register Criterion C for its reflection of commercial building design, technology, style, and form over a nearly century-long period of development. As a collection, the buildings in the district reflect the evolution of commerce in Dallas’ downtown core from some of the earliest permanent construction in the 19th century through the arrival of modernism in the mid-20th century.
The Dallas Downtown Historic District contains 43 total resources: 33 contributing, 8 noncontributing, and 2 previously listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The period of significance for the district is 1870 – 1955. The contributing buildings in the district demonstrate historic trends in commercial construction, with representatives from each key development period reflecting a range of downtown building designs, styles, forms, and functions.
The Dallas Downtown Historic District is one of four individually National Register listed properties in Dallas, Oregon. The National Register of Historic Places was established as part of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.
More information about the National Register and recent Oregon listings can be found online at www.oregonheritage.org (listed under “designate”).